Narrator Rachael Perkins gives national and international political context to the times of Edward Koiki Mabo. A voice-over, derived from Eddie’s diaries and the recollections of his family, give reasons as to why he began his fight for rights. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Narrator Rachel Perkins and Father Frank Brennan explain legislation brought in by the Queensland government to quash Mabo’s land claim. Barrister Bryan Keon-Cohen QC and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation describe consequences of the legislation and its eventual dismissal by the High Court of Australia. We see the bicentenary protests on Australia Day 1988, and then Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s reaction to his inability to secure a treaty. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

The Queensland Department of Aboriginal Affairs would not allow Mabo back to Mer, so Eddie stayed in Townsville with his family and became an activist. He supported his family by working as a gardener at James Cook University.

Whilst working at the university, academics like Noel Loos became aware of the knowledge Mabo had of Torres Strait Island culture and invited him to speak to his race relations course students. Another academic, Henry Reynolds, says Eddie's main interest was ideas - 'When you talked about ideas and culture he would glow'.

In voice-over filmmaker Trevor Graham says, 'He gave the academics and their students a first-hand taste of Islander culture. In return they helped him understand the white man's system and the white man's law. What he learned deeply offended his sense of justice.' 

Reynolds says that it was extremely important to Eddie to know that he could return to his island of Mer one day and still have the Mabo land there. When Reynolds said that the land would be considered Crown land, Mabo was shocked and horrified. Reynolds recalls 'it was as though I'd punched him in the face'. 

This was a turning point for Mabo. He became obsessed with establishing his right to the Mabo land on Mer. 

This is an excerpt from: Mabo: Life of An Island Man, 1997, Film Australia Collection © NFSA. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

Stream Mabo: Life of An Island Man on NFSA Player

NFSA Indigenous Connections Manager Tasha James yarns with filmmaker Trevor Graham about his documentary Mabo: Life of an Island Man (1997), Graham’s personal connection with Eddie Mabo, and the importance of Mabo’s work in the historic High Court decision of 1992.

Stream Mabo: Life of An Island Man on NFSA Player

This song is an anthem, a celebration. Yothu Yindi, famous for their 1991 song 'Treaty', sing here about Mabo's native title victory and the death of terra nullius. The latin phrase terra nullius translates as 'land that belongs to no-one' and until Mabo v Queenland, that was how Australia had been seen by the law. The land rights of Indigenous Australians were not recognised. 

Yothu Yindi achieved mainstream popularity right around the time of the Mabo v Queensland high court decision in 1992. This song was written the year after the decision came down and a year after Eddie's Mabo's death.

The lyrics of the song talk about 'Mabo's law', saying the law will give power to Indigenous people to stand strong and show the world their 'spirit, law culture and all'. Mabo became a hero for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians alike - having fought for his rights and those of his people.

This excerpt of the song features didgeridoo, tambourine and the sound of voices layered over one another. The mood reflects the powerful emotional and intellectual impact the Mabo v Queensland high court ruling had on Indigenous Australians. There was a feeling that anything was possible.

Similar to other Youthu Yindi songs, 'Mabo' cleverly combines ​​​​​strong rhythmic, electronic dance music with traditional instruments while embedding ancestral themes and native language. It is a bold musical composition. The lyrics are shouted more than sung which gives the message a triumphant tone. The use of multiple voices shouting the lyrics is effective in drawing in the listener; it compels you to join in and become part of the celebration and protest.

This is one of the tracks from Our Home. Our Land, produced by CAAMA Music and including works by various artists including Christine Anu and Yothu Yindi.

The cover image of this song is a still from the film Land Bilong Islanders (1990, Trevor Graham and Sharon Connolly, Australia). Courtesy of Trevor Graham and Yarra Bank Films.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Eddie's daughter Gail Mabo explains how she could always tell when Eddie was homesick because he would paint pictures of home - Mer. The family used to join him in singing songs from the Murray Islands and Gail sings his favourite one.

It was incredibly important to Eddie that his children learn about Murray Island culture. Eddie gave lectures at James Cook University where he worked as a gardener and, in footage of him talking to a class, he says 'If I die my kids are not going to be able to speak my language if I don't teach them. That led to an idea that we must be able to retain our identity and culture and this can only be taught to our kids through our own education system.'

We see black-and-white footage of Eddie teaching at the Black Community School he established with his wife Bonita in Townsville in 1973. The children look happy as they sit in a circle singing and dancing and doing traditional crafts.

Fellow Murray Islander and plantiff in the Queensland Supreme Court case, Donald Whaleboat, says 'He kept on saying to me, if we are able to have our own school we could have the white curriculum as being taught there by the white teachers. We could have some white teachers come into the school but at the same time we could have the elders come in and teach the cultural side of things plus the language. Plus we could teach them the crafts, to plant gardens.'

This is an excerpt from Mabo: Life of An Island Man, 1997, Film Australia Collection © NFSA. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

Stream Mabo: Life of An Island Man on NFSA Player

Peter Yu of the Yawuru and Bunuba, Kimberley Land Council, talks about Indigenous relationship to land and the High Court decision in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992) 175 CLR 1. Paul Keating stresses the chance to legislate away the fiction of terra nullius, offering a truth rather than a lie as the basis for policy. Images show Indigenous people on the land and in the meeting room. A title states, 'From September 1992 until December 1993 Indigenous people entered intense negotiations with the Federal Parliament to incorporate Native Title into legislation’. Summary by Romaine Moreton.

John Howard responds to the High Court’s decision on the native title of the Wik and Thayorre peoples in Wik Peoples v Queensland (1996) 141 ALR 129. News footage shows a summit held by Aboriginal Land Councils. Wik elder Jean George calls for justice. Summary by Romaine Moreton.

Father Frank Brennan, Eddie’s daughter Gail Mabo of the Meriam and Manbarra Nations and Donald Whaleboat of the Meriam Nation, talk about Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo and the outcomes of the trial. Narrator Rachel Perkins and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, accompanied by archival footage, describe the negative public reaction to the High Court decision. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

After the desecration of Eddie Mabo's grave in Townsville his family decide to take his body to Mer and bury him there.

Mabo's son Eddie Junior says, 'The ten-year battle over the land claim was for this place. It was for this. Now the significance of the place we're going to bury him is that his ancestors are not far from his final resting place.'

Men in traditional costume carry the coffin to the final resting place. 

In voice-over Trevor Graham says, 'I found I had mixed feelings. There was a sense of rightness about Koiki coming home to Mer, but his family had to bring him here for all the wrong reasons. I remember him saying that he hoped the Mabo case would help unite Australia and not divide it.'

Sitting next to Eddie's grave, Bonita Mabo admits that 'The hardest part for me now is to go back to Townsville and sort of leave him up here. But then again I suppose I've got no choice do I? But I do feel a lot at ease to know he's here.'

This is an excerpt from Mabo: Life of An Island Man, 1997, Film Australia Collection © NFSA. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

Stream Mabo: Life of An Island Man on NFSA Player

Professor Garth Nettheim presents historic background to the Murray Island case accompanied by footage of the Torres Strait Islands. Summary by Liz McNiven.

The clip begins with a black-and-white photograph of the Murray Island Courthouse taken in November 1898. The plaintiffs’ lawyers discuss the importance of some of the cases heard by the Murray Island court. The clip includes a traditional dance by a group of Murray Island women and the Queensland Supreme Court ending its proceedings on Murray Island. Summary by Liz McNiven.

This clip introduces Murray Island in the Torres Strait and some of the plaintiffs involved in the claim for native title over the island – James Rice, Father Dave Passi and Koiki 'Eddie’ Mabo. Summary by Liz McNiven.

Sharon Connolly, producer and former CEO of Film Australia (pictured at left in the cover image), talks about her work as producer on the film Land Bilong Islanders (1989, Trevor Graham, Australia). The film documents the proceedings of the Supreme Court of Queensland in which Justice Moynihan considered issues of fact relating to the Mabo v Queensland case, ahead of the High Court of Australia’s 1992 decision.

Connolly says 'we filmed what I think probably became the most important bit of film that I’ve ever been involved with: the beginnings of those hearings. We also filmed the whole business of the court being present on this tiny island.'

This is an excerpt from Sharon Connolly's oral history interview with Geoff Gardner from 2012.

Pictured are Sharon Connolly, Eddie Mabo jnr, Bonita Mabo and filmmaker Trevor Graham from Mabo - Life of an Island Man, 1997 - Film Australia Collection © NFSA.

Notes by Beth Taylor

In this excerpt the lyrics serve as an oral history of Mabo's struggle and tell the story of his case, making peace with his people (from his homeland of Mer, or Murray Island) and his untimely death at the age of 55. 

The singer says she thinks of him often and sees 'through his eyes', showing how much the struggle for Indigenous land rights has become synonymous with Mabo the man. The strident electric guitar in the piece underlines the pain and 'endless cries' involved in the struggle for land rights and justice. This sorrow and disbelief is also expressed in the urgency and frenetic tempo of the vocal performance - the singer barely takes a breath while telling the story.

This is a rough and raw recording which effectively reflects the passion inherent in the message. It has a garage-band quality to it and sounds like it could have been recorded live. This 'quiet - loud' style of music, pioneered by American band the Pixies (1986 to the present), was typical of indie bands during the 1990s where passion and energy were more valued than virtuosity. The driving 4-4 beat and heavy use of guitar distortion is a defining characteristic of 'grunge' music. While this recording captures the energy of Rygela Band's song, more post-production and overdubs could have improved the sound and made the lyrics more discernible.

This is one of the tracks from Our Home. Our Land, produced by CAAMA Music and including works by various artists including Christine Anu and Yothu Yindi.

The cover image of this song is a production still from the film Land Bilong Islanders (1990, Trevor Graham and Sharon Connolly, Australia). Courtesy of Trevor Graham and Yarra Bank Films.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Prime Minister Paul Keating outlines the basic principles of the Mabo legislation, the Native Title Act 1993. While Indigenous Australians, landowners and governments will not get everything they want from the legislation, Keating says the national interest will be served. Summary by Richard Kuipers.

Prime Minister Paul Keating acknowledges past injustices perpetrated on Indigenous Australians and affirms the High Court of Australia’s Mabo decision to recognise native title. Summary by Richard Kuipers.

Aboriginal elder and teacher Douglas Bon remembers Eddie Mabo and the landmark land rights case he fought.

Singer-songwriter Neil Murray was one of the founding members of the Warumpi Band and the writer of Christine Anu's iconic track 'My Island Home'.

A non-Indigenous artist, Murray told ABC radio in Ballarat that he works with Aboriginal artists because 'I like to hear truth and honesty. I like to hear real art.'

The lyrics of the song switch from first person to third person when talking about Eddie. In this excerpt we hear an imagining of what was going on in Eddie Mabo’s head when he began his court case: 'When you see me in the morning going down, I’m gonna meet them. Ones with all the money and the power, I'm going to face them.' By speaking as Mabo, Murray shows Mabo's determination to get justice for his people. In the lyrics of the chorus the words 'Eddie Mabo, you're a hero' are repeated making evident Murray's esteem for Mabo and everything he achieved.

Most protest or social message songs tend to project their message assertively or aggressively to the listener so it's a surprise that 'Eddie Mabo' is actually very mellow. Its dance beat, laid-back keyboards and guitar parts and heavy use of reverb on Murray's vocals has a soothing and calming effect rather than being a call to action. This seems to echo the charm and calm certainty of Eddie Mabo himself who was able to bring about great change in Australia. The song is a highly polished studio recording.

Taken from the ABC Music title Eddie Mabo.

The cover image of this song is a promotional still from the film Mabo - Life of an Island Man, 1997 - Film Australia Collection © NFSA.

Notes by Beth Taylor

It is 1993. Dr John Hewson exclaims to the Parliament that the passing of the 'Mabo Bill’ will be a day of shame for Australia. Titles on the screen summarise the key points of the native title legislation. Cut to shots of John Howard assuming office on 2 March 1996, followed by details of his government’s proposed amendments to the Native Title Act 1993 that will shift the power to miners and pastoralists. CEO Richard Frankland addresses Mirimbiak Nations Aboriginal Corporation, the representative body for native title in Victoria, before they appear before a Federal Parliamentary Joint Committee in 1996. Summary by Romaine Moreton.