The Torres Strait covers an area of 35,000km² and contains 100 islands between Australia and Papua New Guinea. It is named after Luis Vaez de Torres of Spain, who in AD 1606 became the first European to sail through it.

In the 1870s Europeans began to settle in the Strait and to recruit islanders to work for them. These early settlers were mainly divers searching for valuable pearls and trepangs (sea cucumbers). On 1st July 1871 the Christian missionary Reverend Samuel Macfarland arrived in the Strait, landing on Erub (Darnley Island). The arrival of Christianity to the Torres region is referred to on the islands as the ‘Coming of Light’ and is still marked on July 1st each year.

After Macfarland’s arrival, many traditional objects were banned because they were connected to non-Christian society and religious practice. In 1915 responsibility for the missions on the islands was transferred from the London Missionary Society to the Church of England. This move was accompanied by a relaxation of some of the strict anti-traditionalism which had been a feature of mission life since Macfarland’s arrival.