The role of Aboriginal women's art in cultural identity

Since the Native Title Act 1993 passed through the Australian Parliament, discussion about Aboriginal right to land has developed beyond the mere clarification of law, to encompass the question of the accuracy of Aboriginal cultural explanation of land affiliation. Courts are now able to hear evidence from Aboriginal groups about their cultural use of land, to judge the connections (rights) of tribes to specific areas. These ale tested against the anthropological records of early habitations, to assess claims to land. For Aboriginal women, an anthropology of cultural rights needs to be reconstructed to fill the gap left due to the gender of the scholars who recorded early history. For in traditional Aboriginal society, women's culture is separated from male tribal practice to a substantial amount. The male anthropologists (and other men) who studied early Aboriginal tribes would not have been admitted to see the cultural life of the women's camps where the stories of women's Dreaming (cultural origin and belonging) were passed on in rites, dance, songs and art designs. Aboriginal men and most women would also have been limited in the form their witness to sacred rites, could be allowed. In sum then we have a fragmented account of women's law, however, one does exist. This paper explores Central Aboriginal women's knowledge residing in rites and art (culture) to make a case for women's claims to land rights and essential self determination.