cocos island knives are back

Ian · 5th September 2017, 03:20 PM

ausjulius,

There may be a more dark explanation as to how Malay or Melanesian people ended up in the Cocos Keeling Islands in the 19th C. There was a practice in northern Australia of "blackbirding" native people of the Torres Strait Islands and nearby into forced labor on sugar plantations, etc. This was essentially a form of slavery. An ugly part of Australian history that also included indigenous groups (Aborigines).

I don't know the history of the Cocos Keeling Islands well enough to say whether the Malay inhabitants went there voluntarily or not, but the Clunies-Ross family ruled these islands with absolute authority before they became part of Australia.

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5th September 2017, 03:20 PM	#8
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,361	ausjulius, There may be a more dark explanation as to how Malay or Melanesian people ended up in the Cocos Keeling Islands in the 19th C. There was a practice in northern Australia of "blackbirding" native people of the Torres Strait Islands and nearby into forced labor on sugar plantations, etc. This was essentially a form of slavery. An ugly part of Australian history that also included indigenous groups (Aborigines). I don't know the history of the Cocos Keeling Islands well enough to say whether the Malay inhabitants went there voluntarily or not, but the Clunies-Ross family ruled these islands with absolute authority before they became part of Australia.