Whose land is it?: Perceived ownership and territorial compensation in settler societies

Abstract

In most settler societies, such as Australia or Chile, Indigenous Peoples have been dispossessed of the majority of their lands. Intergroup relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous (settler) people have been shaped by conflicts about the ownership of territory, and calls for territorial restitution or increased autonomy are central to the demands of many Indigenous Peoples. People can feel like a group owns a territory, regardless of whether they legally do. In settler societies, the extent to which people perceive a territory as belonging to an Indigenous group or to the settlers is likely to influence their support for territorial compensation for the Indigenous group. In this dissertation, using large-scale survey data collected among settlers and Indigenous people, Wybren Nooitgedagt examines different understandings of collective territorial ownership that people can have in settler societies, and how these relate to support for territorial compensation. He considers three aspects of perceived territorial ownership: who is seen as the owner, why is that group seen as the owner, and what are the implications of perceived ownership?