The Ethnohistorical Report - Strength of Claim Report

Ethnohistory is defined as: "the study of indigenous peoples from a combined historical and anthropological viewpoint, using written documents, oral narrative, material culture, and ethnographic data."

An ethnohistorical [Strength of Claim] report documents continuous use of a territory by a people from contact to the present. It documents the subsistence activities of a people, their use of the land, their relationship with other First Nations and their kinship pattern.

The Kinship section (including a genealogy) incorporates the inter-marriage patterns with neighbouring First Nations. Inter-marriage creates reciprocal rights for the extended families involved. The right to hunt, fish or trap in a neighbouring First Nation's territory was often granted based upon inter-marriage between families. This cultural practice assists in explaining the "overlap" phenomena so often used in disputing territorial claims.

We use some or all of the documentation in the list to the right to compile an ethnohistorical report - a book about the First Nation, their ancestors and their territory. The chapters in this book can be formatted to be used in the local school curriculum. [See next tab above.]