AIATSIS Collection

Produced and directed by David MacDougall

Without narration, and without identification of individual speakers, the film provides an invaluable record of two events which occurred in the final week of January 1977, and which marked “a turning point in legal recognition of Aboriginal rights to land”. The film documents discussions among traditional owners and white officials and legal advisors, at a large gathering at Batchelor, 100km south of Darwin. The first event was the meeting of traditional owners of the Alligator Rivers region of the Northern Territory to finalise their land claim for presentation to the inquiry into the Ranger Uranium Mine. Three items were needed to present to the court to complete the case for returning ownership of the land to the traditional owners: agreement on the area of the land involved; agreement on who were the traditional owners; and agreement on how the owners will manage the land once they regain ownership. This meeting then flowed into the second major event: the inaugural meeting of the Northern Land Council, a body constituted to represent traditional owners. The Federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Ian Viner, addresses the meeting and underlines the importance of the day as the first time that traditional Aboriginal law is recognized by the Federal Governments legal system.--Kanopy

Originally produced by Ronin Films in 1977

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