Demanding written proof of a past state or land ownership is unfair because many groups passed down history through speech or lived in shared tribal societies that did not use written deeds.

When modern governments or legal systems ask for old paper records, they ignore how these groups naturally lived and preserved their cultures.

Why Requiring Written Proof is Unfair

Oral History: Many groups shared laws, stories, and ownership rights by speaking and singing instead of writing them down.

Tribal Living: Communities often viewed land as something to care for together, not something to buy, sell, or divide with paper boundaries.

Empire Disruption: Powerful invading empires often burned local villages, banned native languages, and forced people off their lands, destroying any informal or local records that did exist.

Real-World Examples

1. Indigenous Land Claims in Australia and North America

The Situation: Courts often asked Native American or Aboriginal Australian groups to show formal, written legal titles to prove they owned their ancestral lands for hundreds of years.

The Unfairness: These cultures used rich oral traditions and sacred site connections to pass down land rights. Because they had no paper deeds or written government codes from centuries past, courts often ruled that they did not officially "own" the land.

2. Nomadic and Pastoralist Tribes

The Situation: Groups like pastoralists in parts of Africa or Central Asia move across large areas with their animals depending on the season.

The Unfairness: Governments often look for fixed towns, fenced farms, or written tax records to prove a group used the land. Because nomadic groups moved freely and left the land natural, modern states label the area "empty" and take it over for mining or farming.

3. Colonized Indigenous Nations

The Situation: When European empires colonized parts of Asia and Africa, they set up new legal systems based entirely on written property laws.

The Unfairness: Existing local systems of governance and shared community lands were ignored or made illegal simply because they did not match the European style of a written state archive.