Claiming Memory in British Columbia: Aboriginal Rights and the State
INTRODUCTION While attending a meeting of a Saami organization in northern Sweden, I introduced myself to an older fellow during a coffee break. ”From America?”he asked and paused. “When do you go back?” I replied that I planned to return in a couple of months. He smiled. “You’ll go back,’’ he said,...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt8950j6x3 2023-09-05T13:22:00+02:00 Claiming Memory in British Columbia: Aboriginal Rights and the State Korsmo, Fae L. 1996-09-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8950j6x3 unknown eScholarship, University of California qt8950j6x3 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8950j6x3 CC-BY-NC American Indian Culture and Research Journal , vol 20, iss 4 common law Delgamuukw v. The Queen colonialism ethnocentrism British Columbia Supreme Court British Columbia Court of Appeal sovereign article 1996 ftcdlib 2023-08-21T18:07:40Z INTRODUCTION While attending a meeting of a Saami organization in northern Sweden, I introduced myself to an older fellow during a coffee break. ”From America?”he asked and paused. “When do you go back?” I replied that I planned to return in a couple of months. He smiled. “You’ll go back,’’ he said, ”and we will forget you were ever here.” This remark from a Saami who was old enough to remember the era of segregation, the political mobilization of northern Europe’s indigenous people, the lawsuits, the endless negotiations and promises of the Swedish government, juxtaposed the ephemeral nature of my visit and the extended encounter of a colonial endeavor. Whose memories would become history? Here I would like to explore the significance of memory in the assertion of native claims. I turn to Canada, specifically British Columbia, where claims processes have been underway for a long time. Proving the existence of aboriginal rights in common law requires a reconstruction of a people’s past presented in a way that satisfies Western legal traditions. Evidence must be internally consistent, chronological, and documented. Crucial gaps in time or knowledge must be explained. Observers of the trial and readers of the decisions rendered in Delgamuukw v. The Queen have criticized the process and outcome as expressions of colonialism and ethnocentrism. This essay does not dismiss the criticisms, but analyzes the texts of the decisions issued by the British Columbia Supreme Court and the British Columbia Court of Appeal as representations of the state’s concept of itself in opposition to societies claiming to be whole, original, and sovereign. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden saami University of California: eScholarship British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) Canada |
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University of California: eScholarship |
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common law Delgamuukw v. The Queen colonialism ethnocentrism British Columbia Supreme Court British Columbia Court of Appeal sovereign |
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common law Delgamuukw v. The Queen colonialism ethnocentrism British Columbia Supreme Court British Columbia Court of Appeal sovereign Korsmo, Fae L. Claiming Memory in British Columbia: Aboriginal Rights and the State |
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common law Delgamuukw v. The Queen colonialism ethnocentrism British Columbia Supreme Court British Columbia Court of Appeal sovereign |
description |
INTRODUCTION While attending a meeting of a Saami organization in northern Sweden, I introduced myself to an older fellow during a coffee break. ”From America?”he asked and paused. “When do you go back?” I replied that I planned to return in a couple of months. He smiled. “You’ll go back,’’ he said, ”and we will forget you were ever here.” This remark from a Saami who was old enough to remember the era of segregation, the political mobilization of northern Europe’s indigenous people, the lawsuits, the endless negotiations and promises of the Swedish government, juxtaposed the ephemeral nature of my visit and the extended encounter of a colonial endeavor. Whose memories would become history? Here I would like to explore the significance of memory in the assertion of native claims. I turn to Canada, specifically British Columbia, where claims processes have been underway for a long time. Proving the existence of aboriginal rights in common law requires a reconstruction of a people’s past presented in a way that satisfies Western legal traditions. Evidence must be internally consistent, chronological, and documented. Crucial gaps in time or knowledge must be explained. Observers of the trial and readers of the decisions rendered in Delgamuukw v. The Queen have criticized the process and outcome as expressions of colonialism and ethnocentrism. This essay does not dismiss the criticisms, but analyzes the texts of the decisions issued by the British Columbia Supreme Court and the British Columbia Court of Appeal as representations of the state’s concept of itself in opposition to societies claiming to be whole, original, and sovereign. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Korsmo, Fae L. |
author_facet |
Korsmo, Fae L. |
author_sort |
Korsmo, Fae L. |
title |
Claiming Memory in British Columbia: Aboriginal Rights and the State |
title_short |
Claiming Memory in British Columbia: Aboriginal Rights and the State |
title_full |
Claiming Memory in British Columbia: Aboriginal Rights and the State |
title_fullStr |
Claiming Memory in British Columbia: Aboriginal Rights and the State |
title_full_unstemmed |
Claiming Memory in British Columbia: Aboriginal Rights and the State |
title_sort |
claiming memory in british columbia: aboriginal rights and the state |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8950j6x3 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) |
geographic |
British Columbia Canada |
geographic_facet |
British Columbia Canada |
genre |
Northern Sweden saami |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden saami |
op_source |
American Indian Culture and Research Journal , vol 20, iss 4 |
op_relation |
qt8950j6x3 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8950j6x3 |
op_rights |
CC-BY-NC |
_version_ |
1776202539485626368 |