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What is aboriginal heritage?

The definition of heritage: That which comes or belongs to one by reason of birth.

For more than 45,000 years, Aboriginal people have left signs of their occupation in Australia. Their heritage is of continuing significance, creating and maintaining continuous links with the people and the land.

Places that hold great meaning and significance to Aboriginal people include:

• Places where Aboriginal people have camped, lived and moved through country.
• Places associated with Dreaming stories depicting the laws of the land and how people should behave.
• Places that are associated with their spirituality.
• Places where other cultures came into contact with Aboriginal people;
• And places that are significant for more contemporary uses. 

These places are referred to as Aboriginal sites.

Aboriginal sites are places of importance and significance to Aboriginal people and to the cultural heritage of Western Australia. Aboriginal sites are significant because they link Aboriginal cultural tradition to place, land and people over time.  Aboriginal sites are as important today as they were many thousands of years ago and will continue to be an integral part of the lives of Aboriginal people and the heritage of Western Australia.

Sites can be a diverse range of places. They can be put into two basic but overlapping categories:

Archaeological sites: places where material remains associated with past Aboriginal land use.

Anthropological sites: places of spiritual importance and significance to Aboriginal people.

All sites have both archaeological and anthropological aspects.

Aboriginal cultural heritage sites can be found all over Western Australia in urban, rural and remote areas. They are most common near rivers, lakes, swamps, hills and the coast.

In Western Australia the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 protects all Aboriginal sites. It is against the law to disturb a site or to remove artefacts, without Ministerial consent / approval.

Native Title

Native Title is the recognition by Australian law that some Aboriginal people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs.

Native Title was first recognised by the High Court of Australia in 1992 with the Mabo decision. The Mabo decision overturned the idea of 'terra nullius', that the Australian continent did not belong to anyone at the time of Europeans' arrival. It recognised for the first time that Aboriginal Australians may continue to hold Native Title and to be uniquely connected to the land.

The Native Title rights and interests held by particular Aboriginal people depend on both their traditional laws and customs and what interests are held by others in the area concerned.

Native Title rights and interests may include rights to:

• Live on the area
• Access the area for traditional purposes, like camping or to do ceremonies
• Visit and protect important places and sites
• Hunt, fish and gather food or traditional resources like water, wood and ochre
• Teach law and custom on country.

Native Title can co-exist with other forms of land title (such as pastoral leases) but is extinguished by others (such as freehold).