Boigu Island (also known as Malu Kiyay or Malu Kiwai) is the most northerly inhabited island of Queensland and of Australia.[2] It is part of the Top Western group of the Torres Strait Islands, which lie in the Torres Strait separating Cape York Peninsula from the island of New Guinea. The mainland of Papua New Guinea is only 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from Boigu. Boigu has an area of 89.6 square kilometres (34.6 sq mi). Boigu Island is the name of the locality on the island within the Torres Strait Island Region.[3] Boigu is predominantly inhabited by indigenousTorres Strait Islanders. In the 2021 census, the population of the island was 199, of whom 189 people or 95% of the population identified as Indigenous Australians.[1]
The language of Boigu is that of the Western and Central Islands of the Torres Strait. The specific dialect is Kalau Kawau Ya, also spoken on the islands of Dauan and Saibai. The people of the three islands consider themselves as one people.
Kala Kawaw Ya (also known as Kalaw Kawaw, KKY) is one of the languages of the Torres Strait. Kala Kawaw Ya is the traditional language owned by the Top Western islands of the Torres Strait Island Region.[5]
Geography
Boigu Island is approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) long, and low-lying. It was formed by the accumulation of alluvialsediments deposited by the discharge of nearby New Guinean rivers into the Strait. These sediments built up over time on an old coral platform which rises from the shallow continental shelf, eventually creating the island.
Most of the island is subject to extensive periodic flooding, and as a result the community township has been built on the highest ground.[citation needed]
There are a number of smaller islands nearby, including:
Boigu was visited by South Sea Islander missionaries of the London Missionary Society, some time after the establishment of a mission on nearby Saibai Island in 1871.[citation needed]
From the 1870s to around 1910, the Boigu, Dauan and Saibai people, along with the neighbouring Papuan peoples, were being harassed by thugeral "warriors" from the Marind-anim, fierce headhunters from what is now southeast South Papua. In literature dealing with the period, these people are generally termed 'Tuger' or 'Tugeri'. Sir William MacGregor, the Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea, noted in 1886 that the population was nearly extinct as a result of these raids. What he did not realise was that at the time the bulk of the population were staying with family on Saibai and Dauan for mutual protection.[citation needed]
Malu Kiwai State School opened on 29 January 1985. In 2007, it was one of 17 schools in the Torres Strait Islands that amalgamated, becoming the Malu Kiwai Campus of Tagai State College (which has its main campus on Thursday Island).[12][13]
In the 2016 census, there were 271 people living on the island, of whom 231 identified as Indigenous Australians (107 male, 124 female).[14]
In the 2021 census, there were 199 people living on the island, of whom 189 identified as Indigenous Australians (84 male, 104 female).[1]
The interior of the island is sparsely vegetated, and mainly swampland. The coast is fringed by mangroves, which act to protect against the island's sand and mud from sea erosion.[citation needed]
There is no secondary school on the island. The secondary school campus of Tagai State College is on Thursday Island.[18]
Amenities
The Torres Strait Island Regional Council operates an Indigenous Knowledge Centre (library) at 66 Chamber Street (9°13′49″S142°13′15″E / 9.2304°S 142.2208°E / -9.2304; 142.2208 (Indigenous Knowledge Centre)).[19][20] Partnering with the State Library of Queensland on many occasions over the years, and developed in consultation with the Divisional Manager and Elders on island, the IKC has seen the 2013 Culture Love Program, designed around the theme 'War and Church'.[21] During the project local Elders/Artists were employed to work alongside State Library staff to build their skills in developing and delivering creative arts and language workshops with children and young people in their communities.
With its close proximity to Papua New Guinea, each weekday PNG island traders travel 45 minutes by boat to Boigu Island to sell their products.[21]
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