AUSTLANG, an Australian Indigenous languages database searchable by location or language name from AIATSIS.
Davis, Stephen L. Australia's extant and imputed traditional Aboriginal territories,
Horton, David. Aboriginal Australia (the 'Horton map'), 1996. Also online.
Peterson, Nicolas (ed.) Tribes and boundaries in Australia, 1976.
Schmidt, von PW. Karte der Eingeboren-Sprachen von Australien (Map of Aboriginal Languages within Australia), in Die Gliederung der australischen Sprachen: geographische, bibliographische, linguistische Grundz ge der Erforschung der australischen Sprachen, 1919.
Schmidt Language Distribution Map, 1919. Courtesy of the South Australian Museum.
Tindale, Norman B. Tribal boundaries in Aboriginal Australia, 1974. Originally published as part of Aboriginal tribes of Australia. "This map is a reproduction of Tindale's 1940 map of Indigenous group boundaries existing at the time of first European settlement in Australia. It is not intended to represent contemporary relationships to land." Also available to view and download on Trove (click through the separate images).
Wurm, SA and Hattori, Shiro (eds). Language atlas of the Pacific area (pt. 1), 1981-1983.
Native Title is the recognition in Australian law that, before European settlement, Aboriginal people were owners of the land and had a system of law.
The 1992 Mabo decision confirmed that Aboriginal people did own their lands before European settlement and that since settlement this ownership has continued in some circumstances.
Through the Mabo decision, the High Court overturned the idea of Terra Nullius and disputed that Australia belonged to no one before colonisation.
The 1996 Wik decision determined that Native Title could, in some circumstances coexist with some types of leasehold (such as pastoral).
To locate further relevant material, try searching with these subject headings in the State Library catalogue:
Aboriginal Australians - Land tenure
Native Title
For more assistance, talk with staff at the Library's Information Desk or Ask Us.
The State Library holds many mapping resources that illustrate the Language Groups and Tribal Boundaries of Aboriginal Australia. These maps can be helpful in understanding the relationships to land observed by different groups, and can be useful for identifying the provenance of cultural material.
Some of the European mapping resources listed represent Indigenous group boundaries as they existed at the time of first European settlement in Australia while others illustrate the more current distribution of language use.
This method of mapping the land is a European phenomenon. The original owners and occupiers of the land relied upon the landmarks of their Dreaming trails to mark their boundaries and navigate their way.
Arthur, Bill and Morphy, Frances. Macquarie atlas of Indigenous Australia : culture and society through space and time, 2005.
AUSLIG. Australia, public land, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land, 1992.
Davidson, Daniel. Preliminary register of Australian tribes and hordes, 1938.
Harley, JB and Woodward, David (eds.) The history of cartography (vol. 2, book. 3. Cartography in the traditional African, American, Arctic, Australian, and Pacific societies).
Hercus, Luise, Hodges, Flavia and Simpson, Jane (eds). The land is a map : placenames of indigenous origin in Australia, 2002.
Johnson, Dianne. Night skies of Aboriginal Australia : a noctuary, 1998.
Johnson, T. Harvey. Some Aboriginal routes in the western portion of South Australia, 1940-41.
Koch, Harold and Hercus, Luise (eds). Aboriginal placenames : naming and re-naming the Australian landscape, 2009.