The Importance of Oral and Extrinsic Historical Evidence in Understanding Indian Treaties
Abstract
In recent years, the Courts have instructed Canadians about the importance of oral testimony and other extrinsic historical evidence in providing context and insight into the meaning and interpretation of Indian treaties. The author reviews three books that explore how this genre of historical information assists both Native peoples and non-Natives in gaining a better understanding of Treaty No. 7 in southern Alberta, as well as the importance of the six numbered Indian treaties in Saskatchewan. This article also examines the courtroom role of historians and the creative use of extrinsic documentation in the Supreme Court of Canada trial of Donald Marshall Jr. in which senior justices breathed new life and substance into the Maritime Peace and Friendship Treaties. The author advises archivists and historians of an increased burden on their activities, as oral testimony and other types of extrinsic evidence will be used increasingly by adjudicative bodies to provide a modern interpretation to provisions of Indian treaties. This judicial activism has had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on the Canadian polity.
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