ALWAYS COMING HOME: METIS LEGAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMUNITY AND TERRITORY
Metis ideas of territory are complex, varied and often not well understood. Metis perspectives on intersections of territory and community are likewise not appreciated by Canadian courts. This is evident in the difficulties of Metis rights claimants in British Columbia, where misconceptions about Me...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1e83a0af6c2f4788b951b797f95ce5ef 2023-05-15T17:12:15+02:00 ALWAYS COMING HOME: METIS LEGAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMUNITY AND TERRITORY Kerry Sloan 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/1e83a0af6c2f4788b951b797f95ce5ef EN FR eng fre University of Windsor http://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/WYAJ/article/view/4814 https://doaj.org/toc/0710-0841 0710-0841 https://doaj.org/article/1e83a0af6c2f4788b951b797f95ce5ef Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, Vol 33, Iss 1, Pp 125-147 (2017) Law K Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720 article 2017 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-31T09:31:25Z Metis ideas of territory are complex, varied and often not well understood. Metis perspectives on intersections of territory and community are likewise not appreciated by Canadian courts. This is evident in the difficulties of Metis rights claimants in British Columbia, where misconceptions about Metis history and traditional use areas have resulted in courts questioning the existence of historic Metis communities in the province. The leading case on Metis rights in Canada, R v Powley, requires claimants to prove there is a historic Metis community in an area where claimed rights are exercised. In BC, courts following Powley in three cases – R v Howse, R v Nunn and R v Willison – have held there are no historic Metis communities in the Kootenays, the south Okanagan, or the Kamloops/Shuswap area. Although these regions comprise only a portion of lands within provincial boundaries, the BC government takes the position there are no Metis communities in the province capable of meeting the Powley test, and thus asserts there can be no Metis Aboriginal rights holders in BC. To challenge this position, and in order to illustrate the multiplicity and richness of Metis legal understandings of territory and community, the author braids family history, narrative, legal analysis and the perspectives of 23 Metis people from the southern BC interior who were involved in or affected by the Howse, Nunn and Willison cases. The author suggests that expansive and nuanced Metis understandings of communities and territories cannot be encompassed by the Powley/Willison definition of a Metis community as “. a group of Métis with a distinctive collective identity, living together in the same geographic area and sharing a common way of life”. While the court’s definition posits history, territory and community as separable, Metis views suggest these concepts are interlinked and mutually constitutive. Les idées des Métis au sujet du territoire sont complexes, diversifiées et souvent mal comprises. Dans la même veine, les tribunaux ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Metis Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English French |
topic |
Law K Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720 |
spellingShingle |
Law K Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720 Kerry Sloan ALWAYS COMING HOME: METIS LEGAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMUNITY AND TERRITORY |
topic_facet |
Law K Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720 |
description |
Metis ideas of territory are complex, varied and often not well understood. Metis perspectives on intersections of territory and community are likewise not appreciated by Canadian courts. This is evident in the difficulties of Metis rights claimants in British Columbia, where misconceptions about Metis history and traditional use areas have resulted in courts questioning the existence of historic Metis communities in the province. The leading case on Metis rights in Canada, R v Powley, requires claimants to prove there is a historic Metis community in an area where claimed rights are exercised. In BC, courts following Powley in three cases – R v Howse, R v Nunn and R v Willison – have held there are no historic Metis communities in the Kootenays, the south Okanagan, or the Kamloops/Shuswap area. Although these regions comprise only a portion of lands within provincial boundaries, the BC government takes the position there are no Metis communities in the province capable of meeting the Powley test, and thus asserts there can be no Metis Aboriginal rights holders in BC. To challenge this position, and in order to illustrate the multiplicity and richness of Metis legal understandings of territory and community, the author braids family history, narrative, legal analysis and the perspectives of 23 Metis people from the southern BC interior who were involved in or affected by the Howse, Nunn and Willison cases. The author suggests that expansive and nuanced Metis understandings of communities and territories cannot be encompassed by the Powley/Willison definition of a Metis community as “. a group of Métis with a distinctive collective identity, living together in the same geographic area and sharing a common way of life”. While the court’s definition posits history, territory and community as separable, Metis views suggest these concepts are interlinked and mutually constitutive. Les idées des Métis au sujet du territoire sont complexes, diversifiées et souvent mal comprises. Dans la même veine, les tribunaux ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kerry Sloan |
author_facet |
Kerry Sloan |
author_sort |
Kerry Sloan |
title |
ALWAYS COMING HOME: METIS LEGAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMUNITY AND TERRITORY |
title_short |
ALWAYS COMING HOME: METIS LEGAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMUNITY AND TERRITORY |
title_full |
ALWAYS COMING HOME: METIS LEGAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMUNITY AND TERRITORY |
title_fullStr |
ALWAYS COMING HOME: METIS LEGAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMUNITY AND TERRITORY |
title_full_unstemmed |
ALWAYS COMING HOME: METIS LEGAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMUNITY AND TERRITORY |
title_sort |
always coming home: metis legal understandings of community and territory |
publisher |
University of Windsor |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/1e83a0af6c2f4788b951b797f95ce5ef |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) |
geographic |
Canada British Columbia |
geographic_facet |
Canada British Columbia |
genre |
Metis |
genre_facet |
Metis |
op_source |
Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, Vol 33, Iss 1, Pp 125-147 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/WYAJ/article/view/4814 https://doaj.org/toc/0710-0841 0710-0841 https://doaj.org/article/1e83a0af6c2f4788b951b797f95ce5ef |
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1766069041239162880 |