Thirty years after Mabo ruling, Mer islanders celebrate native title milestone

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains images and names of people who have died.

The emotion of the occasion overwhelms one elder, an aunt, while children and adults lightly caress the joyous sculpture of Eddie’s smiling face that is embossed into his headstone. Each person pays respect in their own way; some in silence, some in celebration. Mer islanders were in a state of industrious flux all week in preparation for the anniversary, readying the ceremony area, known for the occasion as “Mabo Village”. Members of each of the eight clans of mer – known as the Meriam people – decorate their akurmeta with coconut palm leaves and woven adornments of the totems that represent each group.

In my time on the island, one of the first points family members make to me is the mispronunciation of the Mabo name. “The whole country has been pronouncing the name wrong for 30 years,” Celuia Mabo, Eddie’s youngest daughter, informs me. She says it should be pronounced “Maabor” . The High Court decision recognised the common law doctrine of native title: that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may continue to hold rights to their land and waters, which come from their traditional laws and customs. This resulted in the Native Title Act of 1993, which recognises and protects native title.

“They had native title and according to the High Court it was legislated that a prescribed body be established such as PBC [Prescribed Body Corporate] to deliver the legislation of native title in the interest of traditional owners,” she said. “But that has never happened, so I think the people of Murray Islands are disappointed that no real change or benefits have occurred in the 30 years since the decision.

Big Fkn deal that the article contains images of dead people stop pandering to these sooks and feed their faux offence.

Comments that they would like to see the Torres Strait independent of Australia are not really going to help their cause.

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