Eddie Mabo: Difference between revisions

| birth_namecaption = EdwardMabo Koiki{{ca.}} Sambo1980s

| birth_datebirth_name = {{birthEdward date|df=yes|1936|6|29}}Koiki Mabo

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1992|101|21|1936|6|29}}

| death_place = [[Brisbane]], [[Queensland]], Australia

'''Edward Koiki Mabo''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ɑː|b|o:}} {{respell|MAH|bo}}) (29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992) was an [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous Australian]] man from the [[Torres Strait Islands]] known for his role in campaigning for [[Indigenous land rights in Australia]], in particular the landmark decision of the [[High Court of Australia]] that recognised that indigenous rights to land had continued after the British Crown acquired sovereignty and that the international law doctrine of [[terra nullius]] was not applicable to Australian domestic law. High court judges considering the case ''[[Mabo v Queensland (No 2)]]'' found in favour of Mabo, which led to the ''[[Native Title Act 1993]]'' and established [[native title in Australia]], officially recognising the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

Mabo was born '''Edward Koiki Sambo''' on 29 June 1936<ref name=biog>{{cite web |url=https://www.mabonativetitle.com/theman_05.shtml |title=Mabo: The Man – Adoption |publisher=[[Screen Australia]] |access-date=2014-05-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810161904/http://www.nfsa.gov.au/digitallearning/mabo/theman_05.shtml |archive-date=2014-08-10}}</ref> in the village of Las located on the [[Mer Island|island of Mer]] in the [[Torres Strait]]. His parents were Robert Zesou Sambo and Poipe Mabo, but Eddie was adopted by his uncle Benny Mabo when his mother died shortly after he was born.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Eddie Koiki Mabo |publisher=Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs |date=2021 |accessdate=27 October 2021 |url=https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/eddie-koiki-mabo |archive-date=28 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028192656/https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/eddie-koiki-mabo |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=racism>{{cite web |title=Facts Sheet – Edward Koiki Mabo 1936–1992 |publisher=Racism No Way |url=http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/54.html |access-date=21 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728074453/http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/54.html |archive-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> This adoption was part of traditional [[Torres Strait Islander]] adoption practices.<ref>{{cite news |first=Felicity |last=Caldwell |title=Traditional Torres Strait Islander adoption practices to be acknowledged under Labor |url=https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland-election-2017/torres-strait-islander-traditional-adoption-practices-would-be-acknowledged-20171115-p4yx0s.html |work=Brisbane Times |date=15 November 2017 |access-date=4 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042621/https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland-election-2017/torres-strait-islander-traditional-adoption-practices-would-be-acknowledged-20171115-p4yx0s.html |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Eddie had a great bond with his tradition. He enjoyed activities such as Aboriginal painting, dancing and singing. But his uncle and aunt, Benny and Maigo Mabo, taught him to respect other's cultures as well.{{Citation<ref needed|datename=February":0" 2024}}/>

In 1973, Eddie and Bonita Mabo established the Black Community School in Townsville, where Torres Strait Islander children could learn their own culture rather than whiteEuropean culture.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mabonativetitle.com/theman_18.shtml |title=Black Community School |website=Screen Australia Digital Learning |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410125426/http://www.mabonativetitle.com/theman_18.shtml |archive-date=10 April 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=27 November 2018}}</ref>

Speaking to the State Library of Queensland for their podcast series about the Mabo decision, Eddie's daughter Gail Mabo recalled that her father particularly objected to Torres Strait Islander children being taught a version of history that did not include any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander voices or perspectives. She also said that Eddie Mabo believed that knowledge of their culture would give Torres Strait children growing up on the mainland a solid foundation and a sense of pride.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Noel Zaro attended the Black Community School, also known as BCS. He remembered that on a standard day, the school taught Western subjects such as English and Maths in the morning: after lunch, students would be taught about Torres Strait Islander culture, including basic Meriam language vocabulary as well as traditional dancing. Some students, including Noel Zaro, took field trips to other schools for traditional dance demonstrations, often transported by parents or family members.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

As the school was not sanctioned by the Queensland education board, Eddie Mabo served unpaid as principal, cultural instructor and school bus driver. He continued to work as a gardener at James Cook University in the evenings.<ref>{{cite podcast |host=Patrick,Rhianna|title=Hi, I'm Eddie: Episode Three: A Better Education|website="https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/discover/podcasts/hi-im-eddie"|publisher=State Library of Queensland |date=23 May 2022 |url=httphttps://examplewww.orgslq.qld.gov.au/discover/podcasts/hi-im-eddie |access-date=13 September 2023}}</ref>

we[W]e were having lunch one day in Reynolds' office when Koiki was just speaking about his land back on Mer, or Murray Island. Henry and I realised that in his mind he thought he owned that land, so we sort of glanced at each other, and then had the difficult responsibility of telling him that he didn't own that land, and that it was [[Crown land]]. Koiki was surprised, shocked and even ... he said and I remember him saying 'No way, it's not theirs, it's ours.'<ref name="BBCPres2008">{{Cite episode |title=We Are No Longer Shadows |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/firstaustralians/index/index/epid/7 |series=First Australians |credits=Created by [[Thomas Rickard]] |network=[[Special Broadcasting Service|SBS]] |station=[[Special Broadcasting Service|SBS]] |location=[[Australia]] |airdate=2 November 2008 |minutes=13:45 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927101757/http://www.sbs.com.au/firstaustralians/index/index/epid/7 |archive-date=27 September 2010}} See also {{cite book |first=Henry |last=Reynolds |title=The Law of the Land |place=Ringwood, Vic |publisher=Penguin |date=1992 |edition=2 |pages=185–186}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mabo : Working with Indigenous Australians |url=https://www.workingwithindigenousaustralians.info/content/History_11_C_Mabo.html#:~:text=Henry%20and%20I%20realised%20that,that%20it%20was%20Crown%20land. |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=www.workingwithindigenousaustralians.info}}</ref>

Three years after Mabo died, that being the traditional mourning period for the people of Murray Island, a memorial service was held. The next day, Mabo's gravesite was attacked by vandals who spray-painted swastikas and racial slurs on his tombstone as well as removing a bronze bas-relief portrait of him.<ref>{{cite news |last=Henderson |first=Ian |title=Vandalism of Mabo's grave 'a racist act' |work=The Canberra Times |publisher=Fairfax Limited |date=5 June 1995 |page=1 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127528703 |accessdate=28 December 2021 |archive-date=27 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227214454/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127528703 |url-status=live }}</ref> His family decided to have his body reburied on Murray Island. On the night of his reinterment, the Islanders performed their traditional ceremony for the burial of a Meriam king, a ritual not seen on the island for 80 years.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In 1992, Edward Koiki Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian [[Human Rights Medal]] in the [[Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission]] Awards, together with the Reverend Dave Passi, Sam Passi (deceased), James Rice (deceased), Celuia Mapo Salee (deceased) and Barbara Hocking (deceased). The award was in recognition "of their long and determined battle to gain justice for their people" and the "work over many years to gain legal recognition for indigenous people's rights".<ref name="human">{{cite web |title=1992 Human Rights Medal and Awards |publisher=[[Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission]] |url=http://www.humanrights.gov.au/hr_awards/1992.html |access-date=2007-08-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020650/http://www.humanrights.gov.au/hr_awards/1992.html |archive-date=2007-09-27}}</ref>

A documentary film, ''[[Mabo: Life of an Island Man]]'', directed by Trevor Graham, was released in 1997 and received the [[Australian Film Institute Award for Best Documentary]].{{cn|date=June 2022}}

In 2016, [[Google Doodle]] commemorated his 80th birthday.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wwwdoodles.google.com/doodlesdoodle/edward-koiki-mabos-80th-birthday/ |title=Edward Koiki Mabo's 80th birthday |access-date=2016-06-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702135948/http://www.google.com/doodles/edward-koiki-mabos-80th-birthday |archive-date=2016-07-02}}</ref>

[[Category:Culture of the Torres Strait Islands culture]]