2011/09/01 by Julie Fenley · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights #Canadian Identity and History
paper · doi:10.1080/1031461x.2011.583257
openalex publication_date 2011/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This article examines the different understandings of sovereignty that were developed through Australian Indigenous campaigns for a treaty in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It begins with an assessment of the National Aboriginal Conference's call for a treaty in 1979, which was replaced by a seemingly more moderate proposal for a makarrata. These ideas were debated by other Indigenous people who proposed more radical positions. This article argues that Aboriginal ideas of sovereignty were diverse, in flux, and sometimes contradictory, as Indigenous leaders experimented with new ways to achieve greater independence and power.