Standards for oral tradition evidence : guidelines from first nations land claims in Canada
Barry, Michael
Conventional land registration systems have served to underpin particular forms of land tenure since ancient Babylon and perhaps before that. However, there are a number of tenure forms which are ill served by the systems that have evolved from these early systems. For example, 1 billion people live in slums in urban areas where tenure systems often draw on both customary and western tenure practices and some 300 million First Peoples live in different countries around the world. Insecure tenure is a major issue for these communities and often result in conflicts and tensions when they try and defend their rights. Nowadays, we have the technology to capture oral tradition and oral history evidence. However, the courts in Canada have struggled to handle evidence which draws on stories that incorporate myth, legend and fact. The common law itself has had to evolve in order to adjudicate Aboriginal land claims fairly and so recognize the unique, sui generis, nature of these rights. A number of Canadian cases in the last twenty years have also developed guiding principles for how oral tradition and oral history evidence should be presented and examined. This in turn provides guidance on how this type of data should be stored and documented. The challenge is to include this data in a land information system in a manner which will be acceptable to the courts.
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