The Church and Indigenous Land Rights: Pitjantjatjara Land Rights in Australia

Abstract

In this article the author, whose experience in cross-cultural communication as a missionary was used by a group of Australian Aboriginal people among whom he had worked to interpret their demand for title to their traditional land, outlines aspects of the traditional life of the Pitjantjatjara people and their conception of their relation to the land. Edwards traces the history of the dispossession of the land following European settlement, and the history of negotiations which led to the recognition of their title to the land under South Australian legislation. He comments on the role of the churches in these events and reflects on a Christian approach to indigenous land rights, noting that churches in other lands, in their mission work, are also involved with indigenous peoples in struggles to achieve just recognition to title for their land.