Description
In Aboriginal Rights Claims and the Making and Remaking of History, Arthur Ray examines how claims-oriented research is often fitted to the existing frames of Indigenous rights law and claims legislation and, as a result, has influenced the development of these laws and legislation. Through a comparative study encompassing Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States, Ray also explores the ways in which various procedures and settings for claims adjudication have influenced and changed the use of historical evidence, made space for Indigenous voices, stimulated scholarly debates about the cultural and historical experiences of Indigenous peoples at the time of initial European contact and afterward, and have provoked reactions from politicians and scholars. While giving serious consideration to the flaws and strengths of presentist histories, this book provides Aboriginal, academic, and legal communities with essential information on how history is used and how methods are adapted and changed. Arthur J. Ray is professor emeritus of history at the University of British Columbia.