'In this issue we have published the 1998 Wentworth Lecture by Raymattja Marika. At a time when the value of bilingual education is under severe scrutiny Marika's lecture is a timely reminder that the retention of language in learning is important and that knowing one's language enables people to know themselves and their history. She points out, for example, that knowledge of the relationship between the Macassans and the Yolngu is an empty vessel without people knowing their own language. She argues that until Indigenous peoples are included meaningfully in mainstream education reconciliation is an empty word and we are all in an intellectual terra nulliu' (Editorial Introduction)
'Reynolds' writing continues to be an important contribution to legal as well as historical research in Australia. In Aboriginal Sovereignty, Reynolds again draws out unexamined aspects of our legal history to provide an important perspective on current debates. Before the recognition of native title in Australian law, 'sovereignty' was a key point around which Indigenous peoples in this country could rally to express their desire to determine the basis of their relationship with the non-Indigenous state. In domestic debate, native title has, understandably, become the central focus, along with the reconciliation movement. In the international sphere, self-determination for Indigenous peoples has remained pre-eminent as the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples slowly makes its way through the mechanisms of the United Nations. Where then do the marginalised calls for sovereignty fit in to these processes.' (Introduction)
