On 3 June, Australians commemorate Mabo Day, marking the anniversary of the historic Mabo decision.
Eddie Mabo grew up in the Torres Strait. Inhabitants of the strait’s islands, which are considered Australian territory, endured segregation, government control over their movements, and wages paid in credit rather than cash for food and housing.
After Mabo learned that Australian law didn’t recognize his right to inherit land that had been passed down through generations of his family, he became the lead plaintiff in a legal challenge to the doctrine of Terra nullius, which held that Australia had been unoccupied before white Europeans began to settle the continent in 1788.