For Future Generations: Reconciling Gitxsan and Canadian Law

by P. Dawn Mills

Overview

With material provided by the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs’ office, court transcripts from Delgam’Uukw v. British Columbia, and her own research, Dawn Mills paints a compelling picture of the Gitxsan and their right to land and self-government. While the book focuses on the judgments rendered in the Gitxsan’s struggle in the Supreme Court and an analysis of the judgments and strategies utilized, Mills also details the Gitxsan relationship to the land and their community. Contrary to the position taken by many legal scholars, Mills argues that the trial judgment in the Delgam’Uukw decision opened up new opportunities for First Nations people to present evidence based on oral traditions that had not been previously accepted by the courts. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781895830347
Publisher:	University of British Columbia Press
Publication date:	08/01/2008
Series:	Purich Aboriginal Issues
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

P. Dawn Mills received her PhD in Native Law, History and Anthropology from the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law. Her research includes the intersection of First Nations and Canadian state property rights, especially in the area of mineral, oil and gas development. She has worked for a number of First Nations communities advising on the impact of potential resource development, including the Gitxsan. She holds an Adjunct position at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and runs her own consulting company specializing in development issues impacting on First Nations.

Table of Contents

Foreword / Don Ryan
Introduction
Gitxsan Glossary

1. Be Gentle on the Newcomers

2. Since the Coming of the Lixs giigyet
The Arrival of the Lixs giigyet: The Regional Economy 1795 - 1910
Tensions between the Lixs giigyet and the Gitxsan: 1871 - 1884
The Land Question
The Establishment of the Reserve Commission in 1875
Reserve Allocations: 1891 - 1898
The Stewart-Vowell Commission

3. The Trials of the Gitxsan
Delgam’Uukw v. Attorney General of British Columbia
After 1927: Background to the 1987 Trial
The Calder Case
The British Columbia Court of Appeal Decision, 1993
Delgam’Uukw v. British Columbia, 1997

4. Gitxsan Property, Ownership, and Governance
Wilp Property and Ownership
The Sigidim haanak’a and Governance Principles
Li’ligit

5. Gitxsan Reconciliation
Past Usage of the Crown
Gitxsan Acts of Reconciliation
The Gitxsan Treaty Model
Governance
Conclusion

Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Don Ryan

For Future Generations exemplifies Dr. Mills’ ongoing commitment to reconciliation and her motivation to provide a model for collaborative land use planning and management between the Crown and Aboriginal people.