DOCSLIB.ORG

Beyond Fictions of Closure in Australian Aboriginal Kinship

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Beyond Fictions of Closure in Australian Aboriginal Kinship MATHEMATICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND CULTURAL THEORY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL VOLUME 5 NO. 1 MAY 2013 BEYOND FICTIONS OF CLOSURE IN AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL KINSHIP WOODROW W. DENHAM, PH. D RETIRED INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR [email protected] COPYRIGHT 2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY AUTHOR SUBMITTED: DECEMBER 15, 2012 ACCEPTED: JANUARY 31, 2013 MATHEMATICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND CULTURAL THEORY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ISSN 1544-5879 DENHAM: BEYOND FICTIONS OF CLOSURE WWW.MATHEMATICALANTHROPOLOGY.ORG MATHEMATICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND CULTURAL THEORY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL VOLUME 5 NO. 1 PAGE 1 OF 90 MAY 2013 BEYOND FICTIONS OF CLOSURE IN AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL KINSHIP WOODROW W. DENHAM, PH. D. Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Dedication .................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... 3 1. The problem ........................................................................................................................ 4 2. Demographic history ......................................................................................................... 10 Societal boundaries, nations and drainage basins ................................................................. 10 Exogamy rates ....................................................................................................................... 12 Small-world networks ........................................................................................................... 17 Geographical distribution of exogamy .................................................................................. 20 Population sizes ..................................................................................................................... 26 Population stability ............................................................................................................... 26 Implications of demographic patterns ................................................................................... 29 3. Inbreeding avoidance ...................................................................................................... 29 Diagrammatic conventions ................................................................................................... 30 Measuring Alyawarra endogamy .......................................................................................... 30 Primary inbreeding avoidance in canonical Kariera ............................................................. 33 Enhanced inbreeding avoidance in canonical Kariera .......................................................... 34 Incremental Changes ......................................................................................................... 35 Marriage with tribal kin instead of proper kin .............................................................. 35 Alternate generation-level marriage .............................................................................. 35 Omaha kin term skew ................................................................................................... 35 Phase Transitions .............................................................................................................. 39 Skin term transformations ............................................................................................. 39 Circulating connubia ..................................................................................................... 48 Endogamous helical generations ................................................................................... 49 Exogamous horizontal and vertical asymmetry ............................................................ 50 4. Ecological history ............................................................................................................ 55 Habitat features and stochasticity .......................................................................................... 55 A different pulsating heart .................................................................................................... 57 Firestick farming and the food crisis in prehistory ............................................................... 58 Ecological and social cycles.................................................................................................. 64 5. Testing the proposal ........................................................................................................ 67 6. Summary and conclusions .............................................................................................. 68 Appendix 1. Glossary of basic concepts in inbreeding avoidance ........................................... 74 Appendix 2. Alyawarra data used in preparing this paper ....................................................... 78 Appendix 3. Preferred and traditional spellings with locations ............................................... 79 References ................................................................................................................................. 80 DENHAM: BEYOND FICTIONS OF CLOSURE WWW.MATHEMATICALANTHROPOLOGY.ORG MATHEMATICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND CULTURAL THEORY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL VOLUME 5 NO. 1 PAGE 2 OF 90 MAY 2013 Abstract: There is a contradiction between the fact that societal endogamy characterizes most models of Australian Aboriginal systems of descent, marriage and kinship, while societal exogamy, which is freely acknowledged by most observers, widely reported in the ethnographic literature and necessary for Aboriginal survival, is commonly missing from those models. In a field characterized by the modeling of formal relational systems of enormous complexity within societies, surely it is remarkable that representations and analyses of comparable complexity rarely address relations between and among Aboriginal Nations and their constituent societies. The tradition of building endogamous, generationally closed cognitive models of exogamous, behaviorally open societies is valuable for some purposes but is lacking in realism. Drawing on research in demography, genetics, kinship, historical linguistics, ecology and archaeology, I advocate moving beyond cognition and dealing with the facts of life as well. I use small-world networks, directed marriage cycles, the geographical distribution of exogamous marriages and additional measures to demonstrate that generational closure and societal closure, which define boundaries around traditional units of analysis in Australian Aboriginal kinship research, are not simplifying assumptions that enhance our understanding, but rather are fictions that distort our understanding. When we impose defective boundaries, perhaps due to over-zealously applying the organic analogy or comparable European folk theories, we cannot clearly discern what happens within each unit of analysis, how the units interact with each other, or how they collectively interact with the world around them. My central question concerns inbreeding avoidance: How did Australian Aboriginal people and societies achieve a balance between ancestral law that stipulates canonical Kariera/Aranda descent, marriage and kinship patterns, or something similar to them, and biological “law” that demands viable inbreeding coefficients? My tentative answer focuses on reproductive strategies that systematically reduce societal closure while increasing societal complexity, including marriage with tribal (classificatory) kin instead of proper kin, alternate generation-level marriage, Omaha kin term skewing, a broad spectrum of systematic changes in skin terms, circulating connubia, endogamous (perhaps helical) generations and exogamous horizontal and vertical marriage asymmetry. I suggest that Australian Aboriginal societies responded uniquely when confronted with the food crisis in prehistory. Facing hostile environments throughout most of the continent, and possessing multiple levels of adaptive kin relationships and a worldview that emphasized economic cooperation more than competition, they did not move toward domestication, technological innovation, social stratification and ownership of personal property. Instead, at least two innovations characteristic of Australia occurred; viz., the emergence of section and subsection systems and the adoption of firestick farming, both of which had the benign effect of imparting integration, stability, persistence and abidingness to ever-changing Aboriginal societies. In this context, statistically analyzable marital ties that span multiple generations and interlink diverse section and subsection systems among the Alyawarra; Eastern, Northern and Western Aranda; Wailbri, Kaititja, Warramunga, Anmatjerra and other language groups in Central Australia may be recent legacies of successful attempts to maintain stable regional populations in the face of 19th and 20th century genocide. DENHAM: BEYOND FICTIONS OF CLOSURE WWW.MATHEMATICALANTHROPOLOGY.ORG MATHEMATICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND CULTURAL THEORY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL VOLUME 5 NO. 1 PAGE 3 OF 90 MAY 2013 Dedication I dedicate this work to F.G.G. Rose, N.B. Tindale and J.B. Birdsell. They shared an exceptional orientation toward the study of Australian Aboriginal societies in the mid-20th century that yielded
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Using Maps in Genealogy
    Using Maps in Genealogy Though their names have changed, some of these places may be noted on an old map. The location of some others may be found in sources such as lists of abandoned post offices, local histories, government records, microfilm records, or clippings from old newspapers, old city directories, or old county atlases kept in the library archives of a town, city, or county in the region. If you find unfamiliar place names during your search, the U. S. Geological Survey can help. The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Nation's official data base of place names. The GNIS is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and can often provide information on name changes. This data base contains 2 million entries, including the names of places that no longer exist, as well as variant names for existing places. Getting Started and Marriage Records. If not, you can pur- chase a copy from the U.S. Government This automated system also contains the Maps are one of the many sources you Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. names of every type of feature except roads may need to complete a family tree. and highways. It is especially useful for Finally, online searching on terms such as genealogical research because it contains In genealogical research, maps can provide "genealogy" through any of the major World entries for communities, as well as for church- clues to where our ancestors may have lived Wide Web search engines (including es and cemeteries, even those that no longer and where to look for written records about www.yahoo.com, www.excite.com, and exist.
    [Show full text]
  • CO U S I N M a R R I a G E Must Ultimately Be Deduced from The
    N I N E GI LYA K CO U S I N MA R R I A G E A N D MO R G A N’S HY P O T H E S I S1 [113–129; 155–159, 168–185, 159–167; 219–235; 114–124] C O U S I N M A R R I A G E must ultimately be deduced from the realization that close blood marriage between close blood relatives is harmful. We have seen that primitive man, for a number of reasons (be they religious conservatism, ideas associated with ances- tor worship, or the desire for a peaceful organization of marriage), did not pass direct- ly from marriage between brother and sister to marriage between remote relations or strangers. Our goal in this chapter is to trace the genetic link between the Gilyak system and that of Australia, to see how the Gilyak diverged from the Australian sys- tem at the stage when marriage between two-sided first-cousins first began to come into disrepute [114].2 The great transformation towards exogamous marriage took place with extrem e slowness. Thus, as is the case even now among the Australian natives, the first form of exogamy adopted was that of enforced marriage between children of brother and sister. As the marriages occur uniformly from generation to generation, the group, in matrimonial orde r , is necessarily divided into two moieties which, following the gen- erations, exchange their women by cross-cousin marriage. In its application to indi- vidual families, this system requires that the son of a brother marry the latter’s sis- ter’s daughter, and conversely, the son of a sister, the latter’s brother’s daughter.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding Marriage and Families Across Time and Place M01 ESHL8740 12 SE C01.QXD 9/14/09 5:28 PM Page 3
    M01_ESHL8740_12_SE_C01.QXD 9/14/09 5:28 PM Page 2 part I Understanding Marriage and Families across Time and Place M01_ESHL8740_12_SE_C01.QXD 9/14/09 5:28 PM Page 3 chapter 1 Defining the Family Institutional and Disciplinary Concerns Case Example What Is a Family? Is There a Universal Standard? What Do Contemporary Families Look Like? Ross and Janet have been married more than forty-seven years. They have two chil- dren, a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law, and four grandsons. Few would dispute the notion that all these members are part of a common kinship group because all are related by birth or marriage. The three couples involved each got engaged, made a public announcement of their wedding plans, got married in a religious ceremony, and moved to separate residences, and each female accepted her husband’s last name. Few would question that each of these groups of couples with their children constitutes a family, although a question remains as to whether they are a single family unit or multiple family units. More difficult to classify are the families of Vernon and Jeanne and their chil- dren. Married for more than twenty years, Vernon and Jeanne had four children whom have had vastly different family experiences. Their oldest son, John, moved into a new addition to his parents’ house when he was married and continues to live there with his wife and three children. Are John, his wife, and his children a separate family unit, or are they part of Vernon and Jeanne’s family unit? The second child, Sonia, pursued a career in marketing and never married.
    [Show full text]
  • Marriage Sources & Title
    Marriage Records of Residents of Prince William County, Virginia 1731 – 1930 (From Various Sources Except the Official Register) Compiled by Margaret B. Binning Updated: January 2021 Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center (RELIC) Bull Run Regional Library, Manassas, Virginia Marriage Records of Residents of Prince William County, Virginia, 1731 - 1930 Source Notes Beveridge Family File, RELIC (Bible Record) Bible Record Collection at the Library of Virginia (Web Site: www.lva.virginia.gov/) The Boy Major of the Confederacy, Joseph White Latimer by David T. Myers (RELIC Bio Latimer) Connections and Separations: Divorce, Name Change and Other Genealogical Tidbits from the Acts of the Virginia General Assembly by Wesley E. Pippenger (RELIC 929.3755 Con) Chick Family File, RELIC District of Columbia Marriage Records Index (June 28, 1877- Oct. 19 1885) By Wesley E. Pippenger (RELIC929.3753 Pip) District of Columbia Marriage Records Index (Oct. 20, 1885 – Jan. 20, 1892) By Wesley E. Pippenger (RELIC 929.3753 Pip) Daily National Intelligencer Marriage and Death Notices Jan.1, 1851 to Dec. 30, 1854 by Pippenger (1999) (RELIC 929.3753 Pip) Death Notices, Obituaries & Memoriams from the PWC Manassas Gazette & Manassas Journal 1885-1910 by Carol Thompson Phillips (RELIC 975.527 Phi) Dumfries Episcopal Church Register, Prince William County, Marriages 1815- 1834 in Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol 24, No.1, Feb 1986 transcribed by Joicey Haw Lindsay (RELIC Mag) also available AncestryLibrary ed Ewell Family File, RELIC Bible Record Fauquier Democrat / Times-Democrat Index on Fauquier Co. Library Web Site Fauquier Heritage Soc. News Vol 2, No. 4 & Vol. 3, No. 1 (RELIC Mag) Foley Family File, RELIC & The Virginia Genealogist, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Principles of the Use of Macro-Areas Language Dynamics &A
    Online Appendix for Harald Hammarstr¨om& Mark Donohue (2014) Some Principles of the Use of Macro-Areas Language Dynamics & Change Harald Hammarstr¨om& Mark Donohue The following document lists the languages of the world and their as- signment to the macro-areas described in the main body of the paper as well as the WALS macro-area for languages featured in the WALS 2005 edi- tion. 7160 languages are included, which represent all languages for which we had coordinates available1. Every language is given with its ISO-639-3 code (if it has one) for proper identification. The mapping between WALS languages and ISO-codes was done by using the mapping downloadable from the 2011 online WALS edition2 (because a number of errors in the mapping were corrected for the 2011 edition). 38 WALS languages are not given an ISO-code in the 2011 mapping, 36 of these have been assigned their appropri- ate iso-code based on the sources the WALS lists for the respective language. This was not possible for Tasmanian (WALS-code: tsm) because the WALS mixes data from very different Tasmanian languages and for Kualan (WALS- code: kua) because no source is given. 17 WALS-languages were assigned ISO-codes which have subsequently been retired { these have been assigned their appropriate updated ISO-code. In many cases, a WALS-language is mapped to several ISO-codes. As this has no bearing for the assignment to macro-areas, multiple mappings have been retained. 1There are another couple of hundred languages which are attested but for which our database currently lacks coordinates.
    [Show full text]
  • Major Trends Affecting Families in Central America and the Caribbean
    Major Trends Affecting Families in Central America and the Caribbean Prepared by: Dr. Godfrey St. Bernard The University of the West Indies St. Augustine Trinidad and Tobago Phone Contacts: 1-868-776-4768 (mobile) 1-868-640-5584 (home) 1-868-662-2002 ext. 2148 (office) E-mail Contacts: [email protected] [email protected] Prepared for: United Nations Division of Social Policy and Development Department of Economic and Social Affairs Program on the Family Date: May 23, 2003 Introduction Though an elusive concept, the family is a social institution that binds two or more individuals into a primary group to the extent that the members of the group are related to one another on the basis of blood relationships, affinity or some other symbolic network of association. It is an essential pillar upon which all societies are built and with such a character, has transcended time and space. Often times, it has been mooted that the most constant thing in life is change, a phenomenon that is characteristic of the family irrespective of space and time. The dynamic character of family structures, - including members’ status, their associated roles, functions and interpersonal relationships, - has an important impact on a host of other social institutional spheres, prospective economic fortunes, political decision-making and sustainable futures. Assuming that the ultimate goal of all societies is to enhance quality of life, the family constitutes a worthy unit of inquiry. Whether from a social or economic standpoint, the family is critical in stimulating the well being of a people. The family has been and will continue to be subjected to myriad social, economic, cultural, political and environmental forces that shape it.
    [Show full text]
  • Psychoanalytic Conceptions of Marriage and Marital Relationships 381 Been Discussing, Since These Figures Are Able to Reanimate Pictures of Their Mother Or Father
    UNIVERSITY OF NIŠ The scientific journal FACTA UNIVERSITATIS Series: Philosophy and Sociology Vol.2, No 7, 2000 pp. 379 - 389 Editor of series: Gligorije Zaječaranović Address: Univerzitetski trg 2, 18000 Niš, YU Tel: +381 18 547-095, Fax: +381 18 547-950 PSYCHOANALYTIC CONCEPTIONS OF MARRIAGE AND MARITAL RELATIONSHIPS UDC 159.964.28+173.1+340.61 Zorica Marković University of Niš, Faculty of Philosophy, Niš, Yugoslavia Abstract. This work disclusses marital types and merital relationships as by several psychoanalysts: Sigmund Freud, Annie Reich, Helene Deutch, Knight Aldrich and Bela Mittelman. It analyzes kinds of relations hips, dynamics of interaction and inner mechanisms of interaction.Comparing marital types of the mentioned authors it can be seen that there is agreement among them and that they mainly represent further elaboration and "topic variation" of the basic marital types which are discussed by Sigmund Freud: anaclictic and narcissistic.Also, it can be concluded that all analysed marital types possess several common characteristics: 1. they are defined by relationships in childhood with parents or other important persons with whom a child was in touch; 2. dynamics of partner relationships is defined by unconscious motives; 3. same kinds of relationships and same type of partner selection a person repeats in all further attempts in spite of the fact that it does not give satisfactory results. Key words: psychoanalysis, marriage, partner, choice, relationships According to Si gmund Fr e ud , the founder of psychoanalysis, marital partner choice, as well as marital relationships, are defined much before marriage was concluded. Relationship with marital partner is determined by relationships with parents and important persons in one's childhood.
    [Show full text]
  • How Understanding the Aboriginal Kinship System Can Inform Better
    How understanding the Aboriginal Kinship system can inform better policy and practice: social work research with the Larrakia and Warumungu Peoples of the Northern Territory Submitted by KAREN CHRISTINE KING BSW A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Social Work Faculty of Arts and Science Australian Catholic University December 2011 2 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP AND SOURCES This thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. All research procedures reported in the thesis received the approval of the Australian Catholic University Human Research Ethics Committee. Karen Christine King BSW 9th March 2012 3 4 ABSTRACT This qualitative inquiry explored the kinship system of both the Larrakia and Warumungu peoples of the Northern Territory with the aim of informing social work theory and practice in Australia. It also aimed to return information to the knowledge holders for the purposes of strengthening Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing. This study is presented as a journey, with the oral story-telling traditions of the Larrakia and Warumungu embedded and laced throughout. The kinship system is unpacked in detail, and knowledge holders explain its benefits in their lives along with their support for sharing this knowledge with social workers.
    [Show full text]
  • Loanwords Between the Arandic Languages and Their Western Neighbours: Principles of Identification and Phonological Adaptation
    Loanwords between the Arandic languages and their western neighbours: Principles of identification and phonological adaptation Harold%Koch% Australian%National%University% [email protected]% This paper 1 summarises the characteristics of loanwords, especially the ways in which they are adapted to the structure of the borrowing language, and surveys the various tests that have been provided in both the general historical linguistics literature and Australianist literature for identifying the fact and direction of borrowing. It then provides a case study of loanwords out of and into the Arandic languages; the other languages involved are especially Warlpiri but to some extent dialects of the Western Desert language. The primary focus is on the phonological adaptation of loanwords between languages whose phonological structure differs especially in the presence vs. absence of initial consonants, in consequence of earlier changes whereby Arandic languages lost all initial consonants. While loanwords out of Arandic add a consonant, it is claimed that loanwords into Arandic include two chronological strata: in one the source consonant was preserved but the other (older) pattern involved truncation of the source consonant. Reasons for this twofold behaviour are presented (in terms of diachronic and contrastive phonology), and the examples of the more radical (older) pattern 1 The title, abstract, and introduction have been altered from the version offered at ALS2013, which was titled ‘How to identify loanwords between Australian languages:
    [Show full text]
  • Karajarri Literature Review 2014
    Tukujana Nganyjurrukura Ngurra All of us looking after country together Literature Review for Terrestrial & Marine Environments on Karajarri Land and Sea Country Compiled by Tim Willing 2014 Acknowledgements The following individuals are thanked for assistance in the DISCLAIMERS compilation of this report: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the Karajarri Rangers and Co-ordinator Thomas King; author and do not necessarily reflect the official view of the Kimberley Land Council’s Land and Sea Management unit. While reasonable Members of the Karajarri Traditional Lands Association efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication (KTLA) and IPA Cultural Advisory Committee: Joseph Edgar, are factually correct, the Land and Sea Management Unit accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents. To the Mervyn Mulardy Jnr, Joe Munro, Geraldine George, Jaqueline extent permitted by law, the Kimberley Land Council excludes all liability Shovellor, Anna Dwyer, Alma Bin Rashid, Faye Dean, Frankie to any person for any consequences, including, but not limited to all Shovellor, Lenny Hopiga, Shirley Spratt, Sylvia Shovellor, losses, damages, costs, expenses, and any other compensation, arising directly or indirectly from using this publication (in part or in whole) and Celia Bennett, Wittidong Mulardy, Jessica Bangu and Rosie any information or material contained in it. Munro. This report contains cultural and intellectual property belonging to the Richard Meister from the KLC Land and Sea Management Karajarri Traditional Lands Association. Users are accordingly cautioned Unit, for coordination, meeting and editorial support as well to seek formal permission before reproducing any material from this report.
    [Show full text]
  • FIGHTING OVER COUNTRY: Anthropological Perspectives
    FIGHTING OVER COUNTRY: Anthropological Perspectives Edited by D.E. Smith and J. Finlayson Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research The Australian National University, Canberra Research Monograph No. 12 1997 First published in Australia 1997. Printed by Instant Colour Press, Canberra, Australia. © Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University. This book is copyright Apart from any fair dealings for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be directed to the publisher, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. National Library of Australia. Cataloguing-in-publication entry. Fighting over country: anthropological perspectives ISBN 07315 2561 2. 1. Aborigines, Australian - Land tenure. 2. Native title - Australia. 3. Torres Strait Islanders - Land tenure. 4. Land use - Australia. I. Finlayson, Julie, n. Smith, Diane (Diane Evelyn). ID. The Australian National University. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research. (Series: Research monograph (The Australian National University. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research); no. 12). 306.320899915 Acknowledgments A number of people assisted in the organisation and conduct of the workshop Fighting Over Country: Anthropological Perspectives held in Canberra in late September 1996. The workshop was the latest in a series sponsored by the Australian Anthropological Society focusing on land rights and native title issues. Diane Smith, Julie Finlayson, Francesca Merlan, Mary Edmunds and David Trigger formed the organising committee, and ongoing administrative support was provided by the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR). The Native Titles Research Unit of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) provided modest but very helpful financial assistance towards catering for the workshop.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix a (PDF 85KB)
    A Appendix A: Committee visits to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities As part of the Committee’s inquiry into remote Indigenous community stores the Committee visited seventeen communities, all of which had a distinctive culture, history and identity. The Committee began its community visits on 30 March 2009 travelling to the Torres Strait and the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland over four days. In late April the Committee visited communities in Central Australia over a three day period. Final consultations were held in Broome, Darwin and various remote regions in the Northern Territory including North West Arnhem Land. These visits took place in July over a five day period. At each location the Committee held a public meeting followed by an open forum. These meetings demonstrated to the Committee the importance of the store in remote community life. The Committee appreciated the generous hospitality and evidence provided to the Committee by traditional owners and elders, clans and families in all the remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities visited during the inquiry. The Committee would also like to thank everyone who assisted with the administrative organisation of the Committee’s community visits including ICC managers, Torres Strait Councils, Government Business Managers and many others within the communities. A brief synopsis of each community visit is set out below.1 1 Where population figures are given, these are taken from a range of sources including 2006 Census data and Grants Commission figures. 158 EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands (TSI), traditionally called Zenadth Kes, comprise 274 small islands in an area of 48 000 square kilometres (kms), from the tip of Cape York north to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
    [Show full text]