Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Delgamuukw court records
General material designation
- textual record
- electronic
Parallel title
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Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on contents of series
Level of description
Series
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1985-1991 (Creation)
- Creator
- British Columbia. Supreme Court (Smithers)
Physical description area
Physical description
5.7 m textual records, 5- 5 1/4 inch floppy disks
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
In 1920 the British Columbia government established a Supreme Court registry at Smithers; it was approved and ordered by Order-in-Council #2005-1920, dated November 6, 1920.
To this date (March 2016) the Smithers Registry of the Supreme Court continues as an active registry.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The series consists of transcripts of court proceedings, cross-examinations, examination of discovery, exhibit indices, closing statements, briefs, and reasons for judgement of Delgamuukw v. The Queen. The case was heard in the Smithers Supreme Court between 1987 and 1989 (case file 0843). Following the hearings in Smithers, the case reached the BC Court of Appeal and eventually made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada where a landmark ruling was finally issued in 1997.
The transcripts of the proceedings at trial, which consist of 369 spiral-bound volumes, provide a wealth of information on First Nations genealogies, traditional resource knowledge, and language, as well as details of the extent of traditional territories. The series consists of more than 23,000 pages of trial transcript and includes the testimonies of more than 60 witnesses. The series also includes the reasons for judgment. Gitxsan hereditary chief Delgamuukw (Albert Tait), who filed the Statement of Claim, passed away shortly before the trial opened in 1987 and was succeeded by Kenneth Muldoe who was in turn succeeded by his brother, artist Earl Muldon. The claim covered 133 traditional territories, which amounted to 58,000 square kilometers of northwestern British Columbia. Peter R Grant served as lead counsel for the Gitxan and Wet-suwet'en chiefs, and D.M.M. Goldie served as lead counsel for the Province.
The files are arranged as they arrived from the Smithers court registry. Boxes 1 to 13 contain the proceedings at trial. Boxes 16 and 17 include lists of exhibits which provide information on relevant archival collections held in repositories across the province.
Notes area
Physical condition
Plastic coil binding removed from bound volumes and records rehoused in acid-free folders.
Boxes were originally overpacked so files have been shifted.
Immediate source of acquisition
Transferred from the Ministry of Justice in January 2016.
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
No restrictions. Records were heavily used in the court registry.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
See also GR-2097 (Reasons for Judgement)
The University of British Columbia's Rare Books and Special Collections holds a further 28 meters of textual records, photographs, VHS recordings, audio cassettes and maps in RBSC-ARC-1749.
Accruals
General note
Accession number(s) : 83-1709
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Kenneth Perry Muldoe (Subject)
- Tait, Albert (Subject)
- British Columbia. Supreme Court (Smithers) (Subject)