Masig Island, also known as Yorke Island, is an island and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Torres Strait Island Region The Torres Strait Island Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering part of the Torres Strait Islands. It was created in March 2008 out of 15 autonomous Island Councils during a period of statewide local gove ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , Masig Island had a population of 283 people. The name Masig is from the

Kalau Lagau Ya Kalau Lagau Ya, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kala Lagaw Ya (), or the Western Torres Strait language (also several other names, see below) is the language indigenous to the central and western Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia. On some islands, ...

language for this

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Grea ...

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

of the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their tot ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

, situated in the eastern area of the central

island group An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

in the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, �zen̪ad̪ kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, ...

, at the top end of the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

and northeast of the tip of

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The

Masigalgal Masig Island, also known as Yorke Island, is an island and locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Masig Island had a population of 283 people. The name Masig is from the Kalau Lagau Ya language for this co ...

people, of the

Kulkulgal Masig Island, also known as Yorke Island, is an island and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Masig Island had a population of 283 people. The name Masig is from the ...

nation of the Central Torres Strait, are recognised as the

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of Masig. They are of Melanesian origin and had followed traditional patterns of hunting, fishing, agriculture and trade for many thousands of years prior to contact with the first European visitors to the region. The

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

moved the people of Aureed to Masig after it was declared an

Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...

Lugger A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or more masts. Luggers were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively ...

s owned by Masig families continued to operate until the pearling and shell industry collapsed in the 1960s. The people then shifted successfully into commercial

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

fishing, prawning and

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

ing. A highly profitable fish factory has operated on the island since the late 1970s, freezing the catch and air freighting it to southern markets. Masig Island is one of the Yorke Islands (), the other being Kodall Island ().

Geography

Masig/Yorke Island lies northeast of Coconut/Poruma Island in the central island group and southwest of Stephens/Ugar Island, and Darnley/Erub Island, and northwest of Murray/Mer Island in the eastern island group. It is about northeast of

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

. The island is about long and at its widest point, a very small low-lying coral

. The

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

is very flat, with ground level generally less than above sea level. More than half the island is covered in undisturbed vegetation, including dense trees on the eastern and western parts of the Island. Masig Island is near the following sea passages: * Moon Passage to the north-west of the island () *Great North East Channel to the north-west () *Cumberland Passage to the south-east () * Hibernia Passage to the south-east () The Bourke Isles are to the south of Masig Island ().

History

The Masigalgal people, of the Kulkulgal nation of the Central Torres Strait, Text was copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)
licence, as i
this note
. are recognised as the traditional owners of Masig. The

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

people of Masig are of Melanesian origin and had followed traditional patterns of hunting, fishing, agriculture and trade for many thousands of years prior to contact with the first European visitors to the region. They are skilled navigators with a detailed knowledge of the reefs and have always occupied a central position in the Straits trading networks. In September 1792, Captain William Bligh, in charge of the British Navy ships ''Providence'' and ''Assistant'', visited Torres Strait and mapped the main reefs and channels. In the 1860s,

beche-de-mer Sea cucumbers are marine animals of the class Holothuroidea. They can be used as food, in fresh or dried form, in various cuisines. In some cultural contexts the sea cucumber is thought to have medicinal value. The creature and the food product ...

(sea cucumber) and pearling boats began working the reefs of Torres Strait. William Banner established a beche-de-mer station at Warrior Island in 1863 and employed Islander men from Masig to work on his boats as divers and crew. Before the arrival of teachers from the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

in the 1870s, Masig was attracting a diverse community of immigrants, some brought by the pearl and trochus shell industry. In 1872, the

sought to extend its jurisdiction and requested the support of the British Government.

Letters Patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

were issued by the British Government in 1872 creating a new boundary for the colony which encompassed all islands within a 60 nautical mile radius of the coast of Queensland. This boundary was further extended by the ''Queensland Coast Islands Act 1879'' (Qld) and included the islands of

Boigu Boigu Island (also known as Malu Kiyay or Malu Kiwai) is the most northerly inhabited island of Queensland and of Australia. It is part of the Top Western group of the Torres Strait Islands, which lie in the Torres Strait separating Cape York P ...

Erub Darnley Island, or ''Erub'' in the First language, native Papuan language of Meriam Mir, is an island formed by volcanic action and situated in the eastern section of the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Torres Strait Isl ...

, Mer and Saibai, which lay beyond the previous 60 nautical mile limit. The new legislation enabled the Queensland Government to control and regulate bases for the beche-de-mer and pearling industries, which previously had operated outside its jurisdiction. In 1871, an American whaler from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

named Edward (Ned) Mosby arrived in Torres Strait. He was commonly known as "Yankee Ned". After working for Frank Jardine on Nagir Island, Edward Mosby established a beche-de-mer station on Yorke in the late 1870s, with his business partner Jack Walker. Mosby and Walker leased half the island from the Queensland Government for their business operations. Captain Charles Pennefather, in charge of the government survey vessel ''Pearl'', visited Masig in September 1882. Mosby and Walker lodged a complaint with Pennefather against the crew of the beche-de-mer operator Captain Walton, for cutting down Wongai fruit trees on the island for fuel. Steam powered ships often stopped at Masig to collect supplies of firewood, resulting in deforestation on the Island. Torres Strait Islanders refer to the arrival of

(LMS) missionaries in July 1871 as "the Coming of the Light".The Reverend A W Murray and William Wyatt Gill were the first LMS missionaries to visit Masig in 1872. Around 1900, the LMS missionary the Reverend Walker established a philanthropic business scheme named Papuan Industries Limited. This company encouraged Islander communities to co-operatively rent or purchase their own pearl luggers or "company boats". The company boats, were used to harvest pearl shells and beche-de-mer, which was sold and distributed by the company. The people of Masig purchased their first company boats around 1905. These boats provided Islanders with income, a sense of community pride and also improved transport and communication between the islands. ‘Yankee,’ Ned Mosby's son, also operated a number of pearl luggers from Masig, including the ''Yano'' and ''Nancy.'' In November 1912, the Queensland Government officially gazetted 320 acres of land on Masig as an

. Many other Torres Strait Islands were gazetted as Aboriginal reserves at the same time. The Government moved the people of Aureed to Masig after this. A government school was established on the island in 1912. By 1918, a Protector of Aboriginals had been appointed to

and, during the 1920s and 1930s, racial legislation was strictly applied to Torres Strait Islanders, enabling the government to remove Islanders to reserves and missions across Queensland. A world-wide

influenza epidemic Flu season is an annually recurring time period characterized by the prevalence of an outbreak of influenza (flu). The season occurs during the cold half of the year in each hemisphere. It takes approximately two days to show symptoms. Influen ...

reached the Torres Strait in 1920, resulting in 96 deaths in the region. The Queensland Government provided the islands of Masig, Iama and Poruma with food relief to help them recover from the outbreak. In March 1923, Masig and Poruma were hit by a "violent hurricane" which destroyed local crops and gardens. The Queensland Government subsequently established new facilities on Masig during the 1930s, including an Aboriginal Industries Board store, a court house, and improved roads. In 1936, around 70% of the Torres Strait Islander workforce went on strike in the first organised challenge against government authority made by Torres Strait Islanders. The nine-month strike was an expression of Islanders’ anger and resentment at the increasing government control of their livelihoods. The strike was a protest against government interference in wages, trade and commerce and also called for the lifting of evening curfews, the removal of the permit system for inter-island travel and the recognition of the Islanders’ right to recruit their own boat crews. This strike produced a number of significant reforms and innovations. Unpopular local Aboriginal Protector J.D. McLean was removed and replaced by Cornelius O’Leary, who established a system of regular consultations with elected islander council representatives. The new island councils were given a degree of autonomy, including control over local island police and courts. On 23 August 1937, O’Leary convened the first Inter Islander Councillors Conference at Masig. Representatives from 14 Torres Strait communities attended. Barney Mosby, Dan Mosby and William represented Masig at the conference. After lengthy discussions, unpopular bylaws, including the evening curfews, were cancelled and a new code of local representation was agreed upon. In 1939 the Queensland Government passed the '' Torres Strait Islander Act 1939'', which incorporated many of the recommendations discussed at the conference. A key section of the new act officially recognised

Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

as a separate people from

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

recruited Torres Strait Islander men to serve in the armed forces. Enlisted men from Masig and other island communities formed the Torres Strait Light Infantry. While the Torres Strait Light Infantry were respected as soldiers, they only received one third of the pay given to white Australian servicemen. On 31 December 1943, members of the Torres Strait Light Infantry went on strike, calling for equal pay and equal rights. The Australian Government agreed to increase their pay to two thirds the level received by white servicemen. Full back pay was offered in compensation to the Torres Strait servicemen by the Australian Government in the 1980s. Following World War II, the pearling industry declined across Torres Strait and Islanders were permitted to work and settle on the Australian mainland.

Prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the intern ...

ing and fishing enterprises were established at Masig in the 1970s. Luggers owned by Masig families continued to operate until the collapse of the pearl industry in the 1960s, after which the people shifted successfully into commercial

fishing, prawning and

ing. In 1970, the

established a

turtle farm Turtle farming is the practice of raising turtles and tortoises of various species commercially. Raised animals are sold for use as gourmet food, traditional medicine ingredients, or as pets. Some farms also sell young animals to other farms, ei ...

on the island to provide employment for

Torres Strait Islander people Torres may refer to: People *Torres (surname) Torres (sometimes Torrez or Torrès) is a surname in the Catalan language, Catalan, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Spanish language, Spanish languages, meaning "towers". History A surname der ...

. However, turtles take too long to mature and the costs of farming them was greater than their value when sold for eating. The project was later abandoned and the remaining turtles released into the sea. In December 1978, a treaty was signed by the Australian and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

governments that described the boundaries between the two countries and the use of the sea area by both parties. The Torres Strait Treaty, which commenced operation in February 1985, contains special provision for free movement (without passports or visas) between both countries. Free movement between communities applies to traditional activities such as fishing, trading and family gatherings which occur in a specifically created Protected Zone and nearby areas. Yorke Island State School opened on 29 January 1985. On 1 January 2007, it became the Yorke Island Campus of Tagai State College. On 30 March 1985, the Masig community elected 3 councillors to constitute an autonomous Masig Island Council established under the ''Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984''. This Act conferred local government-type powers and responsibilities upon Torres Strait Islander councils. The council area, previously an Aboriginal reserve held by the Queensland Government, was transferred on 21 October 1985 to the trusteeship of the council under a

Deed of Grant in Trust A Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) is the name for a system of community-level land trust established in Queensland to administer former Aboriginal reserves and missions. They came about through the enactment by the Queensland Government of the '' ...

(DOGIT).

Native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty to that land by another colonising state. The requirements of proof for the recognition of ab ...

was recognised over Masig in 2000, held in trust by the Masigalgal (Torres Strait Islander) Corporation

RNTBC A Registered Native Title Body Corporate (RNTBC) is a corporation nominated by a group of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people for the purposes of native title in Australia, to represent their native title rights and interests, once that ...

. In 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission recommended that the 15 Torres Strait Island councils be abolished and the

Torres Strait Island Regional Council The Torres Strait Island Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering part of the Torres Strait Islands. It was created in March 2008 out of 15 autonomous Island Councils during a period of statewide local gove ...

be established. The first Torres Strait Island Regional Council was elected on 15 March 2008 in elections conducted under the ''Local Government Act 1993''.

Demographics

In the , Masig Island had a population of 270 people. In the , Masig Island had a population of 283 people.

Education

Yorke Island Campus (Masig Muysaw Ngurpay Lag) is a primary (Early Childhood-6) campus of Tagai State College (headquartered at

). It is at 131 William Street (). There is no secondary school on Masig Island. The nearest secondary school is Tagai State College on Thursday Island, approximately away.

Distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

or boarding schools are options.

Facilities

Yorke Island SES Facility is on Barneys Road (). Masig (Yorke Island) Primary Health Care Centre is at 115 Aous Road (). The health care centre is staffed by a qualified nurse and there is also a doctor based there, who provides medical services to three other islands in the central island cluster (Coconut, Yam and Warraber). There is an IBIS store on the island and also a Mini-Mart.

Transport

Yorke Island Airfield is long and lies diagonally between the north and south side of the island (). A regular scheduled air service is operated by

West Wing Aviation West Wing Aviation is an airline based in Townsville, Queensland that was founded in 2000 and commenced operations on 2 May 2000. History The founder and CEO of the company, Peter Collings, owned various airline operations running in Queensla ...

from Horn Island, otherwise access to Masig is by charter plane or boat. All goods and mail are delivered by a weekly barge service and via the scheduled air service.

Popular culture

Yorke Island was the film location for the Australian television series, ''

RAN Remote Area Nurse ''RAN (Remote Area Nurse)'' is an Australian television program (drama series) that aired on SBS (Australian TV channel), SBS on 5 January 2006. The series was filmed entirely on Yorke island, Torres Strait, Masig Island (Yorke Island) in the ...

''.

References

Attribution

This Wikipedia article contains material fro
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community histories: Yorke Island (Masig)
Published by

The State of Queensland The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the state Legislative Assembly, with the governo ...

under CC-BY-4.0, accessed on 3 July 2017.