Common misconceptions about Traditional Indigenous LawAboriginal law is mainly ceremonial, and spiritual mythology?Talk of Aboriginal law conjures images of dream-time stories, ancient mythology and religious ceremony. But very few westerners have any real idea of what indigenous law is like and how it compares to western law. In truth most indigenous cultures have a law founded in very similar principles to Western systems of law. Why is this? Because all human societies must function under a system that provides security & protects its citizens. More Info Magayamirr - A Foundational Principle Aboriginal Society was pre-civilization?Most cultures, probably all ancient cultures, operated under a complete system of law. Which includes, social, judicial, economic and religious systems. In fact, evidence from Yolngusociety suggest that the complexity of may of these systems of law from indigenous cultures have been largely ignored because we tend to assume that commerce, parliamentary decision making, and justice by trial are inventions of the European civilization. The law of Indigenous peoples such as the Yolngu are represented as pre-civilization and consisting of social and religious lore not legally binding law. But this is not the case. More Info Madayin - A Complete System of Law Traditional Indigenous society was pre-democracy?The standard western view of traditional indigenous political systems is of tribal chief whose decision is final. If we think about it, what we imagine is patriarchal hierarchy or monarchy which in fact is a kind of dictatorship. However, we do not name it that strongly. Western world-view attributes the development of democracy to the Greeks. This is consistent with our historical experience. However, it is likely that many indigenous cultures have operated under a political system based on representation, for thousands of years. The Yolngu people practice a form of democracy that includes political representation by selection in their traditional law system. More Info Political Structures of Government Indigenous Australians were traditionally nomads?Although it is politically incorrect today to call some indigenous groups nomads it is still the accepted ideology about traditional indigenous society. Yet there is more and more evidence that makes it clear that tribal family and clan nation indigenous groups owned specifically defined parcels of land. Property rights is fundamental to social stability and a system of law. Without a geographic area of influence, or jurisdiction the law becomes conventions that lack sovereignty. More Info The Basis for Land Ownership - Native Title The Information Papers (Copyright 1998 © ARDS Inc.) The above Information Papers were published by Aboriginal Resource and Development Services (ARDS) as a response to certain issues and topics. ARDS is a non-profit NGO working to build the capacity and the independence of the Aboriginal people in Australia particularly the Yolngu people. They are at the forefront of grass root community development and are currently the only source of adult educational material in the yolngu language. They are available as HTML (text) documents or as PDF documents. HTML use a English alphabet. However the Yolngu Matha fonts are reproduced correctly in the PDF documents and you will be able to print these as they appear. They are also available from the ARDS website here, or you can order bound hardcopy booklet
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