In Search of Canadian Political Culture - UBC Press

UBC Press
First Nations Sacred Sites
in Canada’s Courts
Michael Lee Ross
Between Justice
and Certainty
Treaty Making in British Columbia
Andrew Woolford
The sacred sites of
indigenous peoples are
under increasing threat
worldwide as a result of
state appropriation of
control over ancestral
territories. In recent
decades, First Nations
peoples of Canada, like
other indigenous peoples,
have faced hard choices.
Sometimes, they have
chosen to grieve in private; at other times, they
have mounted public protests, ranging from public
information campaigns to on-the-ground resistance.
Of late, they have also taken their fight to the courts.
This is the first work to examine how the courts
have responded. Michael Lee Ross demonstrates
not merely that the courts have failed to treat
First Nations sacred sites fairly but also why they
have failed to do so. The book suggests practical
ways in which courts can improve their handling of
the issues. Finally, it shows that Canada too has
something profound at stake in the struggle of First
Nations peoples for their sacred sites.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: What First Nations Peoples Have at Stake
1 The Outlines of a General Theory of Sacred Sites
2 The Context in Which First Nations Carry Their Fight to
the Courts
3 In Canada’s Courts: The Meares Strategy
4 In Canada’s Courts: The Haida Strategy
5 How First Nations Sacred Sites Have Fared in Canada’s
Courts
6 Tima Kwetsi – Epilogue
Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index
2005, 248 pages, 6 x 9”
0-7748-1129-3 / 978-0-7748-1129-3 cloth $95.00
0-7748-1130-7 / 978-0-7748-1130-9 paper $32.95
LAW AND SOCIETY SERIES
This important piece of
scholarship provides
much fodder for thought
... a refreshing analysis of
a complex situation.
– Peter Kulchyski, coauthor
of Tammarniit
(Mistakes) and Kiumajut
(Talking Back)
In Between Justice and
Certainty, Andrew
Woolford examines
the interplay between
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal visions of justice and
certainty in the first decade of the BC treaty process
to determine whether there is a space between the
two concepts in which modern treaties can be made.
Using interviews, field research, and both archival
and modern treaty documents, Woolford argues
that the goal of certainty is overriding the demand
for justice, and suggests that greater attention to
justice is necessary if we are to initiate a process of
reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
peoples in British Columbia.
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
2 Between the Procedure and Substance of Justice
3 The Imposition of Colonial Visions of Justice
4 First Nations Justice Frames
5 The British Columbia Treaty Process
6 Visions of Justice
7 Visions of Certainty
8 Conclusion
Notes; References; Index
2005, 248 pages, 6 x 9”
0-7748-1131-5 / 978-0-7748-1131-6 cloth $95.00
0-7748-1132-3 / 978-0-7748-1132-3 paper $32.95
LAW AND SOCIETY SERIES
48
www.ubcpress.ca / 1 877 864 8477