Company boats, sailing dinghies and passenger fish : fathoming Torres Strait Islander participation in the maritime conomy
journal contribution
posted on 2017-12-06, 00:00authored byStephen Mullins
While research has been conducted into Torres Strait’s Queensland government controlled lugger-based company boat system, which operated from about 1904 until the late 1960s, another significant Torres Strait Islander mode of production, the gathering of marine product using shore-based sailing dinghies, has been largely overlooked. This article traces the emergence of this small-scale, yet substantial, pervasive and persistent form of enterprise and makes some preliminary observations about the patterns of activity. It suggests that a more detailed analysis of sailing dinghy work might offer fresh insights into Torres Strait Islander engagement with colonialism and further complicate the social control interpretive model.
History
Volume
103
Start Page
39
End Page
58
Number of Pages
20
ISSN
0023-6942
Location
Australia
Publisher
Australian Society for the Study of Labour History