A landmark native title case between traditional owners and Australia's richest man is set to be heard on the red dirt of remote Western Australia, far from a conventional courtroom setting.
The Yindjibarndi people, from the Pilbara in the north-west of the state, are seeking compensation from Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), led by Andrew Forrest.
The Aboriginal people were enshrined as traditional owners of their land by the High Court in 2020 after a long-running dispute with the mining company.
This year Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) asked the Federal Court to make a ruling on compensation after negotiations over a land use agreement failed.
The 2020 decision confirmed YAC, which represents traditional owners, have "exclusive possession" of their country.
This means they can sue for economic and cultural loss as FMG were effectively mining on Yindjibarndi land without permission.
Last month, YAC told the court it wanted the compensation hearing to take place on-country in the Pilbara in 2023, which chief executive Michael Woodley hoped would be the beginning of the end for the legal saga.
"A long battle for justice is now coming to the pointy end of the spear," he told the ABC.
"It gives an opportunity for the Yindjibarndi people to tell our story in the highest court of the land."
Roebourne and bush hearings requested
The dispute is centred on FMG's lucrative Solomon Hub, one of many iron ore operations in the mineral-rich region.
YAC told the court it wanted to call about 20 witnesses across 10 days, with sessions to be held on-country near the Solomon Hub and in the town of Roebourne, where most Yindjibarndi people live.
Mr Woodley has previously claimed up to 5,000 sacred sites such as birthplaces and burial grounds could have been damaged by FMG.
He said the on-country hearings would allow Yindjibarndi people to share experiences of cultural loss, which they say were caused by the mine.
"This is a very important time for the Yindjibarndi people and one that we should take with both hands," Mr Woodley said.
The Australian Financial Review reported the compensation claim could reach $500 million, but Mr Woodley would not be drawn on the exact figure his people would seek.
"We haven't fully landed on a figure at this time," he said.
"As we draw nearer to the hearing, no doubt we will be more than happy to put on the table what we believe will be fair compensation."
Unique native title case
Lawyer Greg McIntyre SC was involved in the historic Mabo case, which established native title in the Australian legal system.
He said on-country hearings benefitted the court because it allowed traditional owners to give detailed evidence about their land and culture.
"It's been accepted over decades now that it's a more appropriate way to receive evidence from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about their country," he said.
"Rather than sitting in an artificial courtroom some significant distance from where the country is."
YAC is relying on the precedent set by the Timber Creek case, which in 2019 saw the first court-ordered native title compensation which put a monetary value on cultural loss.
The court awarded $2.5 million to the Ngaliwurru and Nungali people in the Northern Territory for the impact of development on the edge of Timber Creek.
Mr McIntyre said there are two aspects to these types of compensation claim, the market value of the land and the "cultural injury", which would be a more subjective assessment.
He felt the market value for the Yindjibarndi case would be lower than the Timber Creek case, as there is no town involved in the YAC claim, meaning attention will focus on cultural damages.
"The judge will have to try and make an assessment of ... what extent Yindjibarndi people have been prevented from protecting their country," Mr McIntyre said.
FMG 'open' to negotiation
An FMG spokesperson says the company "has always been open" to negotiating an agreement on similar terms to the deals it has with other Aboriginal groups in the Pilbara.
"Our existing land access Agreements with various native title partners across the Pilbara provide a range of benefits including preferential access to training, employment, and business opportunities as well as direct financial benefits," the spokesperson said
"Fortescue has the deepest respect for the First Nations peoples of this land ... [and is] committed to working with native title partners to identify, manage and protect cultural heritage."
The spokesperson said FMG had made efforts to protect over 6,100 Aboriginal sites in the region.
The case will go before the court again in February, with the main hearing expected to be held mid-year.
