Aboriginal land claim

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Aboriginal land claims are claims of Native or Aboriginal peoples (also referred to as Indigenous peoples) about their ownership of land before the arrival of settlers, primarily Europeans.

This process is most active in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, where many native populations have survived that have been greatly displaced from their historical territory by the arrival of European settlers.

[edit] New Zealand

In New Zealand a permanent commission of inquiry called the Waitangi Tribunal was established by an Act of Parliament in 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on claims brought by indigenous Māori relating to actions or omissions of the Crown, in the period since 1840, that breach the promises made in the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty was designed by the former ruling colonists to give credence to Aotearoa becoming a British colony, was signed in 1840 between representatives of the British Crown and Maori chiefs of the North Island. Many aboriginal land claims have been settled through this tribunal process, with crown land being either returned to its original Maori owners or compensation paid by the New Zealand Government.