... in. Within two years half of the aboriginal population dyed of due to the high amount of deaths due to these infectious diseases. 11. What does terra nullius mean? How did the British misuse this term? Terra Nullius means uninhabited by humans. The British used this as justification of taking what they wanted. 12. What effects did the white settlements have on the Aborigines ... and encouraging Aborigines to rebuild their lives and renew their culture. 14. What did the Mabo ruling in 1992 state? The High Court of Australia stated that the policy of Terra Nullius was not valid and that t...

• Word Count: 771
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... rewrote the Australian common law and gave a massive boost to the struggle for the recognition of Aboriginal land rights. It handed down a decision that dismissed the European myth of "terra nullius," an empty land. "Terra nullius" means a land without the ordered structure of society that meant 'civilisation' (Mudge 1997 54). It was this doctrine that allowed settlers to ignore Aboriginal cultural practices sacred sites ... ...

• Word Count: 713
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... . Introduction United States law has used the doctrine of "discovery" to justify the takeover of Indian people and territory. In the same way Australian law has used the concept of "terra nullius," the legal myth that Australia had no previous owners. Today it is easy to see that both doctrines are racist. Both are inconsistent with modern international law. The United Nations ... Working Group on Indigenous Populations rejects both doctrines. Canadian law has never used either "discovery" or "terra nullius." Our legal tradition has been so self-confident, so arrogant, that it felt no ne...

• Word Count: 4016
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

... lived for their land and past ancestors. . The first fleet arrived in Australia in 1788. The land had been claimed by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770 and was known as "terra nullius"meaning empty land. This was not because the British people did not see the Aboriginals, but because the Aboriginals did not build permanent dwellings or cultivate the land like the ... to make laws for the Aboriginal people. The census was a success with 90.77% of Australians voting YES. In 1992 the High Court of Australia recognised that Australia was not "terra nulius" at the time of colonisation, this was ...

• Word Count: 1983
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... Eddie Mabo and his community. The Mabo decision is important to all Australians as it states that Indigenous Australians were the true owners of Australia. It also erased the fictitious "Terra Nullius". Many people thought that they will lose their land as a result of the trial but this is false. Aboriginals do not have the right to claim land that has already ... ...

• Word Count: 339
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... , places a dark shadow on the somewhat ruthless imperialistic nature of their "discoveries". What many of the Aboriginals did not understand, was that the White men believed that the land was terra nullius and they were here to claim it. The first European explorers were the front men in what could be called Australia's first warfare-like conflict. The explorers were sent in ... ...

• Word Count: 1696
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the Aborigines When the British first arrived in Australia they were unaware of the Aboriginal people who had lived here for thousands of years. They said that the land was "terra nullius", meaning vacant land. .The British took their land and their rights away from them. The Aborigines constantly fought with the British about their right to the land in which they ... ...

• Word Count: 1376
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School