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Badu; Badu Island Queensland
A satellite image of Badu Island
Badu; Badu Island
Coordinates	10°07′13″S 142°08′22″E / 10.1202°S 142.1394°E / -10.1202; 142.1394 (Badu Island (centre of locality))
Population	704 (SAL 2021)
Postcode(s)	4875
Area	101.0 km (39.0 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
LGA(s)	Torres Strait Island Region
State electorate(s)	Cook
Federal division(s)	Leichhardt

Badu or Badu Island (/ˈbɑːduː/; Kala Lagaw Ya: Badhu, pronounced [bad̪u]; also Mulgrave Island), is an island in the Torres Strait 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia. Badu Island is also a locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, and Wakaid is the only town, located on the south-east coast. This island is one of the Torres Strait Islands. The language of Badu is Kala Lagaw Ya.

The Mura Badulgal (Torres Strait Islanders) Corporation administers land on behalf of the Badulgal people. The Badulgal people's ownership of Badu and surrounding islands in the Torres Strait was recognised in a native title determination on 1 February 2014, when the Queensland Government handed over to the Badhulgal traditional owners freehold title to 9,836 hectares (24,310 acres) of land. The Mura Badulgal (Torres Strait Islanders) Corporation (an RNTBC) administers land on behalf of the Badulgal people.

In the 2021 census, Badu Island had a population of 704 people.

History

Kala Lagaw Ya is one of the languages of the Torres Strait. Kalaw Lagaw Ya is the traditional language used on the Western and Central islands of the Torres Strait. The Kalaw Lagaw Ya language region includes the territory within the local government boundaries of the Torres Shire Council.

In 1606, Luís Vaz de Torres sailed to the north of Australia through Torres Strait, navigating it, along New Guinea's southern coast.

Warfare (feuding, headhunting), farming, fishing, canoe building, house building, turtle and dugong hunting and a host of other activities were the main occupations of Badu men until the 1870s. However, headhunting and warfare along some pagan customs ceased with the adoption of Christianity.

Pearlers established bases on the island during the 1870s and by the early 1880s the islanders were becoming dependent on wages earned as lugger crews. At the same time, the first missionaries arrived. At the peak of the shell industry in the late 1950s, the Badu fleet of 13 boats employed a workforce of 200 providing work for many men, even from other islands as well. Once the shell trade declined, many people moved to the mainland for work.

Badu Island State School opened on 29 January 1905. On 1 January 2007, it became the Badu Island campus of Tagai State College.

On 1 February 2014, the Queensland Government handed over to the Badhulgal traditional owners freehold title to 9,836 hectares (24,310 acres) of land on Badu Island, ending a struggle for recognition dating back to 1939. The title deed was handed over by David Kempton, Assistant Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, to Badu Elder Lily Ahmat at a ceremony on the island. An Indigenous land use agreement was signed on 7 July 2014.

Demographics

In the 2016 census, Badu Island had a population of 813 people.

In the 2021 census, Badu Island had a population of 704 people.

Facilities

Infrastructure on Badu Island includes:

• airport
• regional council office
• state school (years 1 to 7)
• health centre with permanent doctor
• two grocery stores, with locally-owned J&J Supermarket
• post office
• Centrelink agency
• football field
• motel

A number of other locally-owned run businesses are in operation at Badu including live seafood exports.

St. Mark's Church was constructed in 1933 and construction was completed in 1935. On 12 January 1936 the church was dedicated to Reverend Stephen Davies, Bishop of Carpentaria. The church was built to accommodate approximately 700 people. The church is still used today

The Badu Island Indigenous Knowledge Centre (IKC) is located in the Rural Transaction Centre on Nona Street, and is operated by the Torres Strait Island Regional Council. IKCs operate as libraries, meeting places, hubs, and keeping places.

The Badhulgaw Kuthinaw Mudh Art Centre sees local arts display and cell their works, and internationally recognised with the works of artists such as Alick Tipoti and Laurie Nona. Storing significant cultural artefacts, the centre also provides skills development and training.

Notable people

Notable people who are from or who have lived on Badu Island include:

• Ethel May Eliza Zahel (1877–1951), teacher and public servant.
• Tanu Nona (1902–1980), pearler and politician.

See also

• Badu Island Airport
• List of Torres Strait Islands
• The Wild White Man of Badu

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Badu Island (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Badu Island (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021. 
3. "Badu Island – island in Torres Strait Island Region (entry 1216)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
4. "Badu Island – locality in Torres Strait Island Region (entry 46705)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
5. "Wakaid – population centre in Torres Strait Island Region (entry 10263)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
6. ^ "Badu Island traditional owners granted freehold title". The Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial Directory. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
7. ^ "Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements project". ATNS. 7 July 2014. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
8. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Badu Island (SAL)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
9. This Misplaced Pages article incorporates CC BY 4.0 licensed text from: "Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages map". State Library of Queensland. State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
10. "ADBonline.anu.edu.au". ADBonline.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
11. Beckett 1987, pp. 147ff.
12. 2006 Bruno David and Marshall Weisler, KURTURNIAIWAK (BADU) and the Archaeology of Villages in Torres Strait Australian Archiology, No. 63,December
13. "Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
14. Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
15. Torres News, 10–16 February 2014
16. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Badu Island (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
17. Randall, Brian (15 August 2013). "Queensland Places - St. Mark's Church, Badu". State Library Of Queensland. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
18. "Badu Island Indigenous Knowledge Centre". Public Libraries Connect. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
19. ^ This Misplaced Pages article incorporates text from Badu IKC (30 September 2022) by Indigenous services published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 18 January 2023.
20. Lawrie, Margaret (1990). "Zahel, Ethel May Eliza (1877–1951)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
21. "Biography - Tanu Nona". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

Bibliography

• Dixon, Robert (2013). "Cannibalising indigenous texts:headhunting and fantasy in Ion L. Idriess's Coral Sea Adventures". In Creed, Barbara; Hoorn, Jeanette (eds.). Body Trade: Captivity, Cannibalism and Colonialism in the Pacific. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-71308-8.
• Beckett, Jeremy . (1987). Torres Strait Islanders: custom and colonialism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-37862-8.

• Moore, David R. (1979). Islanders and Aborigines at Cape York. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. ISBN 978-0-855-75082-4.
• Shnukal (1), Anna (2008). "Traditional Mua" (PDF). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 4 (2): 7–33.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links

• "Badu". Queensland Places. University of Queensland.
• "Badu". Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community histories. Queensland Government.
• Torrens family photographs, photographic slides and film footage of Badu Island and Wujal Wujal, State Library of Queensland. Includes photos and video footage of Badu Island in the 1970s
• Far North and North Queensland photographs and slides, 1970-2018, State Library of Queensland. Collection includes photos of life and culture on Badu Island, such as sports games.
• Badu IKC, State Library of Queensland blog

v t e List of Torres Strait topics
Torres Strait Islands, islets, and cays	Bellevue group Aipus Cap Kamutnab Keatinge Mabuiag Pulu Subur Warakuikul Talab Widul Bourke group Aukane Aureed Kabbikane Layoak Mimi Roberts Yam Duncan group Kanig Maitak Meth Inner group Port Lihou Yeta Adolphus Channel group Albany Bush Eborac Ida Middle Brother Talbot group Aubussi Boigu Moimi The Three Sisters group Bet Poll Sue Yorke group Keats Marsden Rennel Smith Ungrouped Allison Anchor Arden Badu Barn Barney Bond Booby Bramble Browne Campbell Canoe Castle Coconut Crab Dalrymple Darnley Dauan Dayman Deliverance Dove Dugong Dumaralug East East Strait Entrance Farewell Flat Friday Gabba Getullai Goods Great Woody Green Halfway Hammond Hawkesbury High Horn Kaumag Kerr Lacey Little Adolphus Little Woody Lowry Mai Meddler Moa Morilug Mouinndo Mount Adolphus Mount Ernest Murangi Murray Nepean Nicklin North North Possession North West Obelisk Packe Passage Pearce Phipps Portlock Prince of Wales Quoin Red Red Wallis Roko Saddle Saibai Salter Sassie Spencer Stephens Suarji Thursday Tobin Travers Tree Trochus Tudu Tukupai Turnagain Turtle Head Turtle Turu Twin Underdown Wednesday West Whale Woody Wallis York Yorke Zagai
People, culture, communities and languages	Notable Torres Strait Islanders Christine Anu Seaman Dan Aaron Fa'aoso Josh Hoffman Nathan Jawai Ellen Jose Robert Lui Eddie Mabo Rachael Maza Patty Mills Rita Mills Mills Sisters Danny Morseu Tanu Nona Albert Proud Wendell Sailor Sam Thaiday Brent Webb Jesse Williams Culture Indigenous music of Australia Mabo (film) Taba Naba Communities Bamaga Kaurareg Mabuiag Meriam (people) Seisia Languages Bine Eastern Trans-Fly Gizrra Kalaw Lagaw Ya Meriam Torres Strait Creole Torres Strait English Wipi
Governance and legal matters	Governance Shire of Torres Torres Strait Islander Flag Torres Strait Island Region Torres Strait Regional Authority Legal cases and principles Akiba v Commonwealth Mabo v Queensland No 1 No 2 Terra nullius
Buildings and structures	Boigu Island Airport Booby Island Light Coconut Island Airport Darnley Island Airport Eborac Island Light Goods Island Light Kubin Airport Murray Island Airport Saibai Island Airport Warraber Island Airport Wyborn Reef Light Yam Island Airport Yorke Island Airport
Other	Adolphus Channel Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Birds of Boigu, Saibai and Dauan Islands Endeavour Strait Alfred Cort Haddon Margaret Lawrie Sea Swift Warul Kawa Indigenous Protected Area
Category Commons See also: List of Torres Strait Islands

• Torres Strait Islands
• Headhunting
• Torres Strait Island Region
• Towns in Queensland
• Localities in Queensland