Kapiu Masi Gagai (c. 1894 – 21 August 1946) was a Torres Strait Islander man who worked as a pearler, boatman, mission worker and soldier during World War II.[1][2][3]
Kapiu Masi Gagai | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1894 |
| Died | 1946 |
Biography
editGagai was born in around 1894 or 1895, on Mabuiag Island, which sits within the Torres Strait Islands. He was the second son of Newa Gagai and Kubi and he belonged to the Kodal (crocoldile) clan and the Badu Tribe and he grew up speaking Kalaw Lagaw Ya. As a child he was adopted through kupai omasker, a traditional practice of Torres Strait Islanders, by Nomoa and Kaidai.[1] He attended school at the Badu Island School and also received religious instruction from the London Missionary Society and Church of England Missionaries.[4]
From the age of 15 he worked on the pearling luggers active in the area and worked as a swimmer-diver for the Islander-owned pearling company Wakaid. On 22 December 1915 Gagai married Laina Getawan who was also from the Island; they would go on to have three children.[1]
In June 1921 Gagai was recruited to work at the Goulburn Island Methodist Mission, at Warruwi on the Goulburn Islands, in Arnhem Land. He was recruited to work as a boat captain and lay mission worker by the Reverend James Watson who had started the mission.[1][5]
Gagai's wife and children joined him there and later, at the mission he married Mujerambi (Marjorie) who was the daughter of Alfred Joseph Voules Brown. They would have ten children together.[1]
In April 1932 Gagai decided to return to the Torres Strait and settled at Badu Island where he worked again as a pearler. Soon after, in May 1935, he was employed by anthropologist Donald Thomson to take charge of the St Nicholas, which was an auxiliary ketch. When Thomason left the area Gagai returned to his previous role.[1][6]
On 27 October 1941 Gagai enlisted in the army and joined the Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit despite being 'over-age' and considered to be medically unfit. This unit, commanded by Thomson, was an irregular warfare unit that patrolled the coast of Arnhem Land.[7] Within this unit he was placed in charge of the Aroetta between 1941 - 1943.[8][9][10] During this period he was also twice placed in charge of an outpost at Caledon Bay, became an expert Vickers gunner and was promoted to being acting sergeant.[1][11][12][13]
In late 1943 Gagai was seconded to the 11th Brigade (Australia) where he took part in an expedition to New Guinea, alongside six other Toress Strait Islander soldiers, where he was cut with a machete on the neck.[1][14][15] Of this period of service Thomson stated:[16][17]
I well remember the quiet, steadfast courage of Sergeant Kapiu . . . [who] was a first-class waterman. He was strong and he had no nerves. He could work and when the tension was over he could sleep like a log. He did not fret and worry and waste nervous energy . . . He was powerful—massive is a better word—impassive; even stolid. But he could laugh—a laugh halfway between the angels and Rabelais.
— Donald Thomson, War-Time Exploration in Dutch New Guinea, The Geographical Journal, March 1953
He recovered from his injuries at Merauke and then returned to Australia where he continued to serve, until he was discharged on 28 March 1946.[1] During his wartime service Gagai, as a Torres Strait Islander man, did not receive the same pay of benefits received by his 'white counterparts'.[1]
Gagai died on 21 August 1946 a few months after his return.[1][15]
Legacy
editIn 1993 Gagai was featured in an exhibition held at the Australian War Memorial called "Too dark for the light horse" which was designed to draw attention to the service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who served in World War II.[15]
Collections
editSeveral photographs and other documentation about Gagai sit within the Donald Thomson Collection at Museums Victoria.
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rich, Jenny, "Kapiu Masi Gagai (1894–1946)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 3 November 2024
- ^ "Biography - Kapiu Masi Gagai - Indigenous Australia". ia.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
- ^ "Biography - Kapiu Masi Gagai - People Australia". peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ Rich, Jenny (2008). "Kapiu Masi Gagai (c1895 - 1946)". Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography (Rev ed.). Darwin: Charles Darwin University Press. pp. 206–207. hdl:10070/492231. ISBN 9780980457810.
- ^ "Goulburn Island Mission - centenary 1916 - 2016". PastMasters. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
- ^ Thomson, Donald (1 August 1946). "The Story of Arnhem Land". Walkabout (magazine). 12 (10): 5–22 – via Trove.
- ^ Thomson, Donald F. (Donald Fergusson), 1901-1970; Christie, Michael J. (Michael John), 1951-; Yunupingu, Charles Nawunggurr; Fox, Stephen (Stephen David); Yirrkala School Literature Production Centre (1992), N.T.S.R.U., 1941-1943 : Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit / text and photographs from the report of Sqn Leader, Donald Thomson, Yirrkala Literature Production Centre, ISBN 0864093055, retrieved 4 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Corporal Gagai Kapiu". www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ Staff, Editorial (5 September 2017). "AK 121 Aroetta". Naval Historical Society of Australia. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ "Warriors' legacy lives on". Air Force News. Vol. 58, no. 17. Australia, Australia. 22 September 2016. p. 15. Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Learning about Indigenous military service in Australia". Anzac Portal. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ Chitham, Ted (9 November 2020). "Reflecting on Indigenous Military Service this NAIDOC Week". Royal Australian Regiment Association. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ Suttor, Tony; Armour, Jenny (2023). "The Darwin Commemorative Wall Quilt : index to the location of names on the quilt". Territory Stories. hdl:10070/913034. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ Thomson, Donald (1 January 1951). "In the head hunters' country in Dutch New Guinea: the conquest of the swamp". Walkabout (magazine). 17 (1): 10–20 – via Trove.
- ^ a b c "Islander Featured at Australian War Memorial". Torres News. No. 44. Queensland, Australia. 13 August 1993. p. 11. Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Thomson, Donald F. (1953). "War-Time Exploration in Dutch New Guinea". The Geographical Journal. 119 (1): 1–16. doi:10.2307/1791614. ISSN 0016-7398. JSTOR 1791614.
- ^ Thomson, Donald F. (Donald Fergusson) (1953), War-time exploration in Dutch New Guinea, Royal Geographical Society, retrieved 4 November 2024