| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (26 min. 56 sec.) ; 162999226 bytes |
| Summary |
*Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following program may contain images and voices of deceased persons*29-year old Marcus Smith is at a crossroads in his life and decides to go 'home' to the Torres Strait during its most important celebration of the year, the Coming of the Light. This event commemorates the arrival of the first missionaries in the Torres Strait. Marcus is an islander but with fair skin and blue eyes doesn't look it. He grew up in the West Indies. Reggae music is his passion and Rastafarianism his religion. He knows little about his culture, but is married to a Torres Strait Islander. He moved to Townsville to support his wife and two young children but has recently given up the job he loves to go back to them in Cairns. With time on his hands he's begun to question his heritage.But Marcus has a secret. Most of his family and friends don't know he is a committed Rastafarian. These beliefs will put him at odds with members of his family he's about to meet. They're Christians and take a dim view of the religion Bob Marley made famous. Religion, culture and family are inseparable in the Torres Strait. When the first missionaries landed in 1871 the Islanders already had their own gods whose laws and ceremonies governed their lives. Over time these traditional beliefs were allowed to inform and shape a unique understanding of Christianity which has a critical role in Island life, although this is changing as more Islanders leave for the mainland and young Islanders become less interested in the importance of the church.As Marcus circles around his dilemma and participates in the elaborate July 1st celebration he is taken by surprise by the strength of his emotions. "This is probably the journey that I was supposed to probably have taken a long time ago ... I believe my dad and my grandmother were with me today watching down with a big smile on their face," he says.PRODUCTION DETAILS:Directed on location by ABC Triple J newsreader Rhianna Patrick and shot by her cousin Murray Lui, both Torres Strait Islanders |
| Event |
Broadcast 2009-12-02 at 02:55:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Missions.
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Rastafarians.
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Torres Strait Islanders -- Rites and ceremonies.
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Torres Strait Islanders -- Social life and customs.
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Queensland -- Torres Strait Islands.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Leftwich, Jim, contributor
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Smith, Marcus, contributor
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