Native Title
“a title is a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or equitable interest”
In Australian property law, a person is said to have a title to land, a title is essentially a list of rights they have regarding that land, e.g. the right to exclude others from the area or the right to build a house on the land. Most people when they buy a home are buying Freehold title to that land. Freehold is the most common type of title, other kinds are Pastoral Title, which is typical of large farming properties. A person only has the rights that their title allows, for example a freehold title does not give a person rights to the minerals beneath their property, nor does it give them the right to exclude others from the airspace above their property. Some land is held by the state government and is not titled.
In 1992, Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a landmark case in the High Court of Australia, a new form of title was recognised in Australian Law - Native Title, which like all other titles is a ‘bundle of rights’. Native Title is held by the members of the local Aboriginal group (these people are often called Traditional Owners*); all members of the group hold this title jointly and enjoy these rights as dictated by their traditional law and customs. The particular rights that are claimed under Native Title vary from group to group.
Native title may be claimed in areas such as:
Vacant (or unallocated) Crown land;
Parks and public reserves;
Beaches;
Certain leaseholds (such as non-exclusive pastoral leases);
Land held by government agencies;
Some land held for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities;
Oceans, seas, reefs, lakes, rivers, creeks and other waters that are not privately owned.
*Not all Aboriginal people living in an area are members of the local Aboriginal group. Due to historical circumstances, like forced removals and economic migration, some Aboriginal people may live in places in which they are not Traditional Owners. These Aboriginal people are referred to as Historical People and are Traditional Owners of land elsewhere.
Danggan Balun (Five Rivers) People Claim
To lodge a claim to recognise Native Title, a claim group description must be provided, this description defines who is a member of the group and enables others to identify them. These people are the Claimants and are the people the claim identifies as holding Native Title rights in the area claimed, i.e. the Claim Area.
Our claim description identifies as members, persons who:
1. are descendants (including by adoption) of a recognised Apical Ancestor and,
2. identify as being affiliated to country within the Danggan Balun area and,
3. whose identification is recognised under our traditional laws and customs.
Apical Ancestors*
Sarah Warri/Warru Clarke;
George Daramlee Drumley;
Jack Slab/Slabb Snr (husband of Lizzie Waggil Slabb & father of Charlotte, Frank, John/Jack Jnr, Olive & Victor);
Kitty Blow (wife of Joseph Blow & mother of Frank Blow & Hughie Blow);
Bilin Bilin aka Bilinba Jackey aka Jackey Jackey aka John “Johnny” Logan (father of Emily Logan & Johnny Logan);
Kipper Tommy Andrews (father of Lizzie Malay (nee Tommie));
Billy Terribah/Didiba Andrews;
Julia Sandy (wife of Arthur Ford);
Mary Ann Sandy nee Mitchell (mother of Mary Ann Drumley (nee Sandy), Ida Bell (nee Sandy), Janet Sandy, Norman Sandy Snr & Lindsay Sandy);
William “Billy” Mitchell and his wife, Lizzie Sandy;
Unnamed mother of Matilda “Mittie” Fogarty (nee Sandy) and Lizzie (mother of William “Billy” Stanley Brown Jnr);
Coolum (husband of Nancy Culham (nee Coolwell) & father of Joseph “Joe”, Maude, Lucy & Lena);
Unnamed mother of Nancy Culham (nee Coolwell) (wife of Coolum & mother of Joseph “Joe”, Maude, Lucy & Lena);
Yarry (father of Frederick “Fred” Yarrie/Yarry);
Jennie, mother of Joseph Coolwell (husband of Polly Allen/Dalton & father of Alice Edwards (nee Coolwell), Alfred Coolwell Jnr, Eva, Edward, Rose, Campbell, Michael & Andrew);
Polly Allen/Dalton (wife of Joseph Coolwell & mother of Eva, Edward, Rose, Campbell, Michael & Andrew);
Unnamed mother of Elizabeth Tomes/ Clark nee Wheeler;
Jim Edwards Snr (husband of Topsy (of Ipswich) & father of Jimmy Edwards Jnr);
William Williams (Snr);
Bullum Bullum aka John Allen;
Alice/Alison Parsons nee Moree, mother of Thomas Parsons;
*Please note that research into our claim group is still on-going and further Apical Ancestors may be added.
Danggan Balun Claim Area
Where exclusive native title can be recognised (such as areas where there has been no prior extinguishment of native title due to other land titles) the Danggan Balun claimants as defined in our application, claim the right to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of the lands and waters of the application area to the exclusion of all others subject to the valid laws of the Commonwealth and the State of Queensland.
Where exclusive native title cannot be recognised, we claim the following sixteen (16) non-exclusive rights and interests including the right to conduct activities necessary to give effect to them:
The right to access the application area;
The right to use and enjoy the application area;
The right to move about the application area;
The right to camp on the application area;
The right to erect shelters and other structures on the application area;
The right to enter and remain on the application area;
The right to hold meetings on the application area;
The right to hunt on the application area;
The right to fish in the application area;
The right to have access to and use the natural water resources of the application area;
The right to gather and use the natural resources of the application area (including food, medicinal plants, timber, tubers, charcoal, wax, stone, ochre and resin as well as materials for fabricating tools, hunting, implements, making artwork and musical instruments);
The right to share and exchange resources derived from the land and waters within the application area;
The right to participate in cultural and spiritual activities on the application area;
The right to maintain and protect places of importance under traditional laws, customs and practices in the application area;
The right to conduct ceremonies and rituals on the application area;
The right to transmit traditional knowledge to members of the native title claim group including knowledge of particular sites on the application area.
