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Delgamuukw v British Columbia
open-in-new
<p><i>Delgamuukw v British Columbia</i>, <a href="/facts/Case_citation/EGhw3TGz">[1997] 3 SCR 1010</a>, also known as <i>Delgamuukw v The Queen</i>, <i>Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa</i>, or simply <i>Delgamuukw</i>, is a ruling by the <a href="/facts/Supreme_Court_of_Canada/RQJKhKzC">Supreme Court of Canada</a> that contains its first comprehensive account of <a href="/facts/Aboriginal_title/2Iz0nTg1">Aboriginal title</a> (a distinct kind of Aboriginal right) in <a href="/facts/Canada/cWWFM8oc">Canada</a>.: 99 The <a href="/facts/Gitxsan/MAJSnQRI">Gitxsan</a> and <a href="/facts/Wet%25CA%25BCsuwet%25CA%25BCen/DrSc9BBy">Wet’suwet’en</a> peoples claimed Aboriginal title and jurisdiction over 58,000 square kilometers in northwest <a href="/facts/British_Columbia/Ty3e3g1Q">British Columbia</a>. The <a href="/facts/Plaintiff/sabTkvcL">plaintiffs</a> lost the case at trial, but the Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal in part and ordered a new trial because of deficiencies relating to the pleadings and treatment of evidence. In this decision, the Court went on to describe the "nature and scope" of the protection given to Aboriginal title under <a href="/facts/Section_35_of_the_Constitution_Act%2c_1982/7veEk9Em">section 35</a> of the <i><a href="/facts/Constitution_Act%2c_1982/KaAnpWn6">Constitution Act, 1982</a></i>, defined how a claimant can prove Aboriginal title, and clarified how the justification test from <i><a href="/facts/R_v_Sparrow/tyvJl8C2">R v Sparrow</a></i> applies when Aboriginal title is infringed.: para 16 The decision is also important for its treatment of oral testimony as evidence of historic occupation.: 91 </p><p>While much of the decision is technically <i><a href="/facts/Obiter_dicta/rC4LXI0T">obiter dicta</a></i> (since a new trial was ordered due to errors in how the evidence and pleadings were treated), the principles from <i>Delgamuukw</i> were restated and summarized in <i><a href="/facts/Tsilhqot%2527in_Nation_v_British_Columbia/BhnTt3eB">Tsilhqot'in Nation v British Columbia</a></i>, 2014 SCC 44.: 100, 104 There has not yet been a second trial in this case. </p>