What was Delgamuukw v. British Columbia (1997)?

Delgamuukw v. British Columbia is the 1997 Supreme Court of Canada decision that recognised Aboriginal title as a unique form of communal property right and accepted Indigenous oral histories as admissible evidence in court. The decision was the first major Supreme Court ruling on the substance of Aboriginal title and set out the legal framework that the court later applied in Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia (2014) to issue Canada's first declaration of Aboriginal title.

The case was brought in 1984 by the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs (with the lead plaintiff named Delgamuukw, a Gitxsan title) claiming Aboriginal title to about 58,000 square kilometres of northwestern British Columbia. The trial before Justice Allan McEachern of the British Columbia Supreme Court ran from 1987 to 1990 and produced one of the longest judgments in Canadian history. McEachern J. dismissed the claim and famously rejected most of the Indigenous oral evidence. The British Columbia Court of Appeal partly reversed; the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial and provided extensive guidance on the law.

Chief Justice Antonio Lamer's reasons set out the modern framework for Aboriginal title. Aboriginal title is a sui generis (unique) interest in land arising from prior Indigenous occupation. It includes the right to use the land for a variety of purposes that need not be aspects of Indigenous practices integral to the distinctive culture. Aboriginal title is communal (held by the Indigenous nation, not by individuals) and is inalienable except to the Crown. The test for proof requires demonstration of exclusive occupation at the time of British sovereignty. The Crown can infringe Aboriginal title if it justifies the infringement using the Sparrow framework with priority for Indigenous interests after conservation.

Most importantly, Delgamuukw held that Indigenous oral histories must be given equal weight with documentary historical evidence in court. The decision reversed the trial judge's evidentiary rulings and set new standards for the admissibility and weight of Indigenous oral tradition. The case did not result in a declaration of Aboriginal title (a new trial was ordered but not held), but the framework was applied in Tsilhqot'in (2014) and many other cases. The Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs continue to assert Aboriginal title in current disputes including the Coastal GasLink pipeline route through their territory.