as experiences of non-european groups that came to australia - South Sea Islanders (Kanakas)

Question 1

Why did the South Sea Islanders come to Australia?

Answer 1

• In the 1860s the Queensland colonial government found a source of cheap labour in the
  islands of the South Pacific.
• They were brought to work on the cotton plantations of southern Queensland and the sugar cane fields of northern Queensland.
• It was thought that dark-skinned people were more suited to work in tropical conditions than lighter-skinned Europeans.
• From 1860 to 1904, approximately 50,000 South Sea Islanders worked in Australia.

Question 2

Describe typical living and working conditions.

Answer 2

Life on the cane fields:
- Upon arrival in Queensland, the islanders were sold to plantation owners and forced to work
long hours in the cane fields.
- They had to work long hours clearing dense
tropical scrub to plant sugar cane.
- Many found the climate difficult and had little resistance to
European diseases such as smallpox, measles, dysentery, pneumonia and tuberculosis.
- An average of 50 out of every 1000 died each year, the worst year being 1884, when the death rate
for islander men was 147 per 1000.
- The rate for European men working the cane fields was 9 per 1000.
- The whites believed that they were superior to the islanders, often calling the men
“boys” and the women “Marys”.
- Islander children were discouraged from attending school and some hospitals such as Bundaberg Base hospital had a separate ‘kanaka’ ward as European Australians believed they should not get medical treatment in the same place as the
Islander people.

Question 3

Contribution to the Colonies/Australia.

Answer 3

• Australian South Sea Islanders provided labour to help build local economies and key industries.
• They contributed to the development of farming and grazing, as well as the maritime industry, pearling, mining, the railways, domestic services and childcare.

Question 4

2 pieces of info gained:

Answer 4

• While working on the sugar plantation, there were horses to carry the load
• It was dry out there and workers would’ve been tired and exhausted