South Sea Islanders

Common card · No. 370701

South Sea Islanders, also known as Australian South Sea Islanders (ASSI) and formerly referred to as Kanakas, are the Australian descendants of Pacific Islanders from more than 80 islands – including the Oceanian archipelagoes of the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Gilbert Islands, and New Ireland – who were recruited between the mid-to-late 19th century as labourers in the sugarcane fields of Queensland. Some were kidnapped or tricked (or "blackbirded") into long-term indentured servitude or slavery, despite the Slave Trade Act 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 outlawing slavery in Australia and the rest of the British Empire. At its height, the recruiting accounted for over half the adult male population of some islands. Today, the majority of South Sea Islanders are also Aboriginal Australians or Torres Strait Islanders. As of the 2021 census, there were 7,228 people who claimed South Sea Islander ancestry in Australia, 5,562 of whom lived in Queensland. However...

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