Marou Mimi Diary

Gobedar Noah, a senior Meriam man speaking of Marou in 1981 said, '... when he saw ...... when he saw the government still got power to tell him what to do he held meetings at Murray Island.' He wanted to see his culture passed on from his time from generation to generation. The more Marou travelled the more he got his experience from the outside world. Go back and help his people. Marou Mimi kept a diary, written mainly in the Meriam language, which he handed down to his son. Its existence and some of its contents became known to the world in the 1980s when it became a document in the Murray Islanders' Mabo case. His son, the late Gaul Marou, tendered it in court in support of his claim to land he inherited from his father and used according to Meriam tradition.

Keywords: Mabo Case, Mer, Meriam culture, Meriam history, Murray Island, Stars of Tagai

Sharp, Nonie 1993, 'Stars of Tagai, The Torres Strait Islanders', Aboriginal Studies Press. Still:Courtesy of Nonie Sharp.