Eagle down is our law : Witsuwit'en law, feasts, and land claims

Type

Book

Authors

Antonia Mills ( Mills, Antonia )

ISBN 10

0774805137

ISBN 13

9780774805131

Tags

Wet'suwet'en -- Land tenure, Gitxsan, Wet'suwet'en, Indigenous peoples -- British Columbia, Indigenous peoples -- British Columbia -- Claims, Gitxsan -- Land tenure, Gitxsan -- Claims, Wet'suwet'en -- Claims, Gitxsan -- Social life and customs, Wet'suwet'en -- Social life and customs, Indigenous peoples -- British Columbia -- Social life and customs, Indigenous peoples -- Land tenure, Indigenous peoples -- Claims, Indigenous peoples -- Social life and customs, British Columbia

Abstract

"Eagle down is our law is about the struggle of the Witsuwit'en peoples to establish the meaning of aboriginal rights. With the neighbouring Gitskan, the Witsuwit'en launched a major land claims court case asking for the ownership and jurisdiction of 55,000 square kilometres of land in north-central British Columbia that they claim to have held since before the arrival of the Europeans. In conjunction with that court case, the Gitskan and Witsuwit'en asked a number of expert witnesses, among them Antonia Mills, an anthropologist, to prepare reports on their behalf. Her report, which instructs the judge in the case on the laws, feasts, and institutions of the Witsuwit'en, is presented here. Her testimony is based on two years of participant observation with the Witsuwit'en peoples and on her reading of the anthropological, historic, archaeological, and linguistic data about the Witsuwit'en."--WorldCat.org.

Biblio Notes

Contents:
Foreword / Gisdaywa (Alfred Joseph) --
Foreword / Mas Gak (Don Ryan) --
Preface / Michael Kew --
Preface / Michael Jackson --
1. The Nature of Witsuwit'en Society --
2. The Nature and Function of the Witsuwit'en Feast --
3. Genesis of the Witsuwit'en --
4. Witsuwit'en Institutions --
5. Witsuwit'en Law --
6. The Witsuwit'en Interface with the World.

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