Reckoning with the Past

Book chapter

Konishi, Shino. (2022). Reckoning with the Past. In The Cambridge Legal History of Australia pp. 740-764 Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108633949.032
AuthorsKonishi, Shino
Abstract

This chapter will explore why and how First Nations people still have to reckon with the myriad settler and Australian legal histories that have shaped their lives and histories since colonisation. I argue that we still need to reckon with law because settler law denied Aboriginal land title and continues to deny Aboriginal sovereignty. Tracing settler laws’ complicity with the colonial project, this chapter first examines how the fantasy of terra nullius was instantiated through laws which enabled the expropriation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lands and waters. It then examines how First Nations people have been unduly affected by separate, discriminatory settler laws which governed almost all facets of their lives. Yet, Australia’s legal system to redress these injustices, constitutes new and evolving chapters in the nation’s legal history.

KeywordsIndigenous history; Indigenous legal history; colonialism; terra nullius; protection acts; Indigenous sovereignty; Indigenous law
Page range740-764
Year01 Jan 2022
Book titleThe Cambridge Legal History of Australia
PublisherCambridge University Press
Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
ISBN9781108633949
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108633949.032
Web address (URL)https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-cambridge-legal-history-of-australia/B181A9403346292CF991309EF6253624
Open accessPublished as non-open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
OnlineAug 2022
Publication process dates
Accepted08 Feb 2024
Deposited16 Feb 2024
Additional information

© Cambridge University Press 2022.

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