Thorough and dynamic, this chronicle focuses on the people of Australia’s Torres Strait Island and their evolving struggles for recognition. Underscoring the voices of the Torres Strait Islanders themselves, this account explores the indigenous response to colonization and outlines two decades worth of clashes with governments and other entities who exploited the islanders’ seabed resources. This examination also discusses the debates over the islanders’ attempts to recover their rights—to make decisions on their own behalf as well as to reacquire the land, sea, and fish supply—once governmental policies became less dismissive of indigenous aspirations and concern for their welfare increased.