Aboriginal Rights and Interpretative Responsibility
AbstractThe current retrenchment of a narrow and restrictive reading of Aboriginal rights by governments and the courts is being met by increasing levels of frustration and militant resistance from Aboriginal people. The failure of existing mechanisms for addressing Aboriginal rights in Canada, such as land rights negotiations or litigation, to offer meaningful solutions to long-standing disputes is often attributable to the failure of governments and the courts to recognize and respect fundamental differences between Aboriginal people and the dominant Euro-Canadian society. A new relationship is possible when these differences are affirmed as the basis for interpreting Aboriginal rights and evolving new institutions premised on respect for Aboriginal worldviews. |