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 coral cay island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, situated in the eastern area of the central island group in the Torres Strait, at the top end of the Great Barrier Reef and northeast of the tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. The Masigalgal people, of the Kulkulgal nation of the Central Torres Strait, are recognised as the traditional owners 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 moved the people of Aureed to Masig after it was declared an Aboriginal reserve. Luggers 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 fishing, prawning and crayfishing. 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.
The island is about long and at its widest point, a very small low-lying coral cay. The topography 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 a Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU) licence, as in this note . are recognised as the traditional owners of Masig.Masig People v the State of Queensland FCA 1067.
The Torres Strait Islander 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.R E Johannes & J W MacFarlane, Traditional Fishing in the Torres Strait Islands(CSIRO, 1991) 115-143M Fuary, In So Many Words: An Ethnography of Life and Identity on Yam Island, Torres Strait (PhD Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville, 1991) 68-71. 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 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.R Ganter, The Pearl Shellers of Torres Strait (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1994) 19-20.
Before the arrival of teachers from the London Missionary Society in the 1870s, Masig was attracting a diverse community of immigrants, some brought by the pearl and trochus shell industry.
In 1872, the Queensland Government sought to extend its jurisdiction and requested the support of the British Government.S B Kaye, Jurisdictional Patchwork: Law of the Sea and Native Title Issues in the Torres Strait (2001) 2, Melbourne Journal of International Law, 1. Letters Patent 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.Queensland, Queensland Statutes (1963) vol 2, 712. This boundary was further extended by the Queensland Coast Islands Act 1879 (Qld)See also Colonial Boundaries Act 1895 (Imp)Wacando v Commonwealth(1981) 148 CLR 1. and included the islands of Boigu, Erub, 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.S Mullins, Torres Strait, A History of Colonial Occupation and Culture Contact 1864-1897 (Central Queensland University Press, Rockhampton, 1994) 139-161.
In 1871, an American whaler from Boston 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.R Ganter, The Pearl Shellers of Torres Strait (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1994), 27-28, 247J Foley, Timeless Isle, An Illustrated History of Thursday Island (Torres Strait Historical Society, Thursday Island, 2003) 3S Mullins, Torres Strait, A History of Colonial Occupation and Culture Contact 1864-1897 (Central Queensland University Press, Rockhampton, 1994), 169.
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.Queensland State Archives, Colonial Secretary's Correspondence, COL/A349, 1882/5869N Sharp, Stars of Tagai, The Torres Strait Islanders (Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1993) 26. Steam powered ships often stopped at Masig to collect supplies of firewood, resulting in deforestation on the Island.M Fuary, In So Many Words: An Ethnography of Life and Identity on Yam Island, Torres Strait (PhD Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville, 1991), 145
Torres Strait Islanders refer to the arrival of London Missionary Society (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.R Ganter, The Pearl Shellers of Torres Strait (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1994) 68-75Queensland, Annual Report of the Chief Protector of Aboriginals for 1905 (1906) 29N Sharp, Stars of Tagai, The Torres Strait Islanders (Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1993), 158-161. 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.S Mullins, Torres Strait, A History of Colonial Occupation and Culture Contact 1864-1897 (Central Queensland University Press, Rockhampton, 1994), 121 ‘Yankee,’ Ned Mosby's son, also operated a number of pearl luggers from Masig, including the Yano and Nancy.Queensland, Annual Report of the Chief Protector of Aboriginals for 1916 (1917) 9.
In November 1912, the Queensland Government officially gazetted 320 acres of land on Masig as an Aboriginal reserve. Many other Torres Strait Islands were gazetted as Aboriginal reserves at the same time.Queensland, Queensland Government Gazette, vol.99, no.138 (1912) 1330. The Government moved the people of Aureed to Masig after this.
A government school was established on the island in 1912.Queensland, Annual Report of the Chief Protector of Aboriginals for 1912(1913) 21Queensland, Annual Report of the Chief Protector for 1913 (1914) 13. By 1918, a Protector of Aboriginals had been appointed to Thursday Island 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 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.Queensland, Annual Report of the Chief Protector of Aboriginals for 1920(1921) 7M Fuary, In So Many Words: An Ethnography of Life and Identity on Yam Island, Torres Strait (PhD Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville, 1991), 148. In March 1923, Masig and Poruma were hit by a "violent hurricane" which destroyed local crops and gardens.Queensland, Annual Report of the Chief Protector of Aboriginals for 1923(1924) 6. The Queensland Government subsequently established new facilities on Masig during the 1930s, including an Aboriginal Industries Board store, a court house, and improved roads.Queensland, Annual Report of the Chief Protector of Aboriginals for 1932(1933) 13N Sharp, Stars of Tagai, The Torres Strait Islanders (Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1993), 184Queensland, Annual Report of the Chief Protector of Aboriginals for 1931 (1932), 9Queensland, Annual Report of the Department of Native Affairs for 1938 (1939) 14.
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.N Sharp, Stars of Tagai, The Torres Strait Islanders (Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1993), 181-186, 278Beckett, Torres Strait Islanders: Custom and Colonialism (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; 1987)
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.Beckett, Torres Strait Islanders: Custom and Colonialism (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; 1987), 54-55.
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.N Sharp, Stars of Tagai, The Torres Strait Islanders (Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1993), 210-214Queensland, Annual Report of the Department of Native Affairs for 1937 (1938) 13Queensland State Archives, A/3941 Minutes of Torres Strait Councillors Conference held at Yorke Island 23–25 August 1937.