Aboriginal Land Claims

Who are Aborigines? Aborigines were the original inhabitants of Australia Originally estimated that they were originally migrated from Africa Before British settlement there were over 600 languages Today, there are less than 250 active languages

Aboriginal People Lose Land British Policy Aborigines didn’t use land like Westerners (farming, mining and building on it) They were hunters and gatherers and only relied on what the land gave them for food and shelter Due to the lack of industrialization, the British thought Aborigines didn’t have close ties to the land

Tierra Nullius (Latin for empty land) was created British government thought it had the authority to take land from Aborigines In 1972, Aborigines set up a tent on the lawn of the Old Parliament House in Canberra and called it an embassy to represent that they were foreigners in their own land

Stolen Children Between 1909 and 1969 the Australian government took 100,000 mixed-raced children and gave them to white families This was done to encourage assimilation of the Aborigines to white, British culture Assimilation – occurs when a minority group give up its culture and adopts the majority group’s culture

The Stolen Generation Term referring to generations of children taken from Aboriginal families and given to white families Many people in Australia today are still feeling the strain and frustration over this issue

Land Claims Hard-won Victories Aborigines weren’t considered Australian citizens until 1967 In the same year 91% of Australians voted to give Aborigines special rights Land Act Rights of 1976 Gave Aborigines the right to claim land in the Northern Territory

Mabo Case Over turned Tierra Nullis Case began when Eddie Mabo discovered his family had no land rights even though they lived there for hundreds of years High Court of Australia ruled that the land belonged to him which led to the eventual cancellation of Tierra Nullis

The Wik Case High Court case in 1996 where the Wik people claimed land that ranchers and miners had squatted on This case involved 2 unique issues that are only in Australia: Pastoral leases – the Australian government still owns huge chunks of land and rents it out to ranchers and miners Earlier cases had to prove their traditional relationship to the land in order to claim it

Due to cases like the Mabo Case, the Australian government allowed the Wik to regain the land that was once theirs However, due to many white Australians fears of losing access to the land, the High Court amended the case and which led to the Howard Government creating the 10 Point Plan This plan is a 10 step plan in which Aborigines have to prove the validity of their peoples’ lives on the land they’re trying to claim