This is a study of whether, in the introduction of Indigenous oral traditions as
evidence in court, they are being in the complex cultural interplay that occurs in courts, and
whether, given the central role of oral traditions in Indigenous cultures, the nature of
Indigenous Peoples are being transformed in the process when their rights are adjudicated
before the courts. Chapter 2 discusses the ways that the Supreme Court of Canada has
defined s. 3 5 Aboriginal Title, Rights and Treaty Rights (as unlimited or lawless and
therefore a danger to general public interests; assimilated into Canadian sovereignty;
removing the source of these rights from the land in their legal definition; and, removing
Indigenous laws from their definition). Chapter 3 examines the role that history has played
in the legal interpretation of oral traditions, and argues that a primarily historical
consideration obscures the alive, legal, and dynamic elements of oral traditions. Chapter 4
discusses the ways in which a methodology of suspicion has operated to reduce and diminish
Indigenous oral traditions when they are introduced as evidence in court (rating them as
faulty, light weight historic evidence while obscuring their legal content) through a survey of
cases that have considered oral traditions at the trial level. Chapter 5 explores the
devaluation of the Indigenous laws contained in oral traditions through an acceptance of the
common sense assumption that Canadian conservation and safety laws are both rational and
necessary. Chapter 6 argues that recognition (or denial) of Indigenous laws is politically
contingent, and that despite limited legal recognition (in cases such as Delgamuukw v. B.C.
and R. v. Van der Peef), these laws have yet to flow back onto the land, and are yet to be
invigorated in Canadian law. There remains a lack of recognition of the legal content of oral
traditions, and Indigenous jurisprudences risk being subsumed and transformed when they
are introduced as evidence in Canadian courts. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/16800 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Walkem, Ardith Alison |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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