The Blue Mud Bay case: Refractions through saltwater country

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PDFThe Blue Mud Bay case: Refractions through saltwater country
Performing law: The Yolngu of Blue Mud Bay meet the native title process. Photo: Frances Morphy

08 June 2009This paper contrasts settler Australian and Yolngu ways of conceptualising and giving meaning to the bodies of salt water that settler Australians call 'seas' and 'oceans'.

Under the Aboriginal Lands Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (ALRA) Aboriginal freehold land has always extended down to the low water mark. In a historic majority decision on 30 July 2008, the High Court of Australia ruled on appeal in the Blue Mud Bay case that, in effect, the ALRA also applies to the column of water above the intertidal zone.

This paper explores elements of the Yolngu worldview in order to unsettle the foundations of the settler 'political geographic imaginary' surrounding concepts such as 'ocean' and 'border'.

 

 

Publication typeJournal Article
Publisher TypeJournal
CoverageAustralia, Northern Territory
CopyrightAcademy of the Social Sciences in Australia
Permanent URLhttp://apo.org.au/node/14725
Views3027

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