As Lindsay Wilson states in his book, 'Thathilgaw Emeret Lu', insufficient archaeological evidence has been found in the Torres Strait region to determine a clear portrayal of life during the prehistoric period in the Torres Strait. However historians have drawn conclusions about the Torres Strait from the more extensive archaeological evidence recorded of human occupation in Australia and the Papua New Guinea Highlands during this period.
Lindsay Wilson highlights one of the theories about Aboriginal occupation of Australia which relates to the Torres Strait. This theory indicates that people may have migrated to Australia 70,000 years ago, crossing through the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian Archipelago to Papua New Guinea, then travelling across what is now the Torres Strait, to reach the Australian mainland. It is also thought that the original Torres Strait Islanders were among the peoples (Melanesians) who moved into the land areas of the south west Pacific.
Wilson describes how Torres Strait Islanders are thought to have lived prior to European contact. Island communities relied on hunting, fishing and agriculture for their daily existance, with the larger communities living on the most fertile islands with the greatest resources. Each community was divided into kinship groups led by an elder who was elected to this position through his social status, the level of respect he held within the community, his age and his accomplishments. His authority was extensive and he was often responsible for supervising development within his community, such as house building, canoe construction, trading, land clearing and involvement in warfare. Torres Strait Islanders traded with kinsmen on islands adjacent to Papua New Guinea and further south, exchanging pearl shell, objects made from turtleshell, stone tools and human heads collected during warfare to obtain tools, weapons, canoes, feathers, ochre and ritual objects. Trade connections were very important to the Islanders' existance and they therefore strengthened their kinship ties through intermarriage to ensure the continuation of successful trade.
According to Wilson, a Melanesian custom known as 'payback' was the basis of much inter-island warfare that took place in the Torres Strait. Conflict was often provoked by theft of food, insults to community leaders, abduction of women, suspected sorcery and revenge for previous killings. Sometimes victims were seized for ritual sacrifice and cannibalism but Torres Strait Islanders did not undertake warfare to seize ground.
Wilson states that the history of European exploration in the Torres Strait is based on written accounts by the early seafarers and is therefore slanted by their perspective. He said that in addition to the early European explorers, it was also considered most likely that Chinese, Egyptian, Malay and Indonesians may have explored the region, before the arrival of Spanish and Dutch navigators. It was also considered possible that Europeans made voyages through the south west Pacific in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, although no narratives, if recorded, have been found. The Torres Strait was actually named after Luis Vaez de Torres, who traversed the Strait in 1606. Torres was the first recorded European navigator to use the New Guinea south coast. He recorded the archipelago of islands and included a description of the people, their customs and their possessions.
European settlement in the Torres Strait first occurred in 1877, when Europeans occupied Thursday Island (TI), initiating development that has resulted in the bustling community we see today. People from many parts of the world have been drawn to TI since this date, creating a diverse community in which Torres Strait Islanders, Europeans, Polynesians, Melanesians, Micronesians, Malays, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Ceylonese, Philippinos and mainland Aborigines have lived and worked comfortably together.
I. B Wallace has given an account of European settlement in the Torres Strait in his book 'Old TI'. He stated that TI, then called Port Kennedy, was chosen as a suitable site for settlement as it was considered a safer anchorage than the waters of Albany Passage, the body of water near the then existing mainland settlement called Somerset. Lt. Henry Majoribanks Chester who had been appointed the first Government Resident Police Magistrate and Sub-Collector of Customs in 1877 had moved from Somerset to establish the new settlement on TI. Development later flourished under administration of former Queensland Premier, the Hon. John Douglas who was appointed in 1885.
The discovery of pearl shell in the 1860s led to the development of a booming industry and the promise of employment and wealth which was the drawcard for many people around the world, the Japanese in particular. Although the industry went through a depression in the post war years, Australians and Japanese established several cultured pearl farms in the 1960s and pearling farms still operate in the Torres Strait today.
In World War II approximately 700 men enlisted in the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion. The Army took over the island and all Europeans were evacuated. A fort was built on Green Hill that still remains today, a silent reminder to all of the soldiers who fought so bravely and sacrificed so much to defend their country.
Torres Strait Islander culture went through much change and was significantly influenced by the arrival of Christianity in 1871. The London Missionary Society established a mission on Darnley Island. The memorial still stands and Torres Strait Islanders continue to celebrate their arrival through an annual festival on July 1.