Kalaw Kawaw Ya (also known as Kalau Kawau Ya, KKY) is one of the languages of the Torres Strait. Kalaw Kawaw Ya is the traditional language owned by the Top Western islands of the Torres Strait. The Kalaw Kawaw Ya language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the
Shire of Torres.
European contact Captain
William Bligh, in charge of the British Navy ships
Providence and
Assistant, visited Torres Strait in 1792 and mapped the main reefs and channels. Bligh named the highest hill on the island Mount Cornwallis. Because of its distance from the main sea passages in Torres Strait, few Europeans had visited Dauan prior to the 1860s.
Torres Strait Islanders refer to the arrival of the
London Missionary Society (LMS) on 1 July 1871 as the "
Coming of the Light". After visiting
Erub and
Tudu, missionaries led by the Reverend
Samuel McFarlane and the Reverend
A W Murray travelled to Dauan on 6 July 1871. Nadai, the leader of Dauan, met with the missionaries and allowed them to start a mission on the island. Two
South Sea Islander lay pastors, Josaia and Sivene, were appointed to work as missionary teachers at Dauan and Saibai. LMS missionaries revisited Dauan and Saibai in 1872, and found that Josaia and Sivene had been accepted by the Islanders and given land by the local chiefs. In the 1860s,
beche-de-mer (sea cucumber) and
pearling boats began working the reefs of Torres Strait. Pearling bases were never established on Dauan, but in the 1870s, European pearl and beche-de-mer operators began recruiting men from the North Western Islands to work on their luggers. From the late 1870s onwards, the coastal communities of Papua and the islands of Dauan, Boigu and Saibai were raided by warriors of the
Marind-Anim or
Tugeri people from Dutch-controlled
West Papua. In 1881, the government vessel known as
Pearl visited Dauan and found that the entire population of Boigu had taken shelter on the island from Marind Anim raiding parties who had killed 11 Islanders and burned the villages on Boigu. In 1896, a retaliatory expedition led by British officials based in Daru in West Papua diminished the threat of the Marind-Anim, but raids on Dauan, Boigu, Saibai and Papua continued well into the 1920s. In 1872, the
Queensland Government sought to extend its jurisdiction and requested the support of the
British Government.
Letters patent were issued by the British Government in 1872 creating a new colony, which encompassed all islands within a 60 nautical mile radius of the coast of Queensland. This boundary was further extended by the
Queensland Coast Islands Act 1879 and now included the islands of Boigu, Erub,
Mer and Saibai, which lay beyond the previous 60 nautical mile limit. The new legislation enabled the Queensland Government to control and regulate bases for the beche-de-mer and pearling industries which had previously operated outside its jurisdiction. Around 1900, a member of the London Missionary Society, Reverend Walker, established a philanthropic business scheme named
Papuan Industries Limited. This business encouraged Islander communities to cooperatively rent or purchase their own pearl luggers or "company boats". The boats were used to harvest pearl shells and beche-de-mer, which were sold and distributed by the company. The people of Dauan had purchased their first company boat,
Papua, by 1911. Company boats provided Islanders with income and a sense of community pride and also improved transport and communication between the islands. In November 1912, the Queensland Government officially gazetted 800 acres of land on Dauan as an
Aboriginal reserve. Many other Torres Strait Islands were gazetted as Aboriginal reserves at this time. Shortages of food on Dauan and Saibai were mentioned in a government report dating from 1912. The report also stated that only 12 to 15 people were living at Dauan permanently. By 1918, a
Protector of Aboriginals had been appointed to
Thursday Island and, during the 1920s and 1930s, racial legislation was strictly applied to Torres Strait Islanders. In 1936, around 70% of the Torres Strait Islander workforce went on strike in the first organised challenge against government authority made by Torres Strait Islanders. The nine-month strike was an expression of Islanders’ anger and resentment at the increasing government control of their livelihood. The strike was a protest against government interference in wages, trade and commerce and called for the lifting of evening curfews, the removal of the permit system for inter-island travel, and the recognition of the Islanders’ right to recruit their own boat crews. The strike produced a number of significant reforms and innovations. Unpopular local Protector
J D McLean was removed and replaced by
Cornelius O'Leary, who established a system of regular consultations with elected Islander council representatives. The new island councils were given a degree of autonomy, including control over local island police and courts. On 23 August 1937, O'Leary convened the first Inter Islander Councillors Conference at
Masig. Representatives from 14 Torres Strait communities attended. Mau and Anau represented Dauan at the conference. After lengthy discussions, unpopular bylaws, including the evening curfews, were cancelled and a new code of local representation was agreed upon. In 1939 the Queensland Government passed the
Torres Strait Islanders Act 1939, which incorporated many of the recommendations discussed at the conference. The Act officially recognised Torres Strait Islanders as a separate people from
Aboriginal Australians. During
World War II, the
Australian Government recruited Torres Strait Islander men to serve in the armed forces. Enlisted men from Dauan and other island communities formed the
Torres Strait Light Infantry. While the Torres Strait Light Infantry were respected as soldiers, they only received one third of the pay given to white Australian servicemen. On 31 December 1943, members of the Torres Strait Light Infantry went on strike calling for equal pay and equal rights for all soldiers. The Australian Government agreed to increase their pay to two thirds the level received by white servicemen. Full back pay was offered in compensation to the Torres Strait servicemen by the Australian Government in the 1980s. In the post-war period, the pearling industry declined across Torres Strait, and Islanders were permitted to work and settle on Thursday Island and the
Australian mainland. Commencing in February 1985, the
Torres Strait Treaty, contains special provision for free movement (without passports or visas) between both countries. Free movement between communities applies to traditional activities such as fishing, trading and family gatherings which occur in a specifically created Protected Zone and nearby areas. On 29 January 1985, the Queensland Government established Dauan Island State School. In 2007 the
Tagai State College was established and Dauan Island State School became the Dauan Island Campus of the Tagai State College. In 2007, the
Local Government Reform Commission recommended that the 15 Torres Strait Island councils be abolished and the
Torres Strait Island Regional Council be established in their place. In elections conducted under the
Local Government Act 1993 on 15 March 2008, members of the 15 communities comprising the Torres Strait Island Regional Council local government area each voted for a local councillor and a mayor to constitute a council consisting of 15 councillors plus a mayor. == Demographics ==