International Law on a Contested Continent

In 2022 the Australian Red Cross held a public “digital yarning circle” where the author, Gamilaraay and palawa Elders participated and discussed unique cultural conflict resolution methods. What arose from the initiative was oral history confirming static lines of traditional Indigenous borders.1 Specifically, one recount by an emerging Gamilaraay Elder was of a combined, annual peace ceremony between Wiradyuri men and their Gamilaraay neighbours. The corroborre required both sides to participate in a mock fight, and mock peace ceremony, which could only be properly done with both nations. In many ways, this is similar to the annual Pyrenees peace ceremony practiced today – held erroneously to be the oldest in the world.