Malo-Bomai

The law of the Meriam, known as Malo's Law, comes from the sea.

According to myth, Malo crossed the Torres Strait from the northwest, firstly as a whale, before transforming himself into many sea creatures.

On arriving at Mer, he took the form of an octopus, was acknowledged as a supernatural being and became the god of the eight clans of the Meriam.

Malo, or Bomai which is his secret and more sacred name, established the law, which decreed that clans keep to their own paths, "swim with their own kind", sow their lands and conserve their seas.