AustLit

Ephraim Bani was a respected intellectual leader amongst the Torres Strait Islander people. In the 1970s, he became known as a technical linguist and traditional language consultant and advisor to the land and sea area of Northern Australia, known as the Torres Straits.

After working in the field with linguists, Bani enrolled in 1974 to study at the School of Australian Linguistics as part of the Darwin Community College (later renamed the Batchelor Institute). He spent most of his adult life studying linguistics and sharing traditional Torres Strait Islander knowledge amongst Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to better improve a wider understanding of the unique lifestyle and historical positioning of Indigenous Australians.

Throughout his career, Bani dedicated his life to the cultural preservation of Torres Strait Islander communities and cultural history; in addition to his academic publications and translations he also captured the life of his people in an educational documentary outlining the need for artefact repatriation from European museums, Cracks in the Mask.