DECLARATION:ABORIGINAL TENT EMBASSY 2002

We the Aboriginal Nations of Australia, declare our sovereignty over the country to which we belong. Each Nation lived as one with the land, respecting the rights of other nations, and observing Aboriginal law and protocols, from the Beginning.

Our world was shattered by the violence of the Invasion which began when the First Fleet of British Boat people arrived in 1788. Our people were decimated, as the invaders stole our country, imposed their own laws and systems of government on our peoples, forcing our people into concentration camps called “missions”.

Our people resisted the invasion, and continue to resist to this very day. Aboriginal sovereignty, the sovereign rights of each and every surviving Aboriginal Nation, continue to this day. Aboriginal sovereignty has been impeded by invader violence, but never extinguished.

We hereby reclaim our sovereignty, our inherent right to be governed by our own laws and protocols, in harmony with the land to which we belong. We are taking our rightful place in our ancestral lands, which are our birthright, our sacred inheritance, handed down from generation to generation since time immemorial, from the Beginning.

The invasion of our lands was illegal under international law at the time of the arrival of the First Fleet. This invasion involved the perpetration of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and theft of our homelands. Each Aboriginal Nation has the right to speak for the country to which that Nation belongs, and no one else.

This is Aboriginal Law

Each Aboriginal nation is sovereign in its own right. Each sovereign nation has the right to enter into treaty negotiations with other sovereign nations. Sovereignty is the ultimate assertion of our right to Self Determination. Our right to Self Determination is enshrined in the International human rights covenants, and is written into international law, the law of nations.

Sovereignty rights include the right to be governed by our own laws, in our own country. We call for the restoration of our homelands, which were stolen from us, so we can build a new future, in harmony with the land and with all the peoples who live in this land.