ABSTRACT
As life changes for Aborigines, so too does their relationship to land and to each other. Changes in these relationships effect changes to the religious life of myth and ritual, which also inform those relationships. Land rights legislation is essential, providing a protective regime of space and time, acknowledging Aboriginal spiritual responsibility for as well as economic opportunity from their country. In 1972 the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission was established and chaired by Justice A. E. Woodward. The government having decided to recognise land rights of Aborigines in the Northern Territory, Woodward was asked to design process. Native titleholders anxious to maintain their spiritual relationship with the land are also seeking to maintain statutory right to negotiate with other stakeholders, thereby enhancing their economic base and political standing. Other Australians not convinced of religious factor in land rights often view debate as one simply about money and power, rather than one defining of identity and enhancing of culture and religion.
