20 years ago, this court case changed the way Canadians understood Indigenous rights

The 20thanniversary of one of the most important court cases in the history of Indigenous land and title rights is being celebrated in British Columbia today.

The decision in Delgamuukwv. British Columbia was delivered on Dec. 11, 1997,setting aprecedent for how treaty rights are understood in Canadian courts, affirmingthe recognitionof oral testimony from Indigenous people.

Yvonne Lattie says the case was significant because it gave legal support to the Gitxsan people's understanding of their relationship with both the land and the government.

"[The decision recognized] that we have rights and responsibilities, that we can now speak and be acknowledged as having never surrendered our lands or our territories," Lattie said.

WahTahKeg'ht(Henry Alfred) was one of theWet'suwet'enleaders who testified in the courts. He said he was pleased to see the case being celebrated 20 years laterbecause he got involved for future generations.

"It's not for me I'm going to the courts," he remembers saying.

"It's for mygrandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren. I don't want to see them pushed around."

Precedent-setting case

The Delgamuukw decision stemmed from a 1984 case launched by the leaders of the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en First Nations, who took the provincial government to court to establish jurisdiction over 58,000 square kilometres of land and water in northwest BritishColumbia.

In 1991, B.C.'s Supreme Court ruled that any rights the First Nations may have had over the land werelegally extinguished when British Columbia became part of Canada in 1871. The Nations appealed and eventually the case made its way into the Supreme Court of Canada, which foundtreaty rights could not be extinguished, confirmed oral testimony is as legitimate as other forms of evidence and stated Indigenous title rights include not only land, but the right to extract resources from the land.

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The case has been widely cited as an influencing factor in future court decisions, including the 2014 Tishqot'indecision which further established the existence of Indigenous title to non-treatied land in British Columbia.

Modern inspiration

The case also helped set the stagefor other reconciliation initiatives, said Leona Prince, vice-principal of aboriginal education for school district 91 in northwest B.C.

A member of the Lake Babine Nation, Prince was a high school student in nearby Burns Lake whenDelgamuukw was underway. Shesaid the case inspired herto push for a First Nations 12 course at her school, and later prompted her to work to incorporate Indigenous culture and knowledge into B.C.'s educationsystem.

"It was the early stages of let's see some change, let's acknowledge traditional values, traditional lands and culture within our educational and judicial systems," she said. "It was huge."

Writing for CBC earlier this year, journalist Trevor Jangexplained what the case means to him.

"I didn't find pride in my Wet'suwet'enidentity until I learned about my great-grandfatherand the impact he had on First Nations land rights in Canada," he said.

"Johnny David, who held the hereditary chief name Mikhlikhlekh, was the first Wet'suwet'en chief to give evidence...The impact of their words helped to shape the government's legal obligation to consult First Nations when proposing resource development projects on traditional lands."

With files from George Baker, Nicole Oud and Carolina de Ryk