Aboriginal law had lasted for hundreds of years before white settlement of Australia in 1788. The laws were based from the Dreamtime and were formed by ancestors, spirits and Aboriginal beliefs. These laws were passed down by a word-of-mouth tradition and as there were many different tribes consisting of many clans spread out over a large area, separate laws were adapted to specific tribes and areas. Aboriginal customary laws were developed and based on the aboriginal relationship to the land as well as the view that property (land) and individual belongings were owned by the community as a whole. All items were collectively used and land was not owned by a particular tribe.

Aboriginal customary law that governed aboriginal life was based upon unwritten rules based on lessons learnt from the dreamtime, kinship ties and relationships, ritual traditions, sacred and secular laws and clan consensus. The law from an aboriginal perspective was no different from daily lifestyle choices......

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Title: Aboriginal Customary Law
Approximate Word Count: 1468
Approximate Pages: 6 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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