Memoirs of the Queensland Museum - Cultural Heritage Series

Gelam's homeland: cultural and natural history on the island of Mua, Torres Strait
Edited by Bruno David, Louise Manas and Michael Quinnell
Volume 4, Part 2
17 October 2008

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Table of contents

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Chapter	Authors	Title & Abstract
1.	MANAS, L., DAVID, B. & QUINNELL, M.C.	INTRODUCTION TO GELAM'S HOMELAND Much professional archaeological research around the world aims at aspects of history that are of international rather than of local significance, and text-based historical research has long been complicit in nation-building agendas. This paper introduces the present monograph by outlining why and how the authors of this volume have come to write a local history, with local issues in mind. It is the first professional and multi-disciplinary history to be written in book form for any single island in Torres Strait, with community history in mind.
PART A: WRITTEN RECORDS & ORAL TRADITIONS
2.	SHNUKAL, A.	TRADITIONAL MUA This paper synthesises the existing historical evidence to provide an overview of the traditional people of Mua - their origins, population, social and totemic clan organisation, major settlements, daily activities, collective psychology and relations with their neighbours - in the hope that such a synthesis will be useful for the people of Mua and possibly serve as a basis for future ethnographic and archaeological research.
3.	SHNUKAL, A.	THE LAST BATTLE OF MUA: ELEVEN TEXTS Of all the battles fought by the people of Mua (Banks Island), the most significant was the 'last battle of Mua.' Said to have taken place shortly before the placement of Christian missionaries on Mua in 1872, it marked the end of the era of revenge killings and the beginning of a new, peaceful, 'civilised' era. The battle also provides a confirmation, context and explanation for some of the earliest recorded observations of Mua: its reduced population, fear of strangers and abandonment of coastal villages. This chapter reproduces 11 texts of the battle, collected between 1898 and 2002, and provides evidence that the battle took place not in 1863, as usually claimed, but in 1870.
4.	SHNUKAL, A.	HISTORICAL MUA As a consequence of their different origins, populations, legal status, administrations and rates of growth, the post-contact western and eastern Muan communities followed different historical trajectories. This chapter traces the history of Mua, linking events with the family connections which always existed but were down-played until the second half of the 20th century. There are four sections, each relating to a different period of Mua's history. Each is historically contextualised and contains discussions on economy, administration, infrastructure, health, religion, education and population.
5.	SCHOMBERG, N.	BABA SCHOMBERG'S PHOTOGRAPHS OF MUA, 1921-1935 This chapter contains a selection from over 500 photographs taken by my father, Revd Junius Wilfred Schomberg, while he was stationed at St Paul's Mission, Mua. They offer a fascinating pictorial history of the Mission from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s. My father took the photos with a Houghton camera, which he bought in 1911 and which used both film and glass-plate negatives. He developed his own negatives and printed his postcard-size pictures on Mua.
6.	SHNUKAL, A.	WOLFRAM MINING AND THE CHRISTIAN CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT During World War II and its aftermath, the Muan wolfram mining venture drew together the Muan communities of Kubin and St Paul's. The venture consisted of five major phases: official beginnings (1938-1940); wartime production (1941-1945); postwar production (1946-1955); co-operative societies (1956-1969); and Commonwealth intervention (1970-1973). Mining on Mua intersects with the beginnings of the Christian co-operative movement in Queensland's Indigenous communities, which seemed for a time to promise economic self-sufficiency and self-directed development independent of government action. Despite its eventual failure, some Muan political leaders still hope that a resurgence in the price of wolfram will lead to the reopening of the wolfram fields and contribute to a sustainable economic base for Islander autonomy.
7.	MANAS, J., DAVID, B., ASH, J., MANAS, L. & SHNUKAL, A.	AN INTERVIEW WITH FR JOHN MANAS Fr John Manas, Mualaig Elder, was interviewed about local history and culture at his home at Kubin on Mua on 15-16 November 2003. This paper documents these interviews.
PART B: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD
8.	DAVID, B. & BARHAM, A.J.	HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON MUA The island of Mua in Western Torres Strait has been a focus of two of the largest archaeology research projects in Torres Strait. The first of these took place in the early to mid 1980s through St Paul's community; the second began in 2000 through the Kubin Community Council and Mualgal (Torres Strait Islanders) Corporation. This paper reports on the archaeological work undertaken during these projects.
9.	DAVID, B. & ASH, J.	WHAT DO EARLY EUROPEAN CONTACT-PERIOD VILLAGES IN TORRES STRAIT LOOK LIKE?: ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS When European sailors first visited Torres Strait from 1606 into the 1800s, Indigenous villages were observed and described in letters, diaries, books and images. Since then, the shape and structure of individual buildings and villages on the islands have changed. This paper asks what these early European contact villages looked like, and how they varied across the Strait. Early historical and ethnographic references to villages are here reviewed in order to make archaeological observations that will enable archaeologists to historicise village life in Torres Strait.
10.	ASH, J. & DAVID, B.	MUA 22: ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE OLD VILLAGE SITE OF TOTALAI Totalai is the site of the earliest known village on Mua. This paper presents the results of initial archaeological investigations at this site, discussing in particular implications for an archaeology of the colonial period relative to seascapes.
11.	ASH, J., BROOKS, A., DAVID, B. & MCNIVEN, I.J.	EUROPEAN-MANUFACTURED OBJECTS FROM THE 'EARLY MISSION' SITE OF TOTALAI, MUA (WESTERN TORRES STRAIT) Torres Strait Islanders have been directly or indirectly exposed to European, American and/or Asian items of material culture since the early 1600s, and on a sustained basis after the mid-1800s. While numerous archaeological sites of the colonial period have been recorded across the Strait, there is, to date, not a single published record systematically documenting such artefacts. This paper presents a catalogue of imported objects dating to that colonial period, serving as a reference resource for future researchers in the region.
12.	DAVID, B.	THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEFENCE ON MUA Shortly prior to the arrival of the first missionaries on Mua in 1872, the Mualgal, the Indigenous people of Mua, were in a fluctuating state of war and alliance with various neighbouring groups including the Badulgal, Goemulgal and Kaurareg. This state of affairs necessitated shifting settlement patterns to minimise the chance of surprise attack on Mua villages, and the location of strategic lookout points for enemy raiding parties. These latter locations contained warning installations including the placement of bu (trumpet) shells at elevated sentinel points with good views across the surrounding land and seascape. The presence of such warning devices at strategic lookout points has in some cases resulted in distinctive archaeological signatures amenable to archaeological enquiry. This paper reports on initial radiocarbon dates on such strategic installations, aiming to investigate the antiquity of Mua's unstable socio-political relations with surrounding groups.
13.	BRADY, L.M.	MUA'S ROCK-ART: DESIGN PATTERNING AND INTER-REGIONAL INTERACTION Systematic recording of rock-art from Mua began in 2001 as part of joint archaeological research involving the Mualgal community at Kubin and Monash University archaeologists. In time, and using digital photography and computer enhancement techniques, a total of 137 pictures from six rock-art sites located in the northeastern and southwestern sides of the island were documented. This paper analyzes the rock paintings and the sites in the context of past inter-regional interaction. The results indicate that comparison between Mua's rock-art and similar design forms recorded on both fixed and portable surfaces reveal a more comprehensive understanding of the extent of design form patterning than any single technique alone is capable of. Comparison with design forms recorded on portable material culture reveals links across Torres Strait and into southwestern Papua New Guinea.
14.	DAVID, B., MCNIVEN, I.J. & WEISLER, M.	ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS AT GERAIN AND URAKARALTAM Archaeological research at a number of midden sites on the north coast of the island of Mua, Torres Strait, indicate peak levels of cultural deposition during the last 300 years. This paper reports on archaeological excavations undertaken at sites Mua 36, Mua 38 and Mua 84 at Gerain and nearby Urakaraltam.
15.	MCNIVEN, I.J. & VON GNIELINSKI, F.E.	A DECORATED STONE CLUB HEAD (GABAGAB) FROM MUA, TORRES STRAIT Ethnographic and archaeological examples of stone-headed clubs (gabagab) from Torres Strait indicate this distinctive implement type used in headhunting and ceremonial contexts encompassed a range of morphologies and raw materials. In 2002, a fragment of a rare decorated gabagab was found on the island of Mua. Made from volcanic arenite, the club head further supports the view that Torres Strait gabagab were made locally from diverse raw materials. The linear abraded grooves on the Mua club head and the other archaeologically-known decorated gabagab from Torres Strait (Dauan club head #4) fall within the broader tradition of decorated stone club heads from mainland New Guinea.
16.	DAVID, B.	ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS AT BULBUL AND GERAIN The Gelam story tells of legendary events that took place at the beach and on the sandy dunefields at Bulbul, and along the hill side and ridge-top at Gerain. The protagonists, Gelam and his mother Usar, undertook various activities in these locations, including hunting and consuming geinau (Torres Strait pigeons, Ducula spilorrhoa) on the ridge-top at Gerain, and camping at Bulbul. This paper reports on archaeological surveys undertaken at Gerain and Bulbul, the area of Gelam and Usar's homeland, including radiocarbon ages for a series of surface sites.
17.	DAVID, B., ORR, M. & ZOPPI, U.	ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS AT BULBUL, SITE MUA 116 Geomorphological testing of the coastal ridges at Bulbul in NE Mua (Torres Strait) unexpectedly revealed subsurface archaeological deposits. This paper reports on archaeological excavations undertaken at subsurface site Mua 116 following these geomorphological investigations.
PART C: NATURAL HISTORY
18.	ORR, M.	LANDSCAPE HISTORY AT BULBUL, GELAM'S HOMELAND Mapping and particle size analyses undertaken on samples collected at Bulbul, northeast Mua (Moa Island), indicate a series of beach ridges interpreted in the broadest sense to include both wave-built and wind-built coastal ridges. Using the advantages and limitations of a deductive historical sciences approach, a history of the ridges and surrounding landscape is compiled which outlines environmental changes from the time of sea level transgression into Bulbul to the time of marked human presence. Interpretations of scientific interest include confirmation of the conclusions by Woodroffe et al. (2000) that sea level in the Torres Strait stabilised before 2300 years BP, in this case by approximately 2900 calendric years BP at Mua; that an environmental transition occurred here in the very late Holocene with evidence for increased reworking of beach ridge sediments by wind, culminating in the formation of a coastal dune; and that the last c.800 years have been marked by apparent increased burning and disturbance, resulting in artefact burial.
19.	ROWE, C.	HOLOCENE VEGETATION CHANGE ON MUA A Holocene record of vegetation change is presented from the island of Mua, Torres Strait, Australia. Pollen analysis, charcoal analysis, stratigraphic changes and radiocarbon dating of two coastal and one inland sediment core provide evidence of vegetation cover and fire occurrence for the period 7000 years BP to present. The study shows Rhizophora-dominated mangrove encroaching on the coastal lowlands of Mua, periodically displacing non-mangrove taxa between 7000 and 6000 years BP until the establishment of an extensive mangrove forest after 6000 years BP. The timing of mangrove decline and pattern of coastal plain, including swamp, development is site specific, beginning after 3000 years BP. Inland and eucalypt woodland has persisted through the last 7000 years with pollen evidence demonstrating little change in structure or composition. Freshwater swamp expansion and permanency, however, is restricted to the late Holocene, and charcoal counts signal an increase in island burning within the last 1000 years. Changes in Holocene vegetation on Mua are interpreted as the result of post-glacial marine transgression and stabilisation followed by on-shore human influences.
20.	WANNAN, B.	TERRESTRIAL VEGETATION OF GELAM'S HOMELAND, MUA The terrestrial vegetation of Gelam's homeland (north-east Mua) occurs on three main landforms and geology: Quaternary coastal sand deposits, residual deposits and Badu Granite. Vegetation on these consists of grassland, woodland, and vine forest which occur as a mosaic that appears to be maintained by moisture availability. A greater complexity of vegetation and landzone types is here recognised in contrast to previous vegetation mapping. It is evident from the landscape complexity of Mua that a detailed assessment will be required to support an accurate conversion of existing vegetation units to regional ecosystems.
21.	STANISIC, J.	LAND SNAILS OF MUA ISLAND The results of a survey of the land snails of Mua island, Torres Strait, far northern Queensland are presented. The distribution of the Mua's land snails are discussed in relation to the diverse geology and vegetation communities of the island. The majority of species live in pockets of vine thicket and vine forest scatted over the island. The land snails of Mua largely comprise species that are encountered on many other islands in Torres Strait. An exception is an arboreal camaenid, Noctepuna porietiana muensis (Hedley, 1912), which is endemic to Mua. In the current survey N. p. muensis was found to occur only in the dry strandline vine thickets on the eastern edge of the island.
22.	INGRAM, G.	THE TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES OF MUA, WESTERN TORRES STRAIT Of terrestrial vertebrates, 213 species have been recorded from the island of Mua in Western Torres Strait: six species of frogs, 34 reptiles, 155 birds and 18 mammals. This is a large and varied insular fauna and reflects the variety of habitats on the island. Presently, there is no evidence that the occupation of Mua by people has had a detrimental impact on the terrestrial vertebrates except possibly for macropods. Even so, the extent of habitats on the island may be a result of purposeful burning. In managing the habitats, local knowledge will be crucial.

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