Conclusions and Implications

Abstract

Abstract The chapter concludes that academic debates about the origins of so-called subjective rights, or the founding moments of modern international law, are not central to the story of how the Bible has influenced the modern making of Indigenous rights. In taking a long view of natural and human rights, this book does not assume any particular theory of legal continuity or influence. Nor does it describe the strikingly different relational rights and obligations that emerge from within particular Indigenous traditions. Nevertheless, by following the trail of biblical language in the discourses of rights in colonial history, and also by considering the biblical literature in its own ancient contexts, the overall argument provides insights into the possibilities for mediating between overlapping notions of rights and competing concepts of sovereignty. While colonial legal histories were almost inevitably entangled with oppressive interpretations of the Bible, the legacies of biblical language and ideas are still open to revision in modern treaties and covenants that seek to remedy the extensive history of broken treaties—or in the peculiar case of Australia, the lack of any treaty at all. The contrasts between various jurisdictions of English common law—notably between the USA, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Australia—suggest that remedial actions will need to engage with the specific histories and legal arrangements in each context.