Indigenous Australians should be aware that this article may contain pictures and names of deceased Aboriginal people and or images of their art work. In many Aboriginal communities restrictions apply on viewing images of people who have passed away. If appropriate, the approval of the relevant local community leaders should be sought before this page is viewed. Eddie Koiki Mabo (c.1936–21 January 1992) was a Torres Strait Islander who became famous in Australian history for his role in campaigning for indigenous land rights and for his role in a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that overturned the legal fiction of terra nullius which characterised Australian law with regards to land and title. He was born Eddie Koiki Sambo but he changed his name later in life. Image File history File links Info_non-talk. ...
is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...
The Torres Strait Islander Flag. ...
High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ...
In the common law tradition, legal fictions are suppositions of fact taken to be true by the courts of law, but which are not necessarily true. ...
Terra nullius (English pronunciation , Latin pronunciation IPA: ) is a Latin expression deriving from Roman Law meaning no mans land, i. ...
Higher education
Over the next decade, Eddie Mabo worked on a number of jobs before becoming a gardener with James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland at the age of thirty one. Being at the campus was a massively significant period in his life.
In 1974, this culminated in a discussion he had with Professor Noel Loos and Henry Reynolds, who recalled Eddie Mabo's reaction as follows, Henry Reynolds is an Australian historian. ...
...we were having lunch one day in Reynold's office when Koiki was just speaking about his land back on Mer, or Murray Island. Henry and I realised that in his mind he thought he owned that land, so we sort of glanced at each other, and then had the difficult responsibility of telling him that he didn't own that land, and that it was Crown land. Koiki was surprised, shocked and even...he said and I remember him saying 'No way, it's not theirs, it's ours.
Land rights advocate In 1981 a Land Rights Conference was held at James Cook University and to that audience, Eddie Mabo made a speech where he spelt out clearly land ownership and land inheritance in Murray Island. The significance of this in terms of Australian common law doctrine was not missed by one of the attendees, a lawyer, who suggested there should be a test case to claim land rights through the court system. James Cook University (JCU) is a university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia and was founded in 1970 as the first tertiary education institution in North Queensland (although the first may have been the local TAFE college instead). ...
This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...
On the outcome of that decision, Henry Reynolds said that "...it was a ten year battle and it was a remarkable saga really." Henry A. Reynolds, (born March 1, 1938), is an eminent Australian historian whose primary work has focused on the frontier conflict between European settlement of Australia and indigenous Australians. ...
Death and legacy However, while he would take time out to relax by working on his boat or painting watercolours of his island home, after ten years the strain began to affect his health.
In January 1992, Koiki Mabo died of cancer. He was fifty-six years of age.
Five months later on June 3 the High Court announced its historic decision, namely overturning the legal fiction of terra nullius - ('no-mans land') which is a modern term applied to the attitude of the British towards land ownership on the continent of Australia. is the 154th day of the year (155th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
- "...so Justice Moynihan's decision that Mabo wasn't the rightful heir was irrelevant because the decision that came out was that native title existed and it was up to the Aboriginal or Islander people to determine who owned what land." Henry Reynolds.
That decision is now commonly called "Mabo" in Australia, and recognised for its landmark status. Three years after Eddie Koiki Mabo died, that being the traditional mourning period for the people of Murray Island, a gathering was held in Townsville for a memorial service. Henry A. Reynolds, (born March 1, 1938), is an eminent Australian historian whose primary work has focused on the frontier conflict between European settlement of Australia and indigenous Australians. ...
Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (commonly known as Mabo) is a landmark Australian court case which was decided by the High Court of Australia on June 3, 1992. ...
‎ The Strand CBD from Museum of Tropical Queensland, features Castle Hill in background Townsville (Postcodes: 4810-4819) is an urban centre on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. ...
Overnight Koiki's grave site was vandalised by white racists who spray painted eight red swastikas and the racist word "Abo" on his tombstone, and removed a bronze bas-relief portrait of him. Koiki's body was reburied on Murray Island, the land he loved and fought for so hard. That night, the Islanders performed their traditional ceremony for the burial of a king, a ritual not seen on the island for eighty years. Abo may refer to: Ã…bo, the Swedish name for Turku in Finland. ...
In 1992 Eddie Mabo was postumously awarded the Human Rights Medal in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Awards, together with Rev Dave Passi, Sam Passi (deceased), James Rice, Celuia Mapo Salee (deceased) and Barbara Hocking. The award was in recognition "of their long and determined battle to gain justice for their people" and the "work over many years to gain legal recognition for indigenous people's rights".[1] The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) is a national independent statutory body of the Australian Government. ...
See also Native title is a concept in the law of Australia that recognises the continued ownership of land by local Indigenous Australians. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Mabo v Queensland. ...
Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (commonly known as Mabo) was a landmark Australian court case which was decided by the High Court of Australia on June 3, 1992. ...
Notes The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) is a national independent statutory body of the Australian Government. ...
References - Mabo Papers
- Biographical Note - timeline of Mabo's Life
- Biography by Gail Mabo, his daughter
- Eddie Mabo Biography
- Papers of Eddie Mabo - held by the National Library of Australia
- Collection of art works by Edward Koiki Mabo - held and digitised by the National Library of Australia
- Apek kebile: Eddie Koiki Mabo : the boy from the other side of the island (videorecording) - "about Eddie Mabo, his love for his people and his homeland ..." / Office for Torres Strait Islander Affairs
- Mabo: life of an island man / original screenplay by Trevor Graham (1999, ISBN 0-86819-580-4)
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