Qualla: Badu Island

Badu Island: Introduction

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. On 1 February 2014, Badu Elder Lily Ahmat received a title deed from the Queensland Government granting the Badulgal people freehold ownership of 9,836 hectares of their own island. The ceremony ended a struggle for legal recognition that had begun in 1939. Seventy-five years is a long time to wait for something you never lost -- the Badulgal have lived on Badu Island, in the Torres Strait sixty kilometers north of Thursday Island, since long before the name Australia existed. But the law required patience, and the Badulgal provided it.

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Image: Public domain

Badu Island: An Island Between Two Worlds

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Badu sits in the western Torres Strait, one of a constellation of islands strung between the tip of Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea. The language spoken here is Kala Lagaw Ya, one of two indigenous languages of the Torres Strait -- linguistically distinct from the Aborig...

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Image: Public domain

Badu Island: Dugong Hunters and Pearl Divers

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Before the 1870s, the rhythms of Badu life centered on the sea and the shore: farming, fishing, canoe building, turtle and dugong hunting. Warfare and headhunting were part of the social fabric until the adoption of Christianity transformed island culture. Pearl shell traders arr...

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Image: Public domain

Badu Island: Art from the Strait

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The Badhulgaw Kuthinaw Mudh Art Centre has given Badu a cultural profile that reaches far beyond the Torres Strait. Artists such as Alick Tipoti and Laurie Nona have gained international recognition for work that draws on traditional forms while pushing into contemporary territor...

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Image: Public domain

Badu Island: Title to Country

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The native title determination of 1 February 2014 recognized what the Badulgal people had always known: that Badu and its surrounding islands belonged to them. The Mura Badulgal (Torres Strait Islanders) Corporation now administers the land on behalf of the community. An Indigeno...

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Image: Public domain