Mabuiag People
The people of "Mabuiag Island", the Mabuygilgal (in the Torres Strait) are one of the Melanesian Torres Strait Islander populations. They in common with all Torres Strait Islanders had a mixed reputation for hostility as well as eagerness to develop trading links with outsiders before they became Christian in the early 1870s. The language of the island is the Gœmulgau (Mabuylgau) Ya sub-dialect of Kala Lagaw Ya.
The society consists of two moieties ("koey buway"), the Gumuligal of Wagedagam ('Rear-Side') on the northwest (kukidagam) side of Mabuiag (their totem wind and direction), and the Mabuygilgal people of the Paipaidagam ('Near-Side') on the south-east side (sagerdagam), their main totem wind and direction. Sub-buway are those whose wind/direction is the southwest (zeydagam), and those whose totem wind/direction is the north-east (naygaydagam).
Read more about Mabuiag People: History, Local Lore, Notable Persons
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“The conclusion has never changed: the worst sort of people come here for the worst sort of reasons and put upon those of us who have conveniently forgotten where we came from and how we got here.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)