ď ś BEFORE HIS LEGACY Edward Mabo also known as Eddie was born in 1936 on Murray island, one of the Torres Strait Islands. His mother died shortly after his birth and his maternal uncle, Benny Mabo and his wife were now to raise him.
In his youth, Eddie Mabo like many other Murray Islanders was educated about his family's land. During that time in the Torres Strait Islands, life was strictly watched by the Queensland Government through their Island Council. As the result of a teenaged prank the council evicted him from his family home. In 1959, at the age of twenty-three, he married Bonita Neehow. Together they would raise ten children.
Eddie Mabo 1986
Over the next ten years, Eddie Mabo worked in a number of jobs but when he was thirty-one years old he became a gardener at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland. Being at the campus was a very significant time in his life. He would sit in on classes, He would go to the campus library and read books particularly those written by white anthropologists about his people. In 1981 a Land Rights Conference was held at James Cook University and to that audience, Eddie Mabo made a speech where he spelt out clearly land ownership and land inheritance in Murray Island. The significance of his speech was not missed by one of the attendants, a lawyer, who suggested there should be a test case to claim land rights through the court system. The Murray Islanders decided they would be the ones to challenge the legal principle of terra nullius in the High Court and that Eddie Koiki Mabo would be the one to lead that action.
The outcome of that decision Henry Reynolds said that "...it was a ten year battle and it was a remarkable saga really” After listening to the argument and investigating it, Justice Moynihan came to the conclusion that Eddie Koiki Mabo wasn't the son of Benny Mabo and declared that he had “no right to inherit Mabo land.“ While personally devastated, Eddie Koiki Mabo persisted in the matter and presented it to the High Court of Australia. However, while he would take time out to relax by working on his boat or painting watercolors of his island home, after ten years the stress began to affect his health. In January 1992, Eddie Koiki Mabo died of cancer. He was fiftysix years of age.
EXPERIENCES IN EDDIE'S EARLY LIFE Eddie Mabo was a strong activist in the 1967 Referendum campaign and helped found the Townsville Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander Health Service. The issue of land rights became a focus for his energy in 1974, while working on campus as a gardener at James Cook University and meeting university historians Noel Loos and Henry Reynolds, who recalled: ‘we were having lunch one day when Eddie was just speaking about his land back on Murray Island 'Henry and I realized 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. Eddie was surprised and shocked he said and I remember him saying 'No way, it's not theirs, it’s ours.'
ď ś HOW HE DETERMINED HIS LEGACY He determined his legacy by being a strong advocate for Aboriginal rights in Australia. He did this by giving a powerful speech that not one of the attendees missed, the speech that he gave was about how Aboriginals should be respected the same as any other Australian person and to show how strongly and passionately he believed in aboriginal rights, but that significant speech he gave was not for the benefit of him it was for the benefit of Murray island and all Aboriginals everywhere.
HIS LEGACY Eddie Mabo’s legacy made a big impact on life today. In Australia today Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people are now largely respected and cared for as well as been given more job opportunity's . Eddie Mabo was definitely the man who changed Aboriginal rights in Australia for good. Although what he did was very brave and is now known as a hero to all Aboriginal and Torres strait island people most people don’t know he had a number of other jobs such as been a gardener at James cook university in Townsville, Queensland. After working at the university he still remembered the significance it made in his life.
This is a book about Eddie Mabo’s life and fight for land rights.
ď ś REMEMBERING EDDIE MABO Today we remember Eddie Mabo as a strong advocate for Aboriginal rights and celebrate and remember him and all of his contributions on Mabo day, the 3rd June every year. Eddie Mabo had the courage to stand up in front of the whole of Queensland and fight for his country and rights. He definitely deserves to be remembered for all the wonderful things he did to benefit the aboriginal and Torres strait island peoples rights.
The Torres strait island flag
ď ś REFERENCES http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Mabo_Eddie.html http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=eddie+mabo\ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabo_Day http://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/eddie-koiki-mabo