Backgrounder

Heroes Live Forever 

Looking for a hero? A contemporary Australian not afraid to fight for the truth? Then get to know Eddie Mabo, as we prepare to celebrate NAIDOC week

Eddie (Kioki) Mabo was a Torres Strait Islander, a man with little formal education, the father of ten children. He was born on Murray Island, one of many islands just north of Queensland. Torres Strait Islanders have lived on these islands for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. Like Indigenous peoples all over the world, young Eddie learnt about the land, the animals, the rivers, the oceans and plant life. Everything about the island had a special meaning for him. He and his people lived and breathed the land. The land was their lifeblood and it was sacred to them.

All his life Eddie assumed that his people were safe from anyone who might want to take over his people´s land. He believed that because his people had lived there for generations upon generations, Murray Island would always belong to them.

One day, however, to his horror, Eddie discovered that this was not so. He was told that Government ´owned´ Murray Island, not the people. Eddie discovered that the Australian Government was still using laws based on ´terra nullius´ (´empty land´), the term used by the British to justify their decision taking over this country in 1788. By pretending that the land was empty, that no-one lived here, they could justify taking the land for themselves. Two hundred years later, Eddie was discovering that his people had no rights to the land they thought belonged to them.

Eddie began to do battle with those who made the laws of the nation. Surely, he thought, the Australian people could finally acknowledge that Australia was not empty at the time of British settlement, that people lived here and loved and cared for the land. He spent ten years trying to get the High Court to announce that ´terra nullius´ was a lie, that Aboriginal and Islander peoples were the original inhabitants of this nation. Eddie wanted the High Court of Australia to accept Native Title, the term used to describe the common law rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in land and water according to their traditions, law and customs.

Sadly, in 1992, Eddie became very sick, and died. Five months later, on 3 June, the High Court of Australia announced that Australia was inhabited before colonisation, that ´terra nullius´ was a lie, and that Aboriginal and Islander people have a prior right of ownership of the land.

Now, ten years since that historic decision, NAIDOC week celebrates the achievements of Eddie Mabo and the on-going struggle for land rights.

Eddie Kioki Mabo, during NAIDOC week all people of good will recall your words and your work. You challenged the highest courts of the land and you and your people were victorious. We honour you as a fighter for justice and truth.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES 

1. Write a summary of the life of Eddie Kioko. Visit the Mabo website http://www.mabo.com.au Use the Quick Search or scroll down and click on his name in Famous Indigenous Australians or go direct to http://www.abc.net.au/btn/australians/emabo.htm

For more information about MABO visit: · http://www.reconciliationaustralia.org/docs/publications/tracks_03.02.pdf

http://www.antar.org.au Select "Issues", then "MABO and WIK" and then "MABO - 10 years on". · http://www.mabonativetitle.com

2. In the week 7th -14th July, people of good will all over Australia will celebrate NAIDOC Week. The theme of this year´s celebration is Reconciliation, Rights and Reform. Use the NAIDOC website http://www.atsic.gov.au/Events/NAIDOC/_2002/history.asp to find answers to the following: · What does NAIDOC stand for? · Outline in dot points the history of NAIDOC week. · Explain why these people are remembered during NAIDOC week-Fred Maynard, William Cooper, William Ferguson, Sir Douglas Nicholls? · Describe the three main themes for this year´s celebration.

3. Visit the website http://www.antar.org.au Select "Issues". Under "Issues Index", select "MABO WIK" and answer the following questions. · What was the MABO decision? · What did the WIK decision confirm?

Return to "Issues index". Select "Native Title". Read. Click on "1998 Amendments" · List and explain three problems with the "Ten Point Plan" and the "1998 Native Title Act Amendments".

Return to "Native Title". · What was the outcome of referring the "1998 Amendments" to the United Nations Committee for Elimination of Racial Discrimination?

4. Contact Caritas Australia for the CD and study guide "Stories of the Heart / Sounds of the Rock". The songs are interspersed with audio segments highlighting significant historical events including the 1997 Reconciliation Conference, the MABO court ruling and Paul Keating´s Redfern Speech. The free study guide to accompany the CD contains lots of suggestions for discussion, action and reflection and is a valuable resource for anyone interested in promoting reconciliation. (CD costs $15 plus $5 for postage and handling, with Free Study Guide) 

5. What is your school doing to celebrate NAIDOC week. Here are a few ideas from one school: · Invite local Aboriginal or Islander people to visit the school. · Hold a Welcoming Ceremony. · Listen to stories of people about the Stolen Generations. · See Rabbit-Proof Fence · See Eddie: Life of an Island Man · Make damper. · Visit the NAIDOC website (above) for traditional sports and games. · Create posters using Aboriginal designs (with permission). · Visit this website for a range of useful resources from the Curriculum Corporation http://www.curriculum.edu.au/atsi_resources/secondary.htm · Make a short film about what happens at your school during this week. · Raise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.