Aboriginal Rights Claims and the Making and Remaking of History (McGill-Queen's Indigenous and Northern Studies, 87) (Volume 87) - Softcover

Ray, Arthur

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0773547436 ISBN 13: 9780773547438

Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2016

Synopsis

Forums such as commissions, courtroom trials, and tribunals that have been established through the second half of the twentieth century to address aboriginal land claims have consequently created a particular way of presenting aboriginal, colonial, and national histories. The history that emerges from these land-claims processes is often criticized for being “presentist” - inaccurately interpreting historical actions and actors through the lens of present-day values, practices, and concerns.

In Aboriginal Rights Claims and the Making and Remaking of History, Arthur Ray examines how claims-oriented research is often fitted to the existing frames of indigenous rights law and claims legislation and, as a result, has influenced the development of these laws and legislation. Through a comparative study encompassing the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Ray also explores the ways in which various procedures and settings for claims adjudication have influenced and changed the use of historical evidence, made space for indigenous voices, stimulated scholarly debates about the cultural and historical experiences of indigenous peoples at the time of initial European contact and afterward, and have provoked reactions from politicians and scholars.

While giving serious consideration to the flaws and strengths of presentist histories, Aboriginal Rights Claims and the Making and Remaking of History provides communities with essential information on how history is used and how methods are adapted and changed.

About this title

About the Author

Arthur J. Ray is professor emeritus of history at the University of British Columbia and author of Aboriginal Rights Claims and the Making and Remaking of History and Telling It to the Judge: Taking Native History to Court.

From the Back Cover

In memory of Bruce G. Trigger

Series editors: John Borrows and Arthur J. Ray

The McGill-Queen's Indigenous and Northern Studies series publishes books about Indigenous peoples in all parts of the northern world. It includes original scholarship on their histories, archaeology, laws, cultures, governance, and traditions. Works in the series also explore the history and geography of the North, where travel, the natural environment, and the relationship to land continue to shape life in particular and important ways. Its mandate is to advance understanding of the political, legal, and social relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, of the contemporary issues that Indigenous peoples face as a result of environmental and economic change, and of social justice, including the work of reconciliation in Canada. To provide a global perspective, the series welcomes books on regions and communities from across the Arctic and Subarctic circumpolar zones.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0773547436
• ISBN 13: 9780773547438
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360