… both representative bodies have falsely and deliberately put forward people who have no connection to the claim area … The NTRBs are knowingly supporting these applicants in an effort to secure lucrative ILUAs with mining and gas companies … The true claimants are being written out by revisionist anthropologists and lawyers who are instructed, and paid, by the Land Councils using Federal Government funds. Letter to Attorney-General from Elder Mrs Vanessa Hunter Several submissions described the devastating everyday ramifications of native title empowering the ‘wrong people’ at the expense of traditional culture. For many of the women, they felt that the process of native title undermined their basic human right to culture, divided once harmonious First Nations communities, eroded the prospect of knowledge transfer and succession planning, and re-traumatised those already dispossessed. I am fighting a losing battle as no one in my generation of my family will reach the levels of knowledge I have attained. Dawn Brown The native title process has undermined my group’s culture to the extent that at the moment I feel that we have no chance of getting our native title rights recognised … The native title processes have made the conflict between my group and the groups taking over our Country much worse. Coral King Native title allows our culture to be taken away. Michelle Francis I believe that the whole process of native title undermines our basic human and cultural rights … the wrongful connections through the lack of independent so called ‘experts’ is creating unnecessary and increasing mental [ill] health to many Aboriginal people across the nation … Juanita Johnson (b) Women and barriers to participation Submissions from individual women spoke of the disproportionate impact that native title processes have on themselves and other women in their communities. Several submissions noted the wide-spread dominance of men in NTRBs and PBCs, and as anthropologists and lawyers. Women expressed that they felt disrespected and/or not listened to – that the impact of the predominance of men in positions of power worked to silence women’s voices and inhibit their full participation in native title processes. This exclusion of women from native title decision-making has been perpetuated and maintained by the central role that men have played as professionals in anthropology and law before and after the existence of native title. That male perspective brought by various professionals in relevant sectors in the lead up to and during the development of native title has served to skew native title evidence gathered by anthropologists. This has had a marked influence on the perspectives of lawyers and judges and of many within Aboriginal communities. 50 Women in Native Title: Native Title Report 2024