Anthropology and Indigenous Rights in Canada and the United States

This chapter discusses the connection between Julian Steward's theoretical project and the manner in which the governments of Canada and the United States seek to have Indigenous rights defined through litigation. It also discusses the question as to whether the presumed objectivity of Steward's theoretical project as a means to further our understanding of Indigenous societies, particularly those describes as hunter-gatherers, and to provide an unbiased framework with which to evaluate the factual basis for establishing Aboriginal rights in Canadian law needs to be reconsidered. The implication concerns the adoption of Steward's theoretical frame as the means through which the Canadian courts assess the factual basis of evaluating the scope and content of an Aboriginal right in litigation. In order to understand the basis of this decision and Steward's contribution, it is useful to recall three central concepts in Steward's work

Biology · Indigenous · Political science · Sociology · Anthropology · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · New Caledonia Indigenous Studies · Ecology

• Locke's state of nature

  Open Access•Barry Hindess•History of the Human Sciences•2007

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• Indigenous resurgence, anthropological theory, and the cunning of history

  Open Access•Terence Turner•Focaal•2007

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