Indigenous land rights have historically been undermined by a variety of doctrines such as terra nullius.[3] which is a Latin term meaning "land belonging to no one"[4] In 1971, a group of Meriam people in Australia issued a legal claim for their ownership of their island of Mer in the Torres Strait.[5] In their legal claim they issued that their land is inherently and exclusively owned, lived and governed by Meriam people, where they historically managed its political and social issues.[6] After years of the case being heard by the legal courts, and after the death of one of the plaintiffs (Eddie Mabo), the High Court’s judgement issued a recognision of the native's ownership to land and the denial of the myth of the terra nullius.