Course outline
Module 1
Module 1: Introduction to the Torres Strait and Its People
Introduction to the Torres Strait and Its People
Knowledge check
Q1. Where is the Torres Strait located?
- A. Between Tasmania and mainland Australia
- B. Between Cape York Peninsula in Queensland and Papua New Guinea ✓
- C. Between Western Australia and Indonesia
- D. Between New South Wales and New Zealand
Why: The Torres Strait is the body of water between the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia, and the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. It contains over 270 islands, most of which are part of Queensland.
Q2. What is the collective name for the Indigenous peoples of the Torres Strait?
- A. Yolngu
- B. Anangu
- C. Torres Strait Islanders ✓
- D. Koori
Why: Torres Strait Islanders are the Indigenous Melanesian peoples of the Torres Strait Islands. They are distinct from Aboriginal Australians, though both are First Nations peoples of Australia, and they have their own languages, traditions, and cultural identity.
Q3. Which of the following best describes the traditional livelihood of many Torres Strait Islander communities?
- A. Intensive rice farming
- B. Sea hunting, fishing, and gardening ✓
- C. Mining and quarrying
- D. Nomadic desert herding
Why: Torres Strait Islander communities have long relied on the sea for food and trade, including fishing, hunting marine animals such as turtle and dugong, and gardening on the islands. Their maritime knowledge and seafaring skills are central to their culture.
Q4. What is the traditional name for the Torres Strait Islander flag's design element that represents the people of the Torres Strait?
- A. A red star on a blue background
- B. A black, white, and green design with a central dhari headdress ✓
- C. A yellow sun over a green field
- D. Stripes of red, yellow, and black with a kangaroo
Why: The Torres Strait Islander flag, designed by Bernard Namok in 1992, features horizontal bands of green, black, and blue, separated by white stripes, with a central white dhari (traditional headdress). The dhari is a symbol of Torres Strait Islander identity and culture.
Q5. Torres Strait Islander people traditionally trace identity and social connections primarily through which of the following?
- A. Only through their father's line
- B. Family, clan, and island connections tied to land and sea country ✓
- C. Membership in colonial religious missions
- D. Personal wealth and property ownership
Why: Identity in Torres Strait Islander culture is deeply rooted in kinship, clan, and connection to specific islands and surrounding sea country. These ties shape obligations, rights to resources, and a sense of belonging across generations.
Module 2
Module 2: Languages and Communication
Languages and Communication
Knowledge check
Q1. What is the traditional language of the Torres Strait Islands, which is closely related to Australian Aboriginal languages?
- A. Kala Lagaw Ya ✓
- B. Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole)
- C. Meriam Mir
- D. Papuan Pidgin
Why: Kala Lagaw Ya, also called Western Torres Strait Language, is one of the traditional Torres Strait Islander languages and is related to Australian Aboriginal languages of Cape York. Meriam Mir is also a traditional language, but Kala Lagaw Ya is the best-known Western Island language.
Q2. Which language is an English-based creole widely spoken across the Torres Strait and known as a shared language of many Islanders?
- A. Kala Lagaw Ya
- B. Meriam Mir
- C. Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) ✓
- D. Torres Strait Sign Language
Why: Yumplatok, also called Torres Strait Creole or Broken, is an English-based creole that developed through contact and trade. It is widely spoken across the Torres Strait and serves as a lingua franca among Islanders.
Q3. Why do many Torres Strait Islander people speak more than one language?
- A. Because the government requires it for all residents
- B. Because they live among multiple traditional languages and a creole, and use English for wider communication ✓
- C. Because their traditional languages are all identical
- D. Because they only learned languages from mainland tourists
Why: The Torres Strait has several traditional languages, plus Yumplatok creole and English. Islanders commonly move between these depending on the setting, which makes multilingualism a normal part of everyday communication.
Q4. What is the Torres Strait Islands' location relative to mainland Australia?
- A. In the Bass Strait, south of Tasmania
- B. Between Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea ✓
- C. Off the coast of Western Australia near Broome
- D. In the Coral Sea, east of Queensland's Whitsundays
Why: The Torres Strait Islands lie in the waters between the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland and the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, which shapes their historical and linguistic connections to both regions.
Q5. What role does language play in Torres Strait Islander cultural identity?
- A. It has no connection to identity and is purely practical
- B. It is considered unimportant compared to music and dance
- C. It carries cultural knowledge, stories, and connection to country and ancestors ✓
- D. It is used only for written government documents
Why: Language is central to identity in the Torres Strait. Traditional languages hold knowledge of land, sea, kinship, stories, and ceremony, so maintaining them is closely tied to cultural continuity and connection to country.
Module 3
Module 3: Traditional Governance and Kinship
Traditional Governance and Kinship
Knowledge check
Q1. Which term describes the Torres Strait Islander system of family and kinship obligations that shapes relationships, responsibilities, and identity?
- A. Tribal lineage
- B. Kinship ✓
- C. Clanship
- D. Totemic bonding
Why: Kinship is the core social framework in Torres Strait Islander communities, governing who people are related to, what obligations they hold, and how they relate to one another across generations.
Q2. In traditional Torres Strait Islander society, what role did the 'Ngoiba' or 'Gab Titui' concept of leadership primarily emphasize?
- A. Individual wealth accumulation
- B. Military conquest of neighbouring islands
- C. Responsibility to the community and the sharing of resources ✓
- D. Hereditary rule passed only to firstborn sons
Why: Traditional leadership in the Torres Strait emphasised responsibility to the community, generosity, and the redistribution of resources, rather than personal accumulation of wealth or power.
Q3. What is the significance of 'Ailan Kastom' in Torres Strait Islander governance and identity?
- A. It is a colonial legal code introduced by missionaries
- B. It is the Islander customary law and way of life that continues to guide community values ✓
- C. It refers only to ceremonial dances performed at festivals
- D. It is a term for the Torres Strait Regional Authority's constitution
Why: Ailan Kastom, meaning Island custom, encompasses traditional laws, values, protocols, and practices that continue to inform community governance and identity today alongside formal institutions.
Q4. Which kinship principle is commonly associated with Torres Strait Islander social organisation, where a person's relationships extend beyond immediate biological family?
- A. Strict patrilineal descent only
- B. Extended kinship networks that include classificatory relatives ✓
- C. Exclusive nuclear family units
- D. Matrilineal inheritance of all land rights
Why: Torres Strait Islander kinship often includes extended and classificatory relatives, so that many people are considered family and carry reciprocal obligations beyond the nuclear household.
Q5. How did traditional Torres Strait Islander governance connect to land and sea country?
- A. Land and sea were owned privately by individuals with no community obligations
- B. Rights and responsibilities to land and sea were held through kinship and inherited connections, with custodianship duties ✓
- C. Sea country was open to anyone regardless of family connection
- D. Governance was entirely separate from territory and resources
Why: Rights to land and sea were tied to kinship and inheritance, and came with custodial responsibilities to care for country, which were central to traditional governance and social order.
Module 4
Module 4: Land, Sea and Connection to Country
Land, Sea and Connection to Country
Knowledge check
Q1. Which term best describes the relationship Torres Strait Islander peoples have with their traditional land and sea?
- A. Ownership as individual property
- B. Connection to Country, a deep spiritual, cultural and familial bond
- C. A purely economic resource relationship
- D. Temporary occupation without lasting ties
Q2. The Torres Strait is located between which two landmasses?
- A. Australia and New Zealand
- B. Australia and Papua New Guinea
- C. Australia and Indonesia's Java
- D. New Caledonia and Australia
Q3. Why is the sea considered central to Torres Strait Islander identity and culture?
- A. It is only used for recreational activities
- B. It provides food, travel routes, and is connected to ancestral stories and spiritual life
- C. It is seen as a barrier separating communities
- D. It has little relevance beyond trade with mainland Australia
Q4. What role do stories of ancestral beings often play in understanding Country in Torres Strait Islander culture?
- A. They are considered fictional entertainment with no connection to the land
- B. They explain the creation of landscapes, seascapes and the responsibilities people hold toward them
- C. They are only told to children as bedtime stories
- D. They were replaced entirely by written histories after colonisation
Q5. What does it mean to have 'responsibilities' to Country in Torres Strait Islander cultural understanding?
- A. Obligations to care for, protect and maintain the land, sea and their resources for present and future generations
- B. Duties to pay rent to government authorities
- C. Requirements to avoid all contact with the land and sea
- D. Obligations only to visitors and tourists
Module 5
Module 5: Art, Music and Dance
Art, Music and Dance
Knowledge check
Q1. Which of the following is a traditional instrument central to Torres Strait Islander music and dance performance?
- A. Didgeridoo
- B. Kulap (bamboo stamping tubes) and drums ✓
- C. Bagpipes
- D. Koto
Why: Torres Strait Islander music traditionally features percussion such as bamboo stamping tubes (kulap) and drums, often accompanying singing and dance. The didgeridoo is associated with Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia, not the Torres Strait Islands.
Q2. Traditional Torres Strait Islander dance is often performed to honour which of the following?
- A. Only harvest seasons
- B. Ancestors, sea and land, and important life events ✓
- C. Military victories alone
- D. Commercial trade agreements
Why: Dance in Torres Strait Islander culture carries stories and connections to ancestors, the sea and land, and significant events such as ceremonies, initiations, and celebrations.
Q3. What is the name of the traditional Torres Strait Islander dance form performed by men, often featuring dancers in grass skirts and headdresses?
- A. Hula
- B. Sebeyo (or 'Warup' and related dance traditions) ✓
- C. Haka
- D. Corroboree of the Western Desert
Why: Torres Strait Islander dance traditions include sebeyo and related forms, performed with costumes such as grass skirts, headdresses, and body decoration. Hula is Hawaiian, haka is Māori, and corroboree refers broadly to Aboriginal ceremonial gatherings in mainland Australia.
Q4. Which art form is especially prominent in Torres Strait Islander material culture, often featuring symbolic designs and geometric patterns?
- A. Pottery with glazed finishes
- B. Woven mats, baskets, and carved objects ✓
- C. Stained glass windows
- D. Oil painting on canvas only
Why: Weaving (such as mats and baskets) and carving are important Torres Strait Islander art forms. Designs often carry cultural meaning, reflecting connections to sea, land, and ancestry.
Q5. Why are music, art and dance considered important in Torres Strait Islander culture?
- A. They are purely for entertainment with no deeper meaning
- B. They pass on knowledge, stories, identity, and connection to Country and sea ✓
- C. They were only introduced in the 20th century
- D. They are restricted to tourism
Why: Music, art and dance serve as vehicles for transmitting cultural knowledge, oral histories, law, identity, and connection to land and sea across generations.
Module 6
Module 6: Ceremony, Storytelling and Oral Tradition
Ceremony, Storytelling and Oral Tradition
Knowledge check
Q1. Which group of people are the Torres Strait Islanders?
- A. The Aboriginal peoples of central Australia
- B. The Indigenous peoples of the Torres Strait islands, between Australia and Papua New Guinea ✓
- C. The Maori peoples of New Zealand
- D. The Papuan highland peoples of New Guinea
Why: Torres Strait Islander peoples are the Indigenous people of the Torres Strait islands, a group of islands between the northern tip of Queensland, Australia and the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. They are culturally and historically distinct from Aboriginal Australians.
Q2. Which of the following is a key role of storytelling in Torres Strait Islander culture?
- A. Only recording trade and financial transactions
- B. Passing down history, law, kinship obligations and knowledge across generations ✓
- C. Entertaining children with fictional tales only
- D. Replacing written records that were never needed
Why: In Torres Strait Islander culture, oral storytelling carries history, law, cultural protocols, kinship relationships and environmental knowledge. Stories are a vital means of transmitting these across generations.
Q3. What term is commonly used for the traditional dances and ceremonies performed in Torres Strait Islander culture?
- A. Kastom ✓
- B. Mabo
- C. Malu
- D. Ngarrindjeri
Why: Kastom (or custom) is a term widely used across the Torres Strait and wider Melanesian region to refer to traditional practices, including ceremonies, dance and culturally governed knowledge. Mabo refers to a landmark High Court case, while Malu and Ngarrindjeri relate to other cultural contexts.
Q4. What is the role of the 'Zenadth Kes' ceremonial tradition in Torres Strait Islander life?
- A. It is a modern political organization focused on land claims
- B. It is a traditional system of governance and cultural law connected to the Torres Strait region ✓
- C. It is a commercial fishing licence system
- D. It is a form of musical notation
Why: Zenadth Kes refers to the traditional governance and cultural law system of the Torres Strait, reflecting the region's cultural practices and the authority of traditional knowledge and leadership within island communities.
Q5. Why are dance and song important in Torres Strait Islander ceremonies?
- A. They are performed only for tourists as entertainment
- B. They carry stories, honour ancestors, and express identity and connection to land and sea ✓
- C. They are used only to mark commercial transactions
- D. They have no connection to spiritual or ancestral knowledge
Why: Dance and song in Torres Strait Islander ceremonies are vehicles for oral history and cultural knowledge. They honour ancestors, tell of creation and journeys, and express a deep connection to land, sea and community identity.
Module 7
Module 7: Contemporary Life and Cultural Revival
Contemporary Life and Cultural Revival
Knowledge check
Q1. Where are the Torres Strait Islands located?
- A. Off the coast of northern Queensland, Australia, between Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea ✓
- B. In the Bass Strait between Tasmania and mainland Australia
- C. In the Gulf of Carpentaria on the Northern Territory coast
- D. Off the coast of Western Australia near the Kimberley region
Why: The Torres Strait Islands lie in the strait separating Cape York Peninsula in Queensland from Papua New Guinea. They are part of Queensland, though the region has a distinct Torres Strait Islander identity, culture and language.
Q2. What is the name of the Torres Strait Islander language traditionally spoken in the region alongside English and Creole?
- A. Yolŋu Matha
- B. Kriol
- C. Meriam Mir ✓
- D. Pitjantjatjara
Why: Meriam Mir is one of the traditional Torres Strait Islander languages, spoken particularly in the eastern islands. Yolŋu Matha is from Arnhem Land, Kriol is an English-based creole, and Pitjantjatjara is spoken in Central Australia.
Q3. Which flag is widely recognised as a symbol of Torres Strait Islander identity and is flown alongside the Australian flag?
- A. The Aboriginal flag
- B. The Torres Strait Islander flag, featuring a black, green and blue design with a white dhari (headdress) in the centre ✓
- C. The Papuan flag
- D. The Queensland state flag
Why: The Torres Strait Islander flag was designed by Bernard Namok in 1992 and was formally recognised by the Australian government. Its central white dhari, a traditional headdress, represents Torres Strait Islander people and culture.
Q4. What is the traditional name for the Torres Strait Islanders' stronger cultural and historical links with which neighbouring region?
- A. New Zealand
- B. Papua New Guinea ✓
- C. Indonesia's Java
- D. The Solomon Islands
Why: Torres Strait Islanders have longstanding cultural, trade and kinship ties with Papua New Guinea, particularly the Western Province and Papuan coastal communities, reflecting centuries of connection across the strait.
Q5. What traditional art form, widely practised today, is an important part of Torres Strait Islander cultural revival?
- A. Dot painting in acrylic on canvas
- B. Woven and carved objects, including mask-making and the use of traditional materials like turtle shell and pandanus ✓
- C. Pottery made from red clay
- D. Tapestry weaving with wool
Why: Traditional crafts such as mask-making, carving, and weaving with pandanus and other natural materials are central to Torres Strait Islander cultural expression. Revival efforts have strengthened these practices, including the Torres Strait Islander dance and mask traditions used in ceremonies.