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Religious affiliations of Torres Strait islanders in localities with significant share of Torres Strait islander population [4] The Islanders refer to this event as "The Coming of the Light", also known as Zulai Wan, [ 47 ] [ 57 ] or Bi Akarida, [ 48 ] and all Island communities celebrate the occasion annually on 1 July.
These include changes in individuals' identification as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in different censuses, and individuals completing a census form in 2021 but not in 2016. These factors accounted for 56.5% of the increase in the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander population (92,471 people).
The Torres Strait Islands' population was recorded at 4,514 in the 2016 Australian census, with 91.8% of these identifying as Indigenous Torres Strait Island peoples. Although counted as Indigenous Australians, Torres Strait Islander peoples, being predominantly Melanesian, are ethnically and culturally different from Aboriginal Australians.
The Torres Strait Islander people possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea, and speak a Papuan language. [54] Accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation "Aboriginal Australians".
The Torres Strait Islanders are Indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands, which are at the northernmost tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea. The term "Aboriginal" has traditionally been applied to Indigenous inhabitants of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and some of the other adjacent islands.
In Australia, the total population of Torres Strait Islanders, a Melanesian people, as of 30 June 2016, was about 38,700 identifying as being of Torres Strait Islander origin only, and 32,200 of both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander origin (a total of 70,900). [31]
4.2% identified as Torres Strait Islander; 4.4% identified as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. However, the net undercount of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 17.4%, [59] and the estimated Indigenous population is around 952,000 to 1,000,000, or just under 4 per cent of the total population. [57]
Melanesian Meriam people are an Indigenous Australian group of Torres Strait Islander people who are united by a common language, strong ties of kinship and live as skilled hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans on a number of inner eastern Torres Strait Islands including Mer or Murray Island, Ugar or Stephen Island and Erub or Darnley Island. [1]