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“[This] I Know From My Grandfather”: The Battle For Admissibility Of Indigenous Oral History As Proof Of Tribal Land Claims, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

A major obstacle indigenous land claimants must face is the application of federal evidentiary rules, like the hearsay doctrine, which block the use of oral history to establish legal claims. It is often oral history and stories that tribes rely upon as evidence to support their claims, reducing substantially the likelihood of a tribe prevailing. Indigenous oral history presents unique challenges to judges when faced with its admissibility. Canadian courts have largely overcome these challenges by interpreting evidentiary rules liberally, in favor of the aborigines. As such, Canadian aborigines have enjoyed greater land claim success than indigenous claimants in the …