Land claim in the context of "Indigenous land rights"

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⭐ Core Definition: Land claim

In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land "owned" by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individuals. It determines who can use land, for how long and under what conditions. Tenure may be based both on official laws and policies, and on informal local customs (insofar higher law does allow that). In other words, land tenure implies a system according to which land is held by an individual or the actual tiller of the land but this person does not have legal ownership.It determines the holder's rights and responsibilities in connection with their holding. The sovereign monarch, known in England as the Crown, held land in its own right. All land holders are either its tenants or sub-tenants. Tenure signifies a legal relationship between tenant and lord, arranging the duties and rights of tenant and lord in relationship to the land. Over history, many different forms of land tenure, i.e., ways of holding land, have been established.

A land claim is "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual", usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved ownership cases. A landowner is the holder of the estate in land with the most extensive and exclusive rights of ownership over the territory, simply put, the owner of land.

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👉 Land claim in the context of Indigenous land rights

Indigenous land rights are the rights of Indigenous peoples to land and natural resources therein, either individually or collectively, mostly in colonised countries. Land and resource-related rights are of fundamental importance to Indigenous peoples for a range of reasons, including: the religious significance of the land, self-determination, identity, and economic factors. Land is a major economic asset, and in some Indigenous societies, using natural resources of earth and sea form (or could form) the basis of their household economy, so the demand for ownership derives from the need to ensure their access to these resources. Land can also be an important instrument of inheritance or a symbol of social status. In many Indigenous societies, such as among the many Aboriginal Australian peoples, the land is an essential part of their spirituality and belief systems.

Indigenous land claims have been addressed with varying degrees of success on the national and international level since the very beginning of colonization. Such claims may be based upon the principles of international law, treaties, common law, or domestic constitutions or legislation. Aboriginal title (also known as Indigenous title, native title and other terms) is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, passed by the UN General Assembly in 2007, illustrates the importance of land for Indigenous peoples and offers benchmark standards on the land rights of indigenous people. Statutory recognition and protection of Indigenous and community land rights continues to be a major challenge, with the gap between formally recognised and customarily held and managed land is a significant source of underdevelopment, conflict, and environmental degradation.

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Land claim in the context of Heard Island and McDonald Islands

The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall land area is 372 km (144 sq mi) and it has 101.9 km (63 mi) of coastline. Discovered in the mid-19th century, the islands lie on the Kerguelen Plateau in the southern Indian Ocean and have been an Australian territory since 1947.

Heard Island and McDonald Islands contain Australia's only two active volcanoes. The summit of one, Mawson Peak, is higher than any mountain in all other Australian states, territories or claimed territories, except Dome Argus, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies in the Australian Antarctic Territory. This Antarctic territory is a land claim unrecognised by most other countries, meaning that Mawson Peak is the highest mountain with undisputed Australian sovereignty.

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Land claim in the context of Curse of Ham

In the Book of Genesis, the curse of Ham is described as a curse which was imposed upon Ham's son Canaan by the patriarch Noah. It occurs in the context of Noah's drunkenness and it is provoked by a shameful act that was perpetrated by Noah's son Ham, who "saw the nakedness of his father". The exact nature of Ham's transgression and the reason Noah cursed Canaan when Ham had sinned have been debated for over 2,000 years.

The story's original purpose may have been to justify the biblical subjection of the Canaanites to the Israelites, or a land claim to a portion of New Kingdom of Egypt which ruled Canaan in the late Bronze Age.

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Land claim in the context of No man's land

No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms. It is commonly associated with World War I to describe the area of land between two enemy trench systems, not controlled by either side. The term is also used metaphorically, to refer to an ambiguous, anomalous, or indefinite area, regarding an application, situation, or jurisdiction. It has sometimes been used to name a specific place.

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Land claim in the context of Extraterrestrial real estate

Extraterrestrial real estate refers to claims of land ownership on other planets, natural satellites, or parts of space by certain organizations or individuals. Most claims on extraterrestrial real estate have not been recognized by any authority, and have no legal standing. Nevertheless, some private individuals and organizations have claimed ownership of celestial bodies, such as the Moon, and have been involved in "selling" parts of them through certificates of ownership termed "Lunar deeds", "Martian deeds" or similar.

While personal claims have had little weight, whole states could potentially lay claim to colonizing celestial bodies. Extraterrestrial real estate not only deals with the legal standpoints of potential colonization, but how it could be feasible for long-term real estate. There are multiple unique factors to consider in extraterrestrial real estate, including transportation, planetary protection, sustainability, astrobiology, how an extraterrestrial real estate market could function, and orbital real estate.

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Land claim in the context of Mawson Peak

Mawson Peak is an active volcanic summit of the Big Ben massif on Heard Island, an external Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.

With an elevation of 2,745 metres (9,006 ft), it is the third highest peak in any state, territory or claimed territory of Australia, higher than the 2,228-metre (7,310 ft) Mount Kosciuszko, and surpassed only by the 3,490-metre (11,450 ft) Mount McClintock and the 3,355-metre (11,007 ft) Mount Menzies in the Australian Antarctic Territory. The Australian Antarctic Territory is a territorial claim unrecognised by most other countries, meaning that Mawson Peak is the highest mountain over which Australia has true sovereignty. The peak erupts fairly frequently, and as recently as May 2023. Mawson Peak is ranked the 30th of Earth's most topographically isolated summits.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Heard Island and McDonald Islands ← Curse of Ham ← No man's land ← Indigenous land rights ← Extraterrestrial real estate ← Mawson Peak ← Heard and McDonald Islands
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Common law → Regime → Farmer → Ownership → The Crown → Estate in land →