Stars of Tagai: The Torres Strait Islanders

“Stars of Tagai” creates a picture of a unique sea culture rich in meanings and custom. The author’s observations of Islander life over the past fourteen years join with the life stories of Islanders so giving depth to the book’s theme: how conservation of cultural tradition underlies a process of renewal. The rhythm of Islanders’ lives follows the movement of the constellation Tagai, a mythical hero who stands in a canoe; his left hand, the Southern Cross, holds a fish spear. The stars of Tagai usher in seasonal changes and are a guide to voyaging and cultivating throughout the Torres Strait. The book explores four meanings of the Tagai myth in the life of the Islanders since the mid-nineteenth century. Its main focus is a growing identity and self-awareness. This is the first book to examine the social issues involved in the historic Mabo case and to give a picture of the fabric of life of the Mariam people of the Murray Islands, a subgroup of the Torres Strait Islanders. It considers local historical precedents for current moves for political autonomy, examines the various reasons behind moves for sovereignty in the 1980s, and considers future options.

Constitution of and change in Torres Strait Islander identity; exchange and cosmology; contact history; mythology, culture heroes and law; Malo-Bomai, Kwoiam; Meriam religious and social life – seasonality, clan territoriality, kinship, life cycle; the powers of the Zogo le and the idea of traditional life; coming of the London Missionary Society and the accommodation of christianity; changing rites of death and renewal – millennial movements; colonial administration – education , Protection Acts and protectionism, social control; colonial economy – trochus, pearling, beche-de-mer (trepang); background and effects of the 1936 strike and World War Two; moves for sovereignty – the Murray Island case; includes life histories.

xxi, 321 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm. #010122