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Torres Strait Islanders

Torres Strait Islands are 274 islands that make up the Torres Straits that are north of Australia and south of Papua New Guinea. Up there is another Indigenous Melanesian group called Torres Strait Islanders and they even have their own flag. 

The Flag

The Torres Strait Islander flag is made up of four different colours: blue, green, black and white. As well as that, all of these colours have a meaning. At OLA, we have it as one of our flags. 

These are the meanings:

Blue- The sea

Green- The land or grass

Black- The people

White- Peace   

The People

Torres Strait Islanders live across many of the islands including Hammond Island and Thursday Island. There are only two languages that are spoken up in the north which are the Kalaw Lagaw Ya(Western-Central language) and Miriam Mir (the Eastern Torres Strait language). Torres Strait Islanders have a tradition of fishing to keep a connection with water. They have cultural similarities with Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Papuans.

References:

Torres Strait Islanders - Wikipedia

Torres Strait Islander Flag - Wikipedia

By Sara T