Who they were
Eddie Mabo was a Meriam man born on Mer (Murray) Island in the Torres Strait. Working on the mainland, he learned that the land of his island was not legally recognised as belonging to its Indigenous people.
What they did
With others he took a case to the High Court in 1982 for traditional rights to the island’s land and fought it for ten years.
Legacy
He died of illness in January 1992, five months before the judgment. The Mabo decision recognised Indigenous land rights, and his name is written into the history of justice in Australia.