What is Aboriginal title?
[[File:Hikoi-foreshore.jpg|thumb|right|Protests in [[New Zealand]] against the [[Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004]], which rejected claims to aboriginal title over the country's [[shore]]s and [[seabed]]s.]] '''Aboriginal title''' is a [[common law]] [[doctrine]] that the [[rights]] of [[indigenous peoples]] to own their [[Homeland|traditional land]] persist after [[sovereignty]] has been taken by [[Colonialism|colonial]] [[settler]]s.<ref>{{cite book|author=McNeil, Kent|year=1989|title=Common Law Aboriginal Title|url=https://archive.org/details/commonlawaborigi0000mcne|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/commonlawaborigi0000mcne/page/161 161]–179}}</ref> When granted, it is usually [[Alienation (property law)|inalienable]], meaning it can not be sold, traded or given away. The title may be held by individuals or groups of people, and is [[Inheritance|inherited]] indefinitely (without end) by those people's [[descendant]]s. What proof is required for aboriginal title to be recognised depends on the country's laws that govern the doctrine. It usually must include some evidence of historical [[wikt:inhabit|inhabitance]] (living on the land for a long time, usually since before colonial settlement). The majority of court cases granting aboriginal title have been in [[Aboriginal land rights in Australia|Australia]], [[Canada]], [[Malaysia]], [[New Zealand]] and the [[United States]]. Aboriginal title is also referred to as '''indigenous title''', '''native title''' and '''customary title'''. It is related to the subject of [[indigenous rights]]. ==References== {{reflist}} {{politics-stub}} [[Category:Indigenous Australian politics]] [[Category:Colonialism]] [[Category:Indigenous land rights]]