History and Land Rights

TL;DRAbstract

The place of history and historians in the Indigenous land rights
\nprocess has puzzled me for several years. In my view history is
\nimportant, if not pivotal, to explaining land rights policy and practice.
\nDispossession occurred in past actions: land rights represents
\nan attempt to make amends for past injustice and to improve the
\npresent lot of Aborigines. Land rights provides more lifestyle choices,
\noffering Indigenous people an economic base and a chance to protect
\ntheir cultural heritage. Land rights therefore addresses both past
\nand present. Aborigines who claim land are highly conscious of
\ncertain historical events, policies, and patterns of behaviour which
\nhave led to their contemporary situation. But professional historians
\nhave done little to articulate or explain these phenomena. In
\nfact, odd as it may seem, land rights are very rarely seen as having
\nanything to do with history. The key professions in

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