Meriam Stories and Songs

 

Traditional stories of Mer, and of the Torres Strait region, have largely been recorded in the “Myths and Legends of the Torres Strait” by Margaret Lawrie.

 

The stories survived through the push of the Church to stop all language use and cultural practices. People kept the stories and understandings of the traditional ceremonies behind closed doors and traditional responsibilities and birthrights were passed on through the generations.

​

A.C. Haddon, in 1898, twenty-seven years after the “Coming of the Light” in 1871, spent a great deal of time recording Meriam knowledge. Much of the traditional Meriam information is in volumes of the Haddon Collection and artefacts collected are still in the possession of the University of Cambridge in England.