Eddie+Mabo

**Eddie Mabo (1936-1992) ** **__Introduction __** Eddie Koiki Mabo (9 June 1936 - 21 January 1992) was an indigenous man known for his successful campaign for indigenous land rights. He had a role in the decision made by the High Court of Australia to give indigenous people land rights. He made the white people realise that the land of //terra nullius// (no-ones land) belonged to the indigenous aboriginals. I think he is a remarkable man, because he fought for a land claimed from the aboriginals by the British more than 200 years earlier. He was a very pro-active man. Eddie Mabo was born on Mer Island (Murray Island). He was born with the name ‘Eddie Koiki Sambo’ but this was changed when he was given to his maternal brother Benny Mabo after the death of his mother. When he was a child, Mabo was exiled from his home after a teenage prank
 * __Title __**
 * __Early Life __**

In 1957, He left Mer Island and went to Townsville for a job as a railway labourer. This gave him better opportunities and later he became spokesman for the Torres Strait Islanders gang on the railroads. While he was in Townsville, Mabo started making a difference when he opened the first indigenous school in the area. **__Occupations __** When Mabo was 31 years old, 8 years after marrying Bonita Neenhow aged 23, he had already held down many jobs, and became a gardener in James Cook University. The time he spent on the campus had a massive impact on his life. He also worked as a land rights activists (he spread the word and made people aware of the aboriginal belief). **__Achievements __** In 1981, after Mabo was surprisingly told by one of his friends that the aboriginals did not own the land of //terra nullius //, Mabo held a conference at James Cook University about the land rights, hoping for the argument to reach the High Court. He was successful and the case was launched. In 1985, Mabo received a research grant from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies to study land ownership.

Sadly, after ten years of fighting over the land, the High Court came to a decision that Mabo had no right to inherit the land. Mabo was completely shattered. But he didn’t give up. He appealed to the High Court of Australia and continued fighting for the land of //terra nullius //.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">After taking time off, Mabo died aged 55 from cancer in 1992. However, on 3rd June, five months after Mabo’s death, the High Court finally overturned the legal fiction of //terra nullius//, and the indigenous people now have legal title to the land. Eddie Mabo was announced //The Australian//’s Australian of the Year in 1992.