Pauline Ah Wang and Willie Wigness
Two pillars of the Waiben (Thursday Island) Anglican community share their thoughts and experiences relating to the Quetta Memorial Church and Island culture in Torres Strait.
By Julia Mortensen
This is a 3 minute read and a 27 minute video, published December 2024.
I met Aunty Pauline Ah Wang when I first arrived on Waiben in 2021. In what I later discovered to be characteristic generosity, she took me under her wing and began to introduce me to Island life — from creole, to culturally appropriate ways of being, to members of the wider community. After raising ten children (including five adopted), watching over a young historian living far away from home came naturally.
Like so many people of the ‘melting pot’ of Torres Strait, Aunty Pauline’s ancestry spans across the islands and beyond. Her mother’s people were from Erub Island, but settled at St Paul’s on Moa, while her father’s side came from Singapore via Borneo. Raised on Waiben, she has been an active member of the island’s social and cultural life since the 1980s. These days, she is the President of the Port Kennedy Association, an Anglican Church Warden, Church Councillor, and the Regional Vice-President of the Mother’s Union (amongst numerous other roles).
Figure 1: Aunty Pauline Ah Wang, June 2023 (QAR).
Aunty Pauline is recognised as a great community organiser with an uncanny ability to bring the right people together to realise her vision. For me, this came from our shared interest in Torres Strait history. She enlisted my research skills for the 1899 Cape Melville disaster memorial which was built within the church grounds in 2023. I also found myself tasked as the ‘lucky dip’ organiser for the annual church fête every September.
As time went on, Aunty Pauline introduced me to her partner, Uncle Willie Wigness. On his mother’s side, Uncle Willie is the grandson of the late Reverend Moses Neliman, and he grew up within the church grounds in what was colloquially referred to as the ‘South Sea Home.’
Through his father’s line, Uncle Willie is a member of the Kanamuri clan of the Kaurareg Nation, who are the traditional owners of the central lower islands including Waiben. With these combined family connections, Uncle Willie has a unique perspective on the relationship between church and Island custom. He is also a profoundly thoughtful man, renowned for his cultural diplomacy. He has become a spokesperson on cultural and social matters concerning his Country — including native title — both nationally and overseas. He is also an Anglican Church Councillor.
In 2021, Uncle Willie and Aunty Pauline were central driving forces of the 150th anniversary celebrations for the ‘Coming of the Light’ to Torres Strait. Building up to the event, Uncle Willie and other Kaurareg men erected traditional structures which lined the entrance to the church. The women, led by Aunty Pauline, sewed tablecloths and Island dresses. Everyone practiced hymns and prepared for the nighttime feast. On the day, the doors of the church were flanked by the Archdeacon, Aunty Pauline, and Uncle Willie.
Figure 2: Uncle Willie Wigness, June 2023 (QAR).
Like me, readers may wonder how they have time to do it all. Whenever I ask her this, Aunty Pauline’s response is always: “We’ll get there, steady steady.”
Oral history interview: Pauline Ah Wang and Willie Wigness
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