Every year, on June 3rd, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community of Australia celebrate Mabo Day, which commemorates the life of Eddie Koiki Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander man, and marks the anniversary of the Mabo Decision to overturn terra nullius in 1992. June 3rd marks the end of Reconciliation Week. "Eddie Mabo was a Torres Strait Islander man who challenged the claim that his family’s traditional land was owned by the Crown. The High Court’s decision in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) overturned that claim and set a precedent in Australian law for the recognition of Indigenous custodianship over their traditional land. The decision also overturned the colonial concept of terra nullius, Latin for ‘nobody’s land’. At the time of European settlement of Australia, terra nullius was used to justify the British Crown’s claim on the land - as though it was previously unoccupied territory." https://www.indigenous.gov.au/stories/what-mabo-day European colonisation of Australia brought with it a host of problems for Indigenous people, and land ownership was one of them. The Mabo decision influenced the passing of the Native Title Act 1993 and set the precedent for subsequent native title claims. Eddie Mabo died months before the decision to overturn terra nullius was passed. On this day, we celebrate his life and remember him, his culture, and that of every Australian Indigenous person, recognising their traditional ownership of the land and the suffering they experienced during British colonisation and imposition of an imperialised and nationalistic system.
