Abstract

Aboriginal rights fundamentally rest on the notion of traditional use. A series of recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions have underscored this relationship and, in doing so, have forced the question of what constitutes culture contact and what forms of evidence, including archaeological, may assist in the legal determination of aboriginal rights. According to the courts, to qualify as an aboriginal right an activity must be an element of a practice, custom or tradition integral (i.e. a central and significant part) to the distinctive culture of the aboriginal group claiming the right prior to contact with European societies. Date of contact is assumed to be the point at which aboriginal contact with European society was sufficient to have influence on aboriginal culture. This paper critically explores the concept of culture contact as an agency of change by asking the question what constitutes culture contact?