Exploring the Nine Tribes-Nisga’a Territorial Dispute with Reference to Tsimshianic Legal Principles from Published and Archival Sources April 18, 2019 Andrew Martindale, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, The University of British Columbia. 1 Table of Contents 1. Framing Issues .............................................................................................. 7 1.1 Disclosure...................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Executive Summary....................................................................................... 8 1.3 Perspectives in Scholarship and Expert Witnesses ..................................... 14 1.4 Matters to Consider ..................................................................................... 16 1.5 Definitions.................................................................................................... 18 1.6 Historical Context ........................................................................................ 19 1.6.1 Who Are the Nine Tribes? ................................................................ 19 1.6.2 Historical Approach to Tsimshianic Legal Issues .............................. 21 1.7 An Overview of Tsimshianic Legal Principles and Practices from Published Sources. ..................................................................................... 22 1.7.1 Summary of Tsimshianic Legal Practices and Principles .................. 22 1.7.2 Central Tsimshian Legal Practices from Published Sources ............ 23 1.7.3 Central Tsimshian Legal Principles from Published Sources ............ 28 1.8 A Legal Test of Ownership Under Tsimshianic Law .................................... 35 2. Evidence ..................................................................................................... 38 2.1 Missing Evidence ........................................................................................ 38 2.2 Primary Evidence - Adawx .......................................................................... 39 2.2.1 Beynon, William. 1952. A Niskae Dispute of Legyaerh’s Rights ....... 41 2.2.2 Beynon, William. 1954. Ethnical and Geographical Study of the Tsimsiyaen Nation. ........................................................................... 44 2.2.3 Maps by Beynon from 1954. ............................................................. 45 2.2.4 The Beynon Manuscript ................................................................... 47 2.2.5 MacDonald and Cove (1987b). ......................................................... 59 2.3 Primary Evidence - Historic Documents ...................................................... 65 2.3.1 O’Reilly Correspondence.................................................................. 66 3. Original Analysis .......................................................................................... 70 3.1 Boas, Franz. 1916. ...................................................................................... 71 3.2 Bolt, Clarence. 1992. ................................................................................... 72 3.3 Cope, Brad. 2012. ....................................................................................... 73 3.4 Dean, Jonathan R. 1993. ............................................................................. 81 3.5 Garfield, Viola E. ......................................................................................... 82 3.6 MacDonald, George. 2012. ......................................................................... 82 2 3.7 MacDonald, George F. and Joanne MacDonald. 2012. ............................... 86 3.8 McDonald, James A. 2016. ......................................................................... 91 3.9 Marsden, Susan. 1997. ............................................................................... 92 3.10 Marsden, Susan. 2002. ............................................................................... 95 3.11 Marsden, Susan and Robert Galois. 1995. .................................................. 97 3.12 Martindale, Andrew and Susan Marsden. 2003. .......................................... 98 3.13 Martindale and Marsden 2011. .................................................................... 99 3.14 Ministry of Justice, Legal Services Branch, Aboriginal Research Division. 2016. ........................................................................................... 100 3.15 Roth, Christopher F. 2002. ........................................................................ 123 4. Derived Sources ........................................................................................ 124 4.1 Archer, David JW. 1988. ............................................................................ 124 4.2 Galois, Robert. 1997.................................................................................. 125 4.3 Garfield, Viola. 1951. ................................................................................. 125 4.4 Grumet, Robert. 1975. ............................................................................... 125 4.5 MacDonald, George F. 2006. .................................................................... 126 4.6 MacDonald, George. 2016. ....................................................................... 126 4.7 Miller, Jay. 1997. ....................................................................................... 126 4.8 Ministry of Justice, Legal Services Branch, Aboriginal Research Division. 2009. ........................................................................................... 126 4.9 Ministry of Justice, Legal Services Branch, Aboriginal Research Division. 2007. ........................................................................................... 128 4.10 Mitchell, Donald, and Leland Donald. 2001. .............................................. 128 4.11 Murray, Peter. 1985. .................................................................................. 129 5. Analysis ..................................................................................................... 130 5.1 Assessment of Sources ............................................................................. 132 5.2 Patterns in Time ........................................................................................ 132 5.3 Key Legal Events for the Study Area in Tsimshian History ........................ 136 5.4 Points of Debate in the Chronology of Tsimshian History .......................... 138 5.4.1 The Time of Haimas and the Raven Warriors ................................. 138 5.4.2 The Time of Ligeex and the Eagle Trading Alliance ....................... 139 5.4.3 The Duration of the Tenth Tribe ..................................................... 140 5.4.4 Implication of Chronological Debates ............................................. 140 5.5 Tsimshianic Legal Evidence for the Study Area ........................................ 140 5.5.2 Earliest times .................................................................................. 147 5.5.3 The Double Feast ........................................................................... 147 3 5.5.4 Haimas ........................................................................................... 148 5.5.5 Ligeex 148 5.5.6 Mission at Kincolith ......................................................................... 150 5.5.7 Reserve Allocations ........................................................................ 150 5.5.8 Clah 150 5.5.9 The 1916 Meeting .......................................................................... 150 5.5.10 20th Century. ................................................................................... 151 5.6 Points of Debate in Tsimshianic Legal Evidence ....................................... 151 5.6.1 The “Ancient Times” Argument ....................................................... 151 5.6.2 The “House of Txalacet” Argument................................................. 151 5.7 Legal Evidence from Non-Tsimshianic Systems ........................................ 153 5.8 Maps by Beynon and Barbeau .................................................................. 154 6. Conclusion: My Opinion ............................................................................. 159 7. References Cited ....................................................................................... 164 8. Appendix 1: Terms of Reference for Expert Report ................................... 168 9. Appendix 2: Martindale C.V. ...................................................................... 172 10. Appendix 3: Certificate of Expert Duty ....................................................... 205 4 List of Figures Figure 1. The region of the Study Area. ............................................................................................... 11 Figure 2. The Nisga’a Lands as defined by the Nisga’a Final Agreement. ........................................... 12 Figure 3. Map of the territory created by Susan Marsden based on evidence from Nine Tribes chiefs. Metlakatla First Nation uses a similar territory map for the Study Area. ..................... 13 Figure 4. A map of the territory associated with the Nine Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams. This map conforms to my conclusions regarding boundaries which are associated with Nine Tribes territory in the Study Area. ......................................................................................................