Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only €10,99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Legends of the Torres Straits (Folklore History Series)
    Legends of the Torres Straits (Folklore History Series)
    Legends of the Torres Straits (Folklore History Series)
    Ebook76 pages1 hour

    Legends of the Torres Straits (Folklore History Series)

    By Alfred C. Haddon

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A collection of myths and legends from the Torres Straits that lie between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

    Alfred C. Haddon curated this mythology collection from the stories he was told by the Torres Straits islanders. The Indigenous Melanesian peoples are geographically and culturally divided into five distinct groups. This volume organises the islanders’ legends by geographical order, beginning with the islands closest to New Guinea and progressing southward towards Muralug, the island closest to Cape York, Queensland.

    Legends of the Torres Straits was first published in 1870 and has been proudly republished by Read & Co. Books in the Folklore History series. This rich collection of mythology is not to be missed by those interested in the indigenous peoples of Australia.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateSep 22, 2016
    ISBN9781473352315
    Legends of the Torres Straits (Folklore History Series)

    Read more from Alfred C. Haddon

    Related to Legends of the Torres Straits (Folklore History Series)

    Related ebooks

    Social Science For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      An Invitation To Listen

      Aug 25, 2022

      An Invitation To Listen
      10 min read

    • Article

      Mind. Body. Action.

      Aug 11, 2022

      Mind. Body. Action.
      13 min read

    • Article

      Writing My Identity

      Mar 22, 2022

      Writing My Identity
      3 min read

    • Article

      Insight, Not Answers

      Jul 3, 2019

      Insight, Not Answers
      3 min read

    • Article

      Tribal Surfers

      Oct 2, 2019

      Tribal Surfers
      7 min read

    • Article

      Protecting Papatūānuku

      Sep 29, 2021

      Protecting Papatūānuku
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Sacred Place

      Sep 14, 2016

      A Sacred Place
      6 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Nov 10, 2022

      Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      No/20 Art Of The Home

      Jun 3, 2019

      No/20 Art Of The Home
      1 min read

    • Article

      Time Travel with Historical Fiction

      Sep 15, 2022

      September is always a busy time of year. Students head back to school, many heritage organizations reset after Labour Day, and there always seems to be a lot of activities to pack in before cooler weather arrives. I sifted through my “To Be Read” pil

      8 min read

    • Article

      River Of A Mother’s Love

      Apr 18, 2023

      River Of A Mother’s Love
      7 min read

    • Article

      Nu Wa And The Yellow Clay

      Feb 1, 2019

      Nu Wa And The Yellow Clay
      3 min read

    • Article

      Living With Nature

      Feb 1, 2024

      Living With Nature
      9 min read

    • Article

      Fields Of DREAMS

      Jul 15, 2022

      Fields Of DREAMS
      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Jun 16, 2022

      Last year I reported on a curious tradition from the Bassa people of Cameroon regarding falls of fish, crabs and other creatures from the sky [FT404:71]. Now I can share a case of fish falls embedded in a creation myth, as told by the Akuapem of sout

      11 min read

    • Article

      In The Balance

      Dec 15, 2019

      In The Balance
      7 min read

    • Article

      Mark The Spot

      Jul 10, 2023

      Mark The Spot
      6 min read

    • Article

      IN THE WAKE OF Wallace

      Sep 9, 2019

      IN THE WAKE OF Wallace
      7 min read

    • Article

      Denmark

      Dec 3, 2020

      Denmark
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Trouble With Goats

      Jun 30, 2022

      The Trouble With Goats
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Puffling’s Tale

      May 1, 2023

      A Puffling’s Tale
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Journey Upriver

      Sep 9, 2021

      A Journey Upriver
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Healing Power Of Music

      Dec 29, 2022

      The Healing Power Of Music
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Legends of the Torres Straits (Folklore History Series)

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Legends of the Torres Straits (Folklore History Series) - Alfred C. Haddon

      LEGENDS FROM TORRES STRAITS.

      INTRODUCTION.

      IN collecting these myths and legends I could not take down the actual native words, being ignorant of the language, but I have given a faithful rendering of the stories as told to me in broken English. I have nowhere embellished the accounts, and I have given most of the conversations and remarks of people in the very words my informants used; thus preserving, as far as possible, the freshness and quaintness of the original narrative. I believe that in most cases the native idiom was bodily translated into the Pigeon English.

      As to the age of the legends I can form no idea. One point is noteworthy, that not in a single instance did I ever hear of any reference to a white man nor of anything belonging to white men; for example, a knife was always ‘upi’, the old bamboo knife, never ‘gi’ or ‘gi turik’ (‘knife’; turik also meant ‘iron’). I think I am safe in asserting that thirty years ago there was no intelligent intercourse with white men; this period may practically be reduced to twenty years, and in some islands to even less. I usually checked the genuineness of the legends by inquiry of other men than the original informants; not un-frequently old men were present, who were often referred to. My narrators were, almost without exception, middle-aged men, and I am always careful to impress on them the importance of giving me the story as they had heard it from the old men. Experience showed me that they were as conservative as children of traditional phrases and modes of expression. Therefore I can confidently claim that this collection of legends really represents the folklore of the last generation, and the stories may therefore be of any age previous to the influence of Europeans and South Sea men.

      I have taken very great trouble in satisfying myself as to the sense of the narratives, and in appreciating and confirming incidental allusions to customs now passed away. There are, however, a certain number of phrases and customs which are obscure to me. On the other hand, one must remember that logical and connected accounts are, so to speak, unsavage, and such narratives from a savage race may justly be regarded with a certain amount of suspicion.

      The legends are arranged, as far as possible, in geographical order, beginning with those islands nearest to New Guinea and passing southward to Muralug, the island nearest to Cape York, Queensland. Thus the first seventeen relate to the Western tribe. The legends of the Western tribe, The Story of Gelam, The Fightings of Kwoiam, and The Six Blind Brothers, I hope to publish shortly in a more popular form. Of the Eastern tribe, or that inhabiting the volcanic islands of Uga, Erub, and the Murray Islands, I have collected only a very few legends, having purposely left many others for my friend, the Rev. A. S. Hunt, the resident missionary on Mer, to record.

      In vol. xix (Feb. 1890) of the Journal of the Anthropological Institute will be found a fairly complete record of the customs of the Western tribe of Torres Straits, and I hope to add an account of the Eastern tribe in about a year’s time. The two tribes differ considerably in their customs and language.

      I have adopted the following vowel pronunciation:—a, as in ‘father’; , as in ‘at’; e, as a in ‘date’; , as in ‘deft’; i, as ee in ‘feet’; , as in ‘it’; o, as in ‘own’; , as in ‘on’; u, as oo in ‘soon’; , as in ‘up’; ai as in ‘aisle’; au as ow in ‘cow’.

      The numbers in brackets refer to explanatory notes, which will be found at the end of the communication.

      I.—THE BIRTH OF KUSA KAP.

      (Told by Nagu (now Wairu) of Badu.)

      One day Maiwasa of Dauan went along the reef looking for the feeding ground of a dugong (1); with him walked his wife, Bukari, a fine, well-favoured woman, possessing a notable pair of large ear-pendants (muti) ornamented with seeds (kusa). Now it happened that a Dorgai (2) named Gidzö had perched in a large tree (Dani) near by, and she cast longing glances at Maiwasa, saying to herself, Why, that woman go along my man—that man belong to me.

      Maiwasa was successful in his search, and erected a dugong platform or ne t on that part of the reef where he found the grass eaten by a dugong; he spent that night on his ne t, but speared nothing.

      The next day Maiwasa went a long way on the reef at low water to look for marks of the dugong, and Bukari took a pat, or short simple spear, to do a little fishing.

      Gidzö, taking a large drum, wurup (4), and going to a dry place on the rocks, transformed herself into an octopus (sugu), and waited in this form for the coming of Bukari. Meanwhile Maiwasa wandered a long way off, and was so engrossed in his own business that he paid no attention to his wife’s movements.

      Bukari, looking in crevices and under stones in her search for fish, came at length upon the octopus and attempted to spear it, whereupon the Dorgai resumed her usual form, put her big drum completely over Bukari, and, after changing faces with her, set the unlucky woman adrift on the sea in the drum.

      Gidzö then went to look for Maiwasa, who called out on seeing her, Come on, we must go home now, the tide is rising, and Gidzö followed; when she moved or bent down she broke the wind. Hulloa! cried Maiwasa, what kind of woman is that? Bukari was not like that before. Gidzö lived with Maiwasa as his wife for some time, but though like Bukari in features, she differed from her in many details, and the sudden change in his wife greatly perplexed Maiwasa, who at length concluded that she was a Dorgai.

      The warup containing Bukari drifted away towards Boigu, and was cast up on the sand beach of Baiibai, a small island close to Boigu; on stranding, Bukari came out of the drum, and looking round, saw Dauan to windward, and exclaimed, I am a long way off from my man. On this islet there was neither food nor water, and feeling hungry, she pulled two seeds from one of her ear-pendants and ate them.

      She continued to eat two seeds every morning and evening till she had finished one ear-pendant, and she wondered what she could do next, for there was no water to drink. When commencing on the second ear

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1