Music and land rights: Archival recordings as documentation for Australian Aboriginal land claims

Archival recordings of Australian Aboriginal songs have been used as evidence in land claim hearings in the Northern Territory since the late 1970's. The people who own songs are the traditional owners of the land associated with those songs. A further legislative development, the Native Title Act (1993) (Commonwealth), requires evidence of long-term connection with the land being claimed, thus emphasising the importance of historical recordings. Copies of historical recordings are, in turn, stimulating new performances of songs and their associated ceremonies. The paper will explain the foci of the two major Australian legislative Acts setting out procedures for Indigenous people to claim land, and then will demonstrate the connection between ownership of songs and of land. The use of archival recordings and of music in land claims and related legislation will be explored, giving specific examples. Finally, there will be a description of the various types of places where audiovisual and print documentation for land claims are held with discussion of a project to ensure that the material will be preserved and made accessible to future generations.