Telling it to the Judge

Taking Native History to Court

Arthur J. Ray

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9780773586482
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Social Sciences

Arthur Ray's extensive knowledge in the history of the fur trade and Native economic history brought him into the courts as an expert witness in the mid-1980s. For over twenty-five years he has been a part of landmark litigation concerning treaty rights, Aboriginal title, and Métis rights. In Telling It to the Judge, Ray recalls lengthy courtroom battles over lines of evidence, historical interpretation, and philosophies of history, reflecting on the problems inherent in teaching history in the adversarial courtroom setting. Told with charm and based on extensive experience, Telling It to the Judge is a unique narrative of courtroom strategy in the effort to obtain constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction Peter W. Hutchins
• Prologue
• One Taking Fur Trade History to Court
• Two Roles and Reversals of the Historical Researcher
• Three Defending Traditional Fisheries and Harvesting Rights
• Four Interpretation of a Treaty: Share or Surrender?
• Five Witnessing on Behalf of a Forgotten People
• Six Defining Métis Communities and Customs
• Seven Defending the Aboriginal Right to Hunt
• Eight “To Educate the Court”
• Appendix 1: Delgamuukw Exhibit No. 964: District Reports of Hudson’s Bay Company Chief Trader William Brown
• Appendix 2: Transcript of My PowerPoint Presentation in Samson, 3 October 2000
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Footnote