Indigenous Australians and the Law

Abstract

This chapter is a tribute to the strength of Aboriginal women of Australia and also a dedication to my great-grandmother Amy Gibson: the elderly tiny Aboriginal woman of the Tanganekald and Meintangk peoples who was feared by drinking men. Granny Amy stood strong with her fighting stick against those who dared to abandon their families for the grog, but, more than the force of the strike from her fighting stick, the men feared her position as a strong law woman: that is what they revered the most. In this chapter, I want to look at how the grannies have continued to stand strong in the face of an oppressive colonial violence and discuss the challenges that are faced by women. One of those challenges is to discuss how Aboriginal men might remember the strength of stories of women, so that communities raise children in safety, away from the violence and trauma that has taken hold not only of the Aboriginal world, but also of most spaces now inhabited by humanity.

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