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'''Eddie Mabo''' (''c''. 29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992<ref name=biog>{{cite web |url=http://www.nfsa.gov.au/digitallearning/mabo/theman_05.shtml |title=Mabo: The Man – Adoption |publisher=Screen Australia Digital Learning |accessdate=2014-05-12 |deadurl=no |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810161904/http://www.nfsa.gov.au/digitallearning/mabo/theman_05.shtml |archivedate=2014-08-10 |df= }}</ref>) was an [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous Australian]] man from the [[Torres Strait Islands]] known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous [[land rights]] and for his role in a landmark decision of the [[High Court of Australia]] which overturned the [[legal fiction#The dying out of fictions|legal doctrine]] of ''[[terra nullius]]'' ("nobody's land"<!--not "no man's land", a different concept-->) which characterised Australian law with regard to land and title.
'''Eddie Mabo''' (''c''. 29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992<ref name=biog>{{cite web |url=http://www.nfsa.gov.au/digitallearning/mabo/theman_05.shtml |title=Mabo: The Man – Adoption |publisher=Screen Australia Digital Learning |accessdate=2014-05-12 |deadurl=no |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810161904/http://www.nfsa.gov.au/digitallearning/mabo/theman_05.shtml |archivedate=2014-08-10 |df= }}</ref>) was an [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous Australian]] man from the [[Torres Strait Islands]] known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous [[land rights]] and for his role in a landmark decision of the [[High Court of Australia]] which overturned the [[legal fiction#The dying out of fictions|legal doctrine]] of ''[[terra nullius]]'' ("nobody's land"<!--not "no man's land", a different concept-->) which characterised Australian law with regard to land and title.


≈≈This website is all a lie. Get off this now i'm telling you stop reading this otherwise the'll find you just like they found me≈≈
==Early life and family==

Mabo was born Eddie Koiki Sambo<ref name= biog/> but he changed his surname to Mabo when he was adopted by his uncle, Benny Mabo.<ref name=racism>{{cite web|title=Facts Sheet – Edward Koiki Mabo 1936–1992|publisher=Racism No Way|url=http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/54.html|accessdate=21 July 2016|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728074453/http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/54.html|archivedate=28 July 2016|df=}}</ref> He was born on the island of Mer ([[Murray Island, Queensland|Murray Island]]) in the [[Torres Strait]] between mainland Australia and Papua New Guinea.<ref name="racism"/>
Mabo was born Eddie Koiki Sambo<ref name= biog/> but he changed his surname to Mabo when he was adopted by his uncle, Benny Mabo.<ref name=racism>{{cite web|title=Facts Sheet – Edward Koiki Mabo 1936–1992|publisher=Racism No Way|url=http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/54.html|accessdate=21 July 2016|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728074453/http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/54.html|archivedate=28 July 2016|df=}}</ref> He was born on the island of Mer ([[Murray Island, Queensland|Murray Island]]) in the [[Torres Strait]] between mainland Australia and Papua New Guinea.<ref name="racism"/>


Revision as of 03:14, 9 October 2018

Eddie Mabo
Born
Eddie Koiki Sambo

(1936-06-29)29 June 1936
Mer, Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia
Died21 January 1992(1992-01-21) (aged 55)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Spouse
​
(m. 1959)​
Children10

Eddie Mabo (c. 29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992[1]) was an Indigenous Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights and for his role in a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia which overturned the legal doctrine of terra nullius ("nobody's land") which characterised Australian law with regard to land and title.

≈≈This website is all a lie. Get off this now i'm telling you stop reading this otherwise the'll find you just like they found me≈≈

Mabo was born Eddie Koiki Sambo[1] but he changed his surname to Mabo when he was adopted by his uncle, Benny Mabo.[2] He was born on the island of Mer (Murray Island) in the Torres Strait between mainland Australia and Papua New Guinea.[2]

Mabo married Bonita Neehow, an Australian South Sea Islander, in 1959. The couple had seven children and adopted three more.[3] One daughter, Gail, is an Aboriginal artist[4] and dancer who works with schools in New South Wales as a cultural advisor[5] and serves as the family's designated spokesperson.[6]

University

Mabo worked on pearling boats, as a cane cutter, and as a railway fettler before becoming a gardener at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland at the age of 31. The time he spent on the campus had a massive impact on his life. In 1974, he was talking with JCU historians Noel Loos and Henry Reynolds, and Loos recalls:

we were having lunch one day in Reynolds' 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.'[7]

Later, when Mabo was a research assistant on an oral history project in the Torres Strait, Reynolds records:

He got as far as Thursday Island and no further. He was refused permission to land on any of the other islands in the Straits[sic]. A reputation as a radical was a heavy burden in Queensland at the time. For Eddie the rejection was devastating. He could not go home. He was not only landless in the eyes of white man's law, he was an exile as well.[8]

Land rights advocate

In 1981 a land rights conference was held at James Cook University and Mabo made a speech to the audience where he explained the land inheritance system on Murray Island. The significance of this in terms of Australian common law doctrine was taken note of by one of the attendees, a lawyer, who suggested there should be a test case to claim land rights through the court system. Perth-based solicitor Greg McIntyre was at the conference and agreed to take the case; he then recruited barristers Ron Castan and Bryan Keon-Cohen.[9] McIntyre represented Mabo during the hearings.[10]

Of the eventual outcome of that decision a decade later, Henry Reynolds said: "it was a ten year battle and it was a remarkable saga really."[11]

Death and Mabo decision

On 21 January 1992, Eddie Mabo died of cancer at the age of 55.[12]

Five months later, on 3 June 1992, the High Court announced its historic decision, namely overturning the legal doctrine of terra nullius – which is a term applied to the attitude of the British towards land ownership on the continent of Australia.

That decision, formally "Mabo v Queensland (No 2)", now commonly called "Mabo" in Australia, is recognised for its landmark status. Three years after Mabo died, that being the traditional mourning period for the people of Murray Island, a gathering was held in Townsville for a memorial service.

Overnight, Mabo's gravesite was attacked by vandals who spray-painted swastikas and the word "Abo" (a derogatory slang term for an Aboriginal person) on his tombstone and removed a bronze bas-relief portrait of him. His family decided to have his body reburied on Murray Island. On the night of his re-interment, the Islanders performed their traditional ceremony for the burial of a king, a ritual not seen on the island for 80 years.[citation needed]

Legacy

In 1992, Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Awards, together with the Reverend Dave Passi, Sam Passi (deceased), James Rice (deceased), Celuia Mapo Salee (deceased) and Barbara Hocking (deceased). 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".[13]

In 1993 The Australian newspaper commemorated his work by voting him the 1992 Australian of the Year (not to be confused with the official Australian of the Year awards issued by the Australian Government).[14]

A documentary, Mabo: Life of an Island Man, directed by Trevor Graham was released in 1997 (and received the AFI Award for Best Documentary).

On 21 May 2008, James Cook University named its Townsville campus library the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library.[15]

Mabo Day is an official holiday in the Torres Shire, celebrated on 3 June.[16]

On 10 June 2012, Mabo, a television drama based on the life of Mabo was broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).[17]

On 24 August 2015, Tony Abbott became the first Prime Minister to visit Eddie Mabo's grave on Murray Island where he paid tribute to his legacy.[18]

In 2016, Google Doodle commemorated his 80th birthday.[19]

In 2017, the Royal Australian Mint issued a commemorative 50c coin, commemorating 25 years since Mabo's death and the legal decision and 50 years since the referendum. It was designed by his grand-daughter Boneta-Marie Mabo and was released in National Reconciliation Week.[20][21]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Mabo: The Man – Adoption". Screen Australia Digital Learning. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b "Facts Sheet – Edward Koiki Mabo 1936–1992". Racism No Way. Archived from the original on 28 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "It's time, says Bonita Mabo". Sydney Morning Herald. 1 August 2004. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Mabo Art". jcu.edu.au. 21 May 2009. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Social Justice and Human Rights Issues: A Global Perspective". csu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Mabo's gift". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 September 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Created by Thomas Rickard (2 November 2008). "We Are No Longer Shadows". First Australians. Australia. 13:45 minutes in. SBS. SBS. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |serieslink= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) See also Reynolds, Henry (1992). The Law of the Land (2 ed.). Ringwood, Vic: Penguin. pp. 185–186.
  8. ^ Id., p. 186.
  9. ^ "About Bryan Keon-Cohen". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "You're part of the family, Mabo clan tells lawyer who led landmark case". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 June 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Eddie Mabo". ABC. 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Noel, Loos. "Mabo, Edward Koiki (Eddie) (1936–1992)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  13. ^ "1992 Human Rights Medal and Awards". Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Papers of Edward Koiki Mabo – MS 8822". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
  15. ^ "Architecture – Eddie Koiki Mabo Library Building Award – JCU". James Cook University. Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Mabo Day". Torres Strait regional authority. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Personal face of a public battle". Sydney Morning herald. 31 May 2012. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Tony Abbott visits Eddie Mabo's grave on Murray Island". ABC. Archived from the original on 24 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Edward Koiki Mabo's 80th birthday". Google.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "New coin designed by Boneta-Marie Mabo released into circulation for National Reconciliation Week". Royal Australian Mint. 24 May 2017. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Copp, Amanda (25 May 2017). "New 50c coin commemorates Mabo and 1967 referendum". SBS News. Special Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Further reading

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