Torres Strait has an established place in the history of anthropology because of its association with the Cambridge University Expedition of 1898 organised by A. C. Haddon. This early British anthropological expedition is regarded as a seminal event in the formation of academic anthropology in Britain. Its goal was to make an unprecedentedly comprehensive anthropological study embracing ethnology, physical anthropology, psychology, linguistics, sociology and ethnomusicology. The nine interdisciplinary essays in this centenary volume offer ways of looking at and situation the Expedition's work in historical and intellectual debates. Central themes covered are the relationship between the expedition members and the Torres Strait Islanders: the innovations associated with the Expedition and the Expedition's influence on the development of anthropology and psychology. One hundred years on, the results of the Expedition have a contemporary relevance for anthropology and for the Torres Strait Islanders.

'This book will be equally as valuable for historians of anthropology and colonialism; scholars working in Melanesia; and the Islander descendants of Haddon's interlocutors' - Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Recording Kastom brings readers into the heart of colonial Torres Strait and New Guinea through the personal journals of Cambridge zoologist and anthropologist Alfred Haddon, who visited the region in 1888 and 1898.Haddon's published reports of these trips were hugely influential on the nascent discipline of anthropology, but his private journals and sketches have never been published in full. The journals record in vivid detail Haddon's observations and relationships. They highlight his preoccupation with documentation, and the central role played by the Islanders who worked with him to record kastom. This collaboration resulted in an enormous body of materials that remain of vital interest to Torres Strait Islanders and the communities where he worked. Haddon's Journals provide unique and intimate insights into the colonial history of the region will be an important resource for scholars in history, anthropology, linguistics and musicology. This comprehensively annotated edition assembles a rich array of photographs, drawings, artefacts, film and sound recordings. An introductory essay provides historical and cultural context. The preface and epilogue provide Islander perspectives on the historical context of Haddon's work and its significance for the future.