Beyond native title: the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations

Abstract

Introduction The recognition and development of native title law has focused attention on Indigenous peoples’ traditional identities. Indigenous peoples who collectively hold traditional laws and customs are now explicitly recognised as holding rights to their traditional country and implicitly recognised as forming political systems of self governance (Strelein 2001). Native title has been described as a ‘recognition space’ where traditional laws and customs intersect with the Australian legal system (Mantziaris and Martin 2000: 2). Native title is thus produced by a combination of traditional laws and the common law. However, this interaction of laws has been incredibly problematic, and is at times experienced by Indigenous people as being at odds with the continuance of their laws and customs (Smith 2005: 230).