This is an NFSA Digital Learning resource. See all Digital Learning websites.
Indigenous People & Their Land
More Information

In recognising native title, the High Court was aware of the limits of its understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law and culture.

So it took great care not to link native title to established common law models of relationships to land.

But, as later courts have tried to refine and constrain the concept of native title, it has come to resemble a vulnerable bundle of property rights and less a reflection of the complex relationship between Indigenous peoples and the land.
Mer, Waier & Dauar
Topic
 
Dauar, Dauar, HMS Pandora, Mer, Meriam culture, Meriam history, Meriam history, Murray Island, Waier
Hearsay & Oral Tradition
Topic
Feb, 1987
hearsay, indigenous people, oral tradition
Land Boundaries
Topic
 
boundary markers, clans, inheritance, land ownership, land use, oral tradition
Meriam Land
Topic
 
inheritance, land ownership, Meriam culture, Meriam history, oral tradition
Land Rights and Social Justice
Image and Text
Aug, 1996
aboriginal law, culture, custom, Dodson, Michael, indigenous Australians, land rights, sacred
...Letter from Black to white...
Text
1976
aboriginal law, cultural preservation, culture, custom
Dreaming Creatures
Image and Text
May, 12, 1976
cultural preservation, culture, custom, dreamtime, land ownership, Northern Territory, Ranger Uranium Mine, Roberts, Silas, Roper River
Native Title After The Murray Islands
Topic
1990s
aboriginal law, Mabo judgement, Native Title Act (1993), sovereignty
Indigenous Customary Law
Topic
 
indigenous people, Mabo judgement, native title
An Expression Of Sovereignty
Topic
Jun, 3, 1992
High Court of Australia, Mabo judgement, native title, self determination, self-government, sovereignty
The Benefits Of Native Title
Topic
1992-
Common Law, equality, human rights, indigenous people, Mabo judgement, national identity, native title, social justice
Belonging To Country
Topic
 
aborigines, Australia, dreamtime, indigenous Australians, land ownership, land rights, sacred
Emu Song - Millingimbi
Audio
1963
cultural preservation, culture, Millingimbi, Northern Territory, songs
Cultural Diversity & Common Identity
Topic
 
aborigines, fishing, hunting, land ownership, land use
A Humanitarian Tradition
Topic
 
Australia, colonialism, Cook, Captain James, First Fleet, humanitarians, land rights, terra nullius
Charity & Sovereignty
Topic
1840s
aborigines, Australia, land ownership, New South Wales, Queen Victoria, reserves, sovereignty
Science & Indigenous Australians
Topic
1960s-
anthropology, Eyre, Edward John, land rights
A Sacred Landscape
Topic
 
aboriginal property ownership, anthropology, Australia, clans, dispossession, kinship, land ownership, religion, sacred
Seagull - Yirrkala
Audio
1962
Arnhem Land, culture, Gove Case, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, songs, Yirrkala, Yolgnu
...Land Rights...
Audio
 
activism, land rights, songs
Boundaries & Markers
Topic
 
land ownership, Las, Mer, Meriam culture, Murray Island
Dispossession
Topic
 
colonisation, dispossession
Hierarchies Of Land Use
Topic
 
barbarism, colonisation, terra nullius
Human Rights
Topic
 
human rights, International law, Mabo judgement, Racial Discrimination Act , 1975 , United Nations
Native Title & Indigenous Law
Topic
 
aboriginal law, Malo's laws, native title, Native Title Act (1993), sacred
Performance, Art & The Sacred
Topic
 
Malo's laws, Malo-Bomai, Mer, Murray Island, religion, sacred
Sovereignty & Indigenous Self-Government
Topic
 
Mabo judgement, native title, sovereignty
Territorial Integrity
Topic
 
colonisation
The Doctrine Of Tenures Reconsidered
Topic
 
crown land, doctrine of tenure, land rights, Mabo judgement
Yirrkala Bark Petition
Image
Nov, 18, 1976
Arnhem Land, Australian Court Case, bark petition, Blackburn, Justice, Canberra, Gove, Gove Case, Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, 1971 , Roberts, Silas, Yirrkala, Yunupingu, Galarrwuy
Dhimurru Land Management
URL
 
aboriginal property ownership, aborigines, Dhimurru