Aboriginal Autonomy
Issues and Strategies

A plea for a just society, this book is about reconciliation with Australia's Aboriginal people.

After more than two hundred years, one of the most important moral issues facing Australian society in the 1990s remains the need for reconciliation with its indigenous people. In this selection of essays, H. C. Coombs reflects on the nature of Aboriginal identity and the importance of autonomy for Australia's Aboriginal people. He also suggests strategies by which self-determination might be achieved in practice. Many of the chapters have been written especially for this volume - including one in which Dr Coombs makes a thoughtful and provocative contribution to the Mabo debate, linking the High Court's historic 1992 decision on native title to prospects for Aboriginal autonomy. Dr Coombs writes with the conviction that 'mainstream' Australia stands to gain as much, if not more, than Aboriginal people from the fulfilment of Aboriginal aspirations. It is a personal and passionate plea for a just society, from one of white Australia's most influential and eloquent advocates of self-determination for its indigenous people.

Acknowledgements
Foreword
Preface
Part I. The Aboriginal World View: 1. The making of Aboriginal identity
Part II. Aborigines and the Land: 2. The future of the homeland movement
3. Warlpiri land use and management
4. The implications of land rights
Part III. Aboriginal Lifestyles: 5. Economic, social and spiritual factors in Aboriginal health
6. Aboriginal education and the issues underlying Aboriginal deaths in custody
7. Aboriginal work and economy
Part IV. Aborigines, Resources, and Development: 8. The ideology of development in the East Kimberley
9. Aborigines and resources: from 'humbug' to negotiation
10. The McArthur River development: a case in point
Part V. Aborigines, Law and the State: 11. The Yirrkala proposals for the control of law and order
12. Aboriginal political leadership and the role of the National Aboriginal Conference
13. Aborigines and the Treaty of Waitangi
Part VI. Asserting Autonomy: Recent Aboriginal Initiatives: 14. Aboriginal initiatives on the land
15. Initiatives in Aboriginal political organisation
16. Education: taking control
Part VII. The Recognition of Native Title: 17. The Mabo decision: a basis for Aboriginal autonomy?
Conclusion: negotiating future autonomy
References
Select bibliography of work by H. C. Coombs
Appendix
Index.