Boigu Island

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Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Side box Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 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 Script error: No such module "convert". away from Boigu. Boigu has an area of Script error: No such module "convert".. Boigu Island is also the name of the town and locality on the island within the Torres Strait Island Region.[3][4] Boigu is predominantly inhabited by indigenous Torres Strait Islanders. In the Template:CensusAU, the population of the island was 199, of whom 189 people or 95% of the population identified as Indigenous Australians.[1]

It is the largest and only inhabited island of the Talbot Islands group (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".).[5]

Language and affiliations

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.[6]

Geography

Boigu Island is approximately Script error: No such module "convert". long, and low-lying. It was formed by the accumulation of alluvial sediments 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.

The Island is separated from the mainland of Papua New Guinea (near the border of Kiwai Rural LLG and Morehead Rural LLG) by a stretch of water measuring Script error: No such module "convert". at its narrowest point. The island is also the closest Australian territory to the Republic of Indonesia, just Script error: No such module "convert". east-southeast of the southern tip of the Indonesia–Papua New Guinea border within the Merauke Regency of Western New Guinea.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

The village of Boigu at the northern end of the island (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".).[7] It is the northernmost settlement of Australia, but the northernmost land is the uninhabited Bramble Cay, Script error: No such module "convert". to the east.[8]

Most of the island is subject to extensive periodic flooding, and as a result the community township has been built on the highest ground.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

There are a number of smaller islands nearby, including:

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  • Aubussi Island, also known as Awbuz (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".)[9][10]
  • Moegina Kawa (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".)[10]
  • Sapural Kawa (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".)[10]
  • Aymermud (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".)[10]
  • Moimi Island, also known as Moeyim (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".)[10][11]

Template:Endflowlist

Boigu Island Airport is on the south-western edge of the village (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".).[12]

History

File:Church on Boigu beach (undated).jpg
Church on Boigu beach

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.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

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.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

According to 2004 Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) figures, its resident population was approximately 340.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

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).[13][14]

In the Template:CensusAU, there were 271 people living on the island, of whom 231 identified as Indigenous Australians (107 male, 124 female).[15]

In the Template:CensusAU, there were 199 people living on the island, of whom 189 identified as Indigenous Australians (84 male, 104 female).[1]

Ecology

The island is considered part of the New Guinea mangroves ecoregion, a subset of the Australasian realm.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

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.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

It is likely the mangrove regions harbour healthy populations of saltwater crocodile.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

The waters surrounding the island are an important habitat for dugongs, a species of sea mammal listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

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Education

File:Boigu Island (Landsat).png
Satellite image of Boigu Island.

The Malu Kiwai Campus of the Tagai State College is a primary (Early Childhood–Year 6) campus of Tagai State College at School Road (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".).[16][17][18]

There is no secondary school on the island. The secondary school campus of Tagai State College is on Thursday Island.[19]

Amenities

The Torres Strait Island Regional Council operates an Indigenous Knowledge Centre (library) at 66 Chamber Street (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".).[20][21] 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'.[22] 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.[22]

Boigu Island Primary Health Care Centre is operated by Queensland Health on Chamber Street (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".).[23][24]

Boigu Island Sewage Treatment Plant is on the western edge of the village on the Esplanade (Script error: No such module "Coordinates".).[23]

See also

References

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  1. ↑ a b c Template:Census 2021 AUS
  2. ↑ Template:Cite QPN
  3. ↑ Template:Cite QPN
  4. ↑ Template:Cite QPN
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  6. ↑ Template:Cite SLQ-CC-BY
  7. ↑ Template:Cite QPN
  8. ↑ Template:Cite QPN
  9. ↑ Template:Cite QPN
  10. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Template:Cite QPN
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Template:Census 2016 AUS
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Template:Queensland Globe
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ a b Template:SLQ-CC-BY
  23. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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Further reading

  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". — full text online

External links

Template:Torres Strait Island Region Template:Torres Strait

Template:Authority control

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