In 1976, the Territory government passed the first Aboriginal land rights law in the country. It allowed Aboriginal people in the Territory to claim rights to land that their ancestors had lived on before the arrival of white people. Groups that made claims had to show proof of their traditional (historical) association with the land. This ended up giving almost 50% of land in the Northern Territory (around ) to native groups. Before this act, there had been many "indigenous reserves" in the Northern Territory. This land was owned by the government and set aside for Aboriginal people to live on until they were assimilated into white society. When the act was put into effect, the old "reserves" were given to the Aboriginal groups living on them without them having to make a claim.