Maturing Australia through Australian Aboriginal Narrative Law

Abstract

This essay is a nonlinear narrative that attempts to “unthink” the ways in which Australian Indigenous peoples' identity, sovereignty, and law are discussed. An Australian Aboriginal law narrative and poetry are part of the unthinking language used to discuss these definitions. The essay challenges some of the Australian definitions of Indigenous identity, sovereignty, and law, which come out of a Western epistemology and value system. This challenge includes the role of the United Nations' special rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of Indigenous peoples and its lack of female representation. The essay goes on to critique Australia's lack of maturity in accepting its geographical location in the Southern Hemisphere. The overall critique, however, is balanced with a suggested alternative governance system based on the classic thinking of Australian Aboriginal senior law persons.