South Sea Islander

South Sea Islanders in Australia

Flag of the South Sea Islanders
South Sea Islander labourers on a Queensland pineapple plantation, 1890s
Total population
c.200,000 (1% of Australia's population)
Regions with significant populations
Sydney · Brisbane · Gold Coast · Melbourne
Languages
Australian English · Carolinian · Tongan · Maori · Samoan · others
Related ethnic groups
Pacific Islanders

South Sea Islanders refers to Australian descendants of people from more than 80 islands in the Western Pacific – including the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides) in Melanesia and the Loyalty Islands, Samoa, Kiribati, Rotuma and Tuvalu in Polynesia and Micronesia – who were kidnapped or 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 service. At its height, the recruiting accounted for over half the adult male population of some islands.

These people were generally referred to as Kanakas, which means "man", although many Islander descendants now regard the term as pejorative and an insulting reminder of their ancestors' exploitation at the hands of white planters.

With time, owing to intermarriage, many Australian South Sea Islanders also claim a mixed ancestry, including Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders and immigrants from the South Pacific Islands.

Of some 55,000 to 62,500 Islanders recruited, around 10,000 remained in Australia in 1901. The majority were repatriated by the Australian Government in the period between 1906-08 under the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901, a piece of legislation related to the White Australia Policy. There was resistance to repatriation, and controversy regarding the manner in which it was done.