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Social Science Native American Studies

Oral History on Trial

Recognizing Aboriginal Narratives in the Courts

by (author) Bruce Granville Miller

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
May 2011
Category
Native American Studies, Evidence, Native American, General, Indigenous Peoples, Post-Confederation (1867-)
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774820707
    Publish Date
    May 2011
    List Price
    $95.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774820714
    Publish Date
    Jan 2012
    List Price
    $29.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774820721
    Publish Date
    May 2011
    List Price
    $29.95

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Description

In many western countries, judicial decisions are based on “black letter law” – text-based, well-established law. Within this tradition, testimony based on what witnesses have heard from others, known as hearsay, cannot be considered as legitimate evidence. This interdiction, however, presents significant difficulties for Aboriginal plaintiffs who rely on oral rather than written accounts for knowledge transmission.

 

This important book breaks new ground by asking how oral histories might be incorporated into the existing court system. Through compelling analysis of Aboriginal, legal, and anthropological concepts of fact and evidence, Oral History on Trial traces the long trajectory of oral history from community to court, and offers a sophisticated critique of the Crown’s use of Aboriginal materials in key cases.

 

A bold intervention in legal and anthropological scholarship, this book is a timely consideration of an urgent issue facing Indigenous communities worldwide and the courts hearing their cases.

About the author

Awards

  • Joint winner, K.D. Srivastava Prize

Contributor Notes

Bruce Granville Miller is a professor of anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

Editorial Reviews

Oral History on Trial is a long overdue and important book with huge potential to shift the debates concerning the role of Indigenous oral histories and their narrators in the Canadian courts and beyond.

Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, Vol. 14 No. 3

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