Torres Strait Islanders. Custom and Colonialism

Beckett, Jeremy

ISBN 10: 052133361X / ISBN 13: 9780521333610

Published by Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1987

About this Item

251 pages. Book is in very good unmarked condition, spine slightly cocked. Dust jacket is in very good condition. Dust jacket condition preserved within new clear plastic non-adhesive removable protective covering. Size: Octavo (standard book size). 251 pages. Quantity Available: 1. Category: indigenous Cultures; ISBN: 052133361X. ISBN/EAN: 9780521333610. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 8170.

Seller Inventory # 8170

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Torres Strait Islanders. Custom and Colonialism
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 052133361X
• ISBN 13: 9780521333610
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • indigenous Cultures

About this title

Synopsis

The Torres Strait Islanders are Australia's 'other' indigenous minority. Their experience of colonialism and their reaction to their position in Australian society provides a striking counterpoint to that of the Aborigines. The author applies many years of study and work among the Torres Strait Islanders to provide a new account of their changing world in the islands and their changing role in Australia. A Melanesian people, the Torres Strait Islanders' cultural affinities originally lay with the Papuans to the north rather than the Aborigines to the south. But by the logic of European colonialism, they were made a part of the State of Queensland. The pearling industry has exploited their labour, but left them in occupation of their islands. The Queensland government has allowed them a degree of autonomy in local affairs which many would contrast with its approach to Aborigines. The Torres Strait Islanders have thus had the space in which to develop a rich and vital way of life that they still call 'island custom', which has, however, changed from that described in the classic anthropological research begun by A. C. Haddon just a hundred years ago. This provided the starting point for Dr Beckett, who has studied and worked with Torres Strait Islanders since the 1950s, and this book links the personal experience of the author, the professional insights of the anthropologist, and the perceptions of past and present held by the Islanders themselves.

Book Description

Reactions of the Torres Strait Islanders, Australia's "other" indigenous minority, to colonialism and their position in Australian society, are compared with the Aborigine experience.