Skip to main content
Forums Home
Illustration of people sitting and standing

New here?

Chat with other people who 'Get it'

with health professionals in the background to make sure everything is safe and supportive.

Register

Have an account?
Login

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Special Events

Tortoiseshell
Senior Contributor

Celebrating Mabo Day

It's Mabo Day today - the day in 1992 where Eddie Mabo's fight in the High Court overturned the concept of terra nullius and acknowledged that First Nations people have rights to the land that persist through colonisation.

 

Screen Shot 2020-06-03 at 3.27.48 pm.png

 

It's pretty amazing to think of Eddie Mabo's efforts and what it must have taken to fight this case. And how much it must take for First Nations people today to keep fighting for justice. Here his daughter Gail Mabo talks about her life and observing her father as he was on this journey. 

 

At my school we were taught about the first fleet, but not about the longstanding connection to land of First Nations people going back 40 to 60,000 years. It seems like the myth of terra nullius was there and still persists.

 

What does today mean for you? Is it a day of celebration? A day to be reminded of the work still to be done? We'd love to hear any thoughts or resources you'd like to share.

3 REPLIES 3

Re: Celebrating Mabo Day

Tonight I have been thinking about the situation in the United States at the moment where peaceful demonstrations have turned into looting and rioting and the value of a man who died in police custory seems to be over-riden by blood-lust 

 

And I am sad

 

I feel for my son son who was a teenager of unknown Australian Indigneous background and although adopted into our White Anglo-Saxon family was still aboriginal and I was confronted by my racist family although I had proof from his birth-mother than his birth-father was of the Australian First Nations

 

This truth was denied - never given any credence - by my family - and I do feel for the unnumbered people sacrificed for white supremacy - 

 

My son never knew the truth about his birth father - he died before I found his birth-mother - he never knew I had the statistics into the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody changed and I wish he did because he was so unhappy - suspecting but never knowing the truth

 

I think often that there is little we can do alone - I did this - it is a small thing but something I am proud of. 

 

I feel so deeply for our First Australians - the white people took their land, their cultures, their dignity and worst of all - their children - if everyone did a little bit that they could it might make a difference

 

Dec

Re: Celebrating Mabo Day

I remember I was at uni studying Aboriginal Studies in 1992 when this decision was handed down. It's tragic that Eddie Mabo died 5 months before the judgement. 

 

We wrote long essays on the concept of 'terra nullius'. The High Court result was such a time of hope. I feel that Mabo Day is definitely a day of celebration, despite the work that still needs to be done.

 

 


@Owlunar wrote:

I feel so deeply for our First Australians - the white people took their land, their cultures, their dignity and worst of all - their children - if everyone did a little bit that they could it might make a difference


Me too, @Owlunar . And I was also studying Aboriginal Languages - the loss of the languages was intrinsically linked with loss of culture and identity. But the loss of the children was the worst. 

Re: Celebrating Mabo Day

Hey there @Owlunar, thank you so much for sharing what Mabo day meant for you.

I feel sad knowing the grief and loss of your son, and I can hear you feel so deeply for the pain he experienced. But what you did for your son sounds very significant and I'm glad you are proud of that 🌻

 

@NatureLover that must have been incredible to experience the decision being handed down (I was too young to remember), what a huge thing for this country. It sounds like there's a lot of hope but a lot of sadness too.

 

I like what you wrote @Owlunar "If everyone did a little bit that they could it might make a difference." 

Illustration of people sitting and standing

New here?

Chat with other people who 'Get it'

with health professionals in the background to make sure everything is safe and supportive.

Register

Have an account?
Login

For urgent assistance