In 2009 the Heads of Agreement between the South West Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) and the WA State Government started the formal process of negotiating an alternative settlement for the resolution of native title claims in the South West of WA. In 2014 an Agreement in Principle was reached, and in January - March 2015 the Agreement was authorised in a series of six Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) Authorisation meetings. Throughout this process there was active and vocal resistance to the settlement from individuals and factions within the Noongar community. These included; protest demonstrations; marches; the establishment of the Noongar Tent Embassy; newspaper opinion pieces; television news interviews; and the establishment of Facebook groups to facilitate action. Sarah's research looks at analysing the themes of the arguments used by the protesters, and what underlies these.

Biography: Sarah Bell is an anthropologist who has worked in Land Rights and Native Title for almost 20 years. She is co-author of the Martu Native Title Connection report, which achieved a native title determination in 2002. Sarah subsequently worked as a staff anthropologist assisting consultants on the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, Wiluna, Birriliburu claims, all of which achieved successful consent determinations of Native Title. From 2011 - 2015 Sarah was the Research Manager at the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC). She had an active role in the negotiations of the South West Native Title Settlement (SWNTS) and in the conduct of the registration process for the ILUA Authorisation Meetings. Sarah's interest in this research topic arises out of that recent experience, and is made possible by a Guided Research Placement at the Center of Native Title Anthropology.