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Clip description
The clip begins with a black-and-white photograph of the Murray Island Courthouse taken in November 1898. The plaintiffs’ lawyers discuss the importance of some of the cases heard by the Murray Island court. The clip includes a traditional dance by a group of Murray Island women and the Queensland Supreme Court ending its proceedings on Murray Island.
Curator’s notes
The Murray Island Court, guided by the customary laws of the local Indigenous peoples, often heard cases regarding land boundaries and family inheritances. The plaintiffs’ lawyers review records from past cases and discuss the rules governing traditional land ownership as evidence that customary law survived beyond Queensland’s annexation of Murray Island.
The traditional dance by a group of women, towards the end of the clip, emphasises the Murray Island peoples’ maintenance of their cultural practices.
