William Wicken fonds

• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Canada; Indian; Newfoundland; Prince Edward Island
• Online Access: https://atom.library.yorku.ca/index.php/william-wicken-fonds; https://digital.library.yorku.ca/yul-f0568/william-wicken-fonds

Collection consists of project files created by William Wicken through his work as researcher and expert witness in projects and legal cases involving Mi'kmaq treaties, and their rights to hunt, fish, and trade. The files include correspondence with counsel for the Crown and the defense, reports on Mi'kmaq society and land treaties based on original research using archival and published documents, legal and historical opinions on the interpretion of treaties and unexhausted rights under section 35 of the Canadian Constitution, and reproductions of documents used in provincial and appeal courts in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Some files deal with issues of governance, and negotiations with the federal departments of Indian and Northern Affairs, and Fisheries and Oceans. Other files contain information on aboriginal title research involving the Mi'kmaq of Gaspe and Prince Edward Island. The fonds also includes Wicken's research notebooks from 1994 to 2002, and his daily appointment books from 1993 to 2007. The fonds offers considerable information on research into aboriginal land titles in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, and the major role played by professional historians in addressing issues of legal rights and cultural identities. Digitized material represents less than 1% of total archive.