Aboriginal+Spirituality+-+FAQs+Precilla

Why is Land Rights Movements, such as Native Title, Mabo and Wik, so important to the Aboriginal people?

The land in which the Aboriginal tribes live on is part of their spirituality. The land is important to Aboriginal Australians, as it is the part of their beliefs, traditio ns and history. Land Rights  were needed in order for Aboriginal communities to practice their spirituality without the influence of other cultures.The Mabo and Wik  cases were very significant to the Land Rights Movements . In 1981, Eddie Mabo was the first Aboriginal person to challenge the legal term, "Terra Nullius" and overturn it. Terra Nullius  is a legal term which means land belonging to no one. This allowed the British to colonised Australia but lead to the Aboriginal people being ignored and not recognised as human beings. They were removed from their land and placed in missionaries or reserves. The Mabo case removed the term Terra Nullius and allowed them to return to their native land, free from the Queenland Government influences. The Native Title Act (1993) was established by the Federal Government. Native Title was now recognised as common law. In 1996, the Wik case was about the Wik and Thayorre people, who wanted to claim pastoral leases as Native Title. Pastoral leases were government owed land and were given to other people to live off. This allowed indigenous communities to claim Native Title as a collective right and must be proven through continuous practices of beliefs and traditions. As a result, the Native Title Act (1993) had to be amended in 1998. Both of these cases were the starting point of Land Rights Movement and push forward recognition for indigenous communities and their land right in relation to Native Title.