'Race' Definition Run Amuck: 'Slaying the Dragon of Eskimo Status' Before the Supreme Court of Canada, 1939

in Diane Kirkby and Catharine Coleborne eds. Law, history, Colonialism: The Reach of Empire (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001) 65-77

13 Pages Posted: 21 Jun 2013

See all articles by Constance Backhouse

Constance Backhouse

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section

Date Written: 2001

Abstract

In April 1939, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that "Eskimos" were "Indians" within the Canadian constitutional framework. Though a renowned anthropologist testified to the "racial distinctness" of "Eskimos," the all-white judges of the court struggled to define "race." The case arose out of a jurisdictional dispute over whether the provincial or federal government should pay for relief aid for the Inuit in northern Quebec. The Inuit community was neither consulted nor represented as an "interested party" at the hearing. When the Eskimo Reference was heard by the Supreme Court, conflicting anthropological evidence demonstrated the discipline's struggle to scientifically measure and distinguish races. The Court decided that "Eskimos" were legally "Indians" based largely on decades-old correspondence between federal government officials about providing relief aid to an Eskimo community. They concluded that the Fathers of Confederation must have intended for all Aboriginal peoples living in Canada upon colonization to be considered Indians. Notably, the Court avoided the question of how to categorize race in law.

Keywords: Canada, Canadian, law, legal, supreme court, eskimo, indian, Indian Act, Inuit, Aboriginal, constitution, anthropology, racial, race, racism, jurisdiction, federal, Quebec, reference, colonialism

Suggested Citation

Backhouse, Constance, 'Race' Definition Run Amuck: 'Slaying the Dragon of Eskimo Status' Before the Supreme Court of Canada, 1939 (2001). in Diane Kirkby and Catharine Coleborne eds. Law, history, Colonialism: The Reach of Empire (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001) 65-77, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2277654 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2277654

Constance Backhouse (Contact Author)

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section ( email )

57 Louis Pasteur Street
Ottawa, K1N 6N5
Canada

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