Koorie News

The importance of Mabo Day, 3rd June. 

This is a very busy and important time of the year for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. 

We have just finished celebrating and remembering Reconciliation Day and Mabo Day when we have NAIDOC Week coming up; in the second week of the term break, to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. More about that in the next Newsletter.

Some students have been wondering why Torres Strait Islander People are mentioned seperately from Aboriginal People, since they both live in Australia. 

This is because the people from the Torres Strait Islands - situated between Australia and Papua New Guinea - have a different history, different languages and a different culture (influenced by Melanesians and Polynesians) from the First Nations People on the mainland of Australia.

They did suffer the same challenges and disadvantages from the moment the Europeans came to Australia, however, that is why we mention hem together.

Eddie Koiki Mabo was a man from the island of Mer, for instance. He and his people had been fighting to regain land rights in the Torres Strait Islands for many years before the Court finally ruled that 'Native Title' exists and that Australia was not 'empty' when European people arrived. 

Unfortunately Eddie Mabo himself had just passed away when that ruling came through in 1993, but both his Torres Strait Island People and the Aboriginal People on the mainland reclaimed the right to use some of their land in their traditional way again. That is the meaning of "Native Title". This opened the way for all people in Australia to (re-)learn alternative ways to use our land, that are specific to our location, flora and fauna, rather than transplanting European ways of thinking exclusively. 

Getting the best of both worlds, really.