Beyond the setting sun: Indonesia cultural influences in Torres Strait of north-eastern Australia
MISS 3 - April 8
Beyond the setting sun: Indonesia cultural influences in Torres Strait of north-eastern Australia
Presenter - Professor Ian McNiven
For thousands of years, Torres Strait Islanders have been positioned at an international crossroads, at the nexus between the New Guinea Melanesian world to the north and east, the Australian Aboriginal world to the south, and the Indonesian world to the west. Over the past 500 years, links between Indonesians and Torres Strait Islanders intensified as cultural processes in both regions intensified. This paper explores the material expressions of this intensification using a wide range of historical, linguistic, ethnographic, and archaeological evidence. Professor Ian McNiven argues that the histories of northeast Australia and the south coast of Indonesian Papua are intimately connected and entwined.