Eddie Mabo, the Indigenous Land Father - Essay Example

? Eddie Mabo, the Indigenous Land Father Eddie Mabo was an Australian man who played a crucial role in the recognition of the right of the indigenous people to own the land in the country. He was born in the Torres Strait Islands in 1936 and was one of his fundamental beliefs that the land upon which he was born belonged to him and his people. An indigenous Australian, he displayed an astute knowledge of the fact that the land upon which he was born was rightfully indigenous, and that the laws that had been instituted by the colonial settlers and their government did the indigenous people a great injustice (Smallacombe 2000, p.300). For almost a decade, this man fought for the rights of his people by taking a case to court with the intention of having it overturn the terra nullius land system in Australia, which alienated the indigenous people from their land. The sheer determination of this man, against all odds, ensured that he had one of the greatest wins in Australian history for an indigenous person, because the ruling made, overturning the terra nullius system, ensured that over three hundred years of injustice had almost come to an end (Pannell and Vachon 2001, p.238). The overturning of this system further granted the indigenous people the confidence of identifying themselves with the land of their ancestors and ensured that their right to it was recognized beyond doubt. Eddie Mabo was a man who rose from humble origins as a gardener to becoming one of the national icons of Australia because of the fact that he was deeply involved in fighting for the rights of his people. While he was born in the Torres Strait Islands, Mabo spent most of his life in Queensland, and was in fact not a well-known figure in his home island until after he took his case on indigenous land rights to court. It was only after his death from cancer as well as the court victory over the land issue five months later that his fellow indigenous people on the island welcomed his as one of their own. His victory did not only affect the people of his home island but also all the indigenous people of Australia and this is the reason why Mabo has become one of the most respected men among them (Burke 2007, p.240). The idea that an indigenous person could almost singlehandedly challenge the Australian status quo and gain a great victory from it was one of those instances which were unheard of in the history of this country. The indigenous people had long been suppressed by the colonial government, and later by the white settlers who dominated and continue to dominate almost every aspect of life in Australia (Furniss 2001, p.279). Mabo’s posthumous court victory ensured that the indigenous people were recognized as a legitimate part of the Australian population with the same rights as those who dominated the society (Thorner 2009, p.391). Furthermore, it may have played a role in the recognition of indigenous people as reasoning human beings who had, throughout the history of the colonization of Australia had been treated unfairly; the court case was therefore the first step in correcting the injustice done to them (Reilly 2000, p.23). The overturning of the terra nullius policy can be said to be, in reality, a policy of inclusion whose purpose is to ensure that all the Australian people have an equal chance to compete in making their dreams and aspirations come true. Previously, indigenous groups were completely excluded from the majority of economic activities in Australia except for those which were considered to be labour intensive (Nettheim 2008 p.167). Moreover, these groups were rarely ever accepted in the mainstream Australian life, therefore, Mabo’s court victory can be said to have been a step towards the inclusion of the indigenous people into the centre of Australian society. From the very beginning of the Mabo’s case in court, there has been opposition towards it with those against it stating that it is giving an unfair advantage to minority groups over other people in Australia. Those who are opposed to the overturning of the terra nullius system further state that this action went against the proper way of Australian life because of the belief that did not treat all people equally, and instead it gives unfair privileges to those people who would otherwise not have deserved them. These arguments are not very logical considering the injustices which were committed against the indigenous Australian groups in the past (Tynan 2007, p.276). The white population in Australia has been, for a long time, dominant, and Mabo’s court victory was a direct challenge to this status, and this may help to explain why Mabo’s grave was vandalized and racist terms painted all over it. This vandalism forced the exhumation of his body and its reburial in his ancestral home in the Torres Strait; a place for whose people he had fought for and won the right to own the land upon which they had lived from time immemorial. Mabo’s court victory has over the last two decades come to have a significant impact on the people of the islands where he was born. Among the most significant aspects of this has been the recognition that the indigenous people were greatly marginalized in matters concerning health when compared to the mainstream Australian population. This has led to the improvement of the healthcare facilities that are available for them, ensuring a higher life expectancy than in previous years. The declining child death rates has led to a decline in the birth rates, because parents are now more secure because they know that there are enough resources available today to ensure that their children survive (Furniss 2001 p.287). The other reason for this is the fact that the economic conditions prevalent in the indigenous Australian society today do not allow parents to have more than a few children at a time because they cannot afford to have more even if they wanted to. This results in not only fewer children, but it also means that there are fewer ties to the extended family and this in turn means that in subsequent generations, there will be fewer uncles, aunts and cousins, on whom to rely, than in previous generations. The life expectation of native Australians between the years 1991 and 1996 was projected to be fifty-six and sixty-one years for men and women in that order. This was found to be considerably lower than that of the mainstream population which was estimated to be between 75 and 91 years for men and women respectively (Iacovino 2010, p.353). Furthermore, it was found that the death rate among many indigenous people was at a much higher rate than those of the mainstream Australian population. In fact, the death rate was so high that that they exceeded the general Australian population in every age group that was analysed. Most of the people from indigenous populations died before reaching the age of fifty, and this was attributed to the lack of the proper healthcare facilities that other Australians have access to. The indigenous population has been completely marginalized in all matters concerning health and this has contributed a great deal in the high mortality rates among them, just when they are at their prime (Strodthoff 2011, p.75). It has been found that one of the leading causes of death among this population are cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, and these made up 75% of all the deaths that were reported within this population. The rates of hospitalization was much higher among the indigenous people than that of the general Australian public, with these being much higher in all the age groups that were assessed (Arzey and McNamara 2011, p.733). While Mabo’s court victory may have been the first step towards the improvement of the lives of the indigenous people, there is still a lot to be done to achieve this objective. Racism is still as prevalent as it was before the ruling, as seen when Mabo’s grave was vandalized just one day after his funeral with racist terms being painted all over his headstone. In addition, the health status of indigenous people, for whom Mabo fought, while it has improved somewhat, still has a long way to go before it can reach the status that the other Australians enjoy. Life expectancy is still low, with many indigenous people not living to be more than fifty years old, an occurrence that is a great tragedy in a country, which prides itself in being one of the most developed in the world. The fact that an indigenous person had to go to court in order to get basic land rights for its people shows just how ironic Australian democracy is because it favors those people of Caucasian descent more than the natives of the land (Macdonald 2008, p.341). This has created a situation where the latter are dominated completely and they have little say in their own destiny. It is to either bow to the status quo or risk the continued marginalization of their society. This is something that should not be accepted, not only by the indigenous people themselves, but also by the government because the latter should be at the forefront of protecting the rights of the indigenous people. The indigenous people should also fight for their own rights because not to do so would mean that their situation will not be recognized, hence a solution will not be attained. In case such a thing was to happen, then the legacy of such indigenous men as Eddie Mabo would be forever tarnished. References Arzey, S. & McNamara, L. 2011, "Invoking International Human Rights Law in a "Rights-Free Zone": Indigenous Justice Campaigns in Australia", Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 733-766,922-923. Burke, P. 2007, "Recognising Aboriginal Title: The Mabo Case and Indigenous Resistance to English-Settler Colonialism",The Australian Journal of Anthropology, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 240-242. Iacovino, L. 2010, "Rethinking archival, ethical and legal frameworks for records of Indigenous Australian communities: a participant relationship model of rights and responsibilities", Archival Science, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 353-372. Furniss, E. 2001, "Timeline history and the Anzac myth: Settler narratives of local history in a North Australian town",Oceania, vol. 71, no. 4, pp. 279-297. Macdonald, G. 2008, "Difference or Disappearance: The Politics of Indigenous Inclusion in the Liberal State", Anthropologica,vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 341-358. Nettheim, G. 2008, "International Law and Native Title in Australia: Annual Richard Cooper Memorial Lecture-22nd August 2007", University of Queensland Law Journal, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 167-192. Pannell, S. & Vachon, D. 2001, "Native Title and the Descent of Rights", The Australian Journal of Anthropology, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 238-244. Reilly, A. 2000, "Land rights for disenfranchised and dispossessed peoples in Australia and South Africa: A legislative comparison", University of Queensland Law Journal, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 23-41. Smallacombe, S. 2000, "Mabo: Life of an Island Man", Contemporary Pacific, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 300-300. Strodthoff, I. 2011, "Rethinking the Nation in the Chilean and Australian Bicentenaries", Humanities Research, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 75. Thorner, S. 2009, "First Australians", American Anthropologist, vol. 111, no. 3, pp. 391-392. Tynan, M. 2007, "Shifting Egalitarianisms and Contemporary Racism in Rural Victorian Football: The Rumbalara Experience", The Australian Journal of Anthropology, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 276-294. Read More