Working for the railways : Torres Strait Islander labour and mobility in the 1960s

Journal article

Konishi, Shino and Lui-Chivizhe, Leah. (2014). Working for the railways : Torres Strait Islander labour and mobility in the 1960s. Journal of Australian Studies. 38(4), pp. 445-456. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2014.952766
AuthorsKonishi, Shino and Lui-Chivizhe, Leah
Abstract

In 1995 Ann Curthoys and Clive Moore published “Working for the White People”, a key essay on Indigenous labour historiography. They called for scholars to consider the history of Indigenous people's experience of work in terms of labour and not race relations. In this special issue devoted to celebrating Ann Curthoys' career, we take up the challenge by writing a history of the Torres Strait Islanders who moved to the mainland to work on the construction of the railways to service the burgeoning mining industry in the 1960s, a period commemorated in Islander communities as “railway time”. In our study of Indigenous labour and mobility we focus on the experiences of a particular Islander man, John Culear Kennell Snr, who worked as a labourer, team leader and recruiter of other Islanders in Queensland and Western Australia.

Keywordsindigenous history; labour history; Torres Strait Islanders; railways; mobility
Year2014
JournalJournal of Australian Studies
Journal citation38 (4), pp. 445-456
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN1444-3058
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2014.952766
Scopus EID2-s2.0-84911937371
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range445-456
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online12 Nov 2014
Publication process dates
Deposited24 Aug 2021
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