Moa (Banks Island)
Situated just over forty-five kilometres north of Thursday Island and 842 kilometres west-northwest of Cairns in the Torres Strait Islands Region, Moa (a.k.a. Banks Island) is the largest of the Near Western Islands and the second largest island in the Torres Strait.
When William Bligh charted the main reefs and islands in 1792, he named the island in honour of his patron and friend, the botanist Sir Joseph Banks.
Mounds of rock characterise the lightly vegetated and well-watered island, which is home to two communities — St Pauls, on the island's north-eastern side at the base of Moa Peak, the Torres Strait's highest peak, and Kubin, on the island's southern end, close to the airstrip. The two settlements are connected by road.
The island's traditional owners fell into two groups, the southern Italgal and the northern Mualgal,
The Kubin community is largely made up of Italgal and Mualgal people, others who moved from Muralag (Prince of Wales Island) and nearby islands in the early 1870s, along with Kulkalgal from Nagi, Kaurareg from Hammond and nearby islands, who were moved to Poid on Moa's southwestern corner in 1921. When Poid was abandoned after World War II, one group moved back to Narupai (Horn Island) while the remainder moved east to Kubin.
St. Paul dates back to the early stages of the post-Federation White Australia Policy when the Australian Government introduced forced repatriation of many Pacific Islanders, and in 1908, the Queensland Government gazetted a 500-acre reserve on Moa's eastern shore for those who had married Torres Strait Islanders or Aboriginal people.
