ABSTRACT
What is native title? Drawing on the author’s experiences of teaching native title since Mabo v Queensland [No 2], the author identifies this question as a starting point for the chapter’s analysis. The conceptual complexity and inherent hybridity of native title are considered in the context of what native title might teach us about decolonising the law school. The chapter critically analyses the role of recognition in native title law by emphasising the limitations and contradictions within the legal system. The author contends that although a stronger integration of Indigenous peoples’ knowledges, methodologies, and pedagogies is evolving in the Australian law curriculum, the history and hybrid form of native title, together with seemingly intractable cultural framings of native title in a socio-political sense, require specific attention to how native title might be better aligned with law curriculum change. The chapter offers several points of reflection on native title teaching and curriculum development, suggesting that embedding these approaches in a pedagogy that allows insights into how native title functions as a hybrid legal institution may further loosen the ties to the colonial past.
