Elucidating the Sovereignty Question in Settler Colonial Australia

• In Event: Indigenous Communities and Human Rights

Abstract

Contemporary calls for “sovereignty” and self-determination by Indigenous peoples in Australia are robust. All but one Australian state or territory has agreed to begin treaty talks in recent years. Yet, an understanding of what sovereignty might practically entail remains elusive in sub-national treaty commitment documentation, and the topic rarely makes it into mainstream media or federal-level political dialogue. This chapter asks: how is sovereignty envisioned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander proponents and other invested stakeholders in Queensland, and what might Indigenous sovereignties mean for the settler colonial state project? To answer these questions, this chapter places into conversation Western liberal conventions of sovereignty, justice, and governance with Indigenous ontologies of sovereignty expressed during semi-structured interviews and approximately a year of participant observation in relevant online and in situ fora. Conceptions of sovereignty vary across Indigenous knowledge groups and individuals, yet simultaneously entail overlapping features, many of which offer promise for a more just, plural, and reconciled Australia.

Author

• Christina V. Harris, American University