William Craig Wicken

Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies » Faculty & Staff » Faculty Profiles

Professor

Office: Vari Hall, 2192
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 66963
Email: wwicken@yorku.ca

Attached CV

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Research in indigenous history and is also extensively involved in public policy. This has included working for First Nations communities, governments, and testifying as an expert witness. As of April 2016, he has testified in 18 separate trials, four of which have been heard on appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

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My research interest concerns the indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States. I have also been extensively involved in public policy. This has included working for First Nations communities, governments, and testifying as an expert witness on historical issues where the plaintiff or defendant has raised a constitutional argument. Up to April 2016, I have testified in 17 separate trials, four of which have been heard on appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada (R. v. Marshall, 1999; R. v. Bernard, 2005, R. v. Stephen Frederick Marshall, 2005, and Daniels v. AG of Canada 2016). I have also served as a panel member on an Environmental Impact Assessment Review in New Brunswick. This EIA panel listened to community and public concerns regarding the construction and operation of a tungsten and molybdenum mine (Sisson Project).

Degrees

Ph.D., Department of History, McGill University
M.A., History of the United States, McGill University
Honours B.A., East Asian History, McGill University

Appointments

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Professional Leadership

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC), 2020- ; Board Member, Canada's History Society 2014- 2020 Jury Member, Canadian Historical Association, Sir John A. Macdonald Prize, 2015-2018.

Community Contributions

2020: Expert Witness, Specific Claims Tribunal, Odanak/Wolinak FN v. Canada; 2017: Expert Witness Testimony, Specific Claims Tribunal, Madawaska/Maliseet First Nation vs. Canada;2016: Expert Witness Testimony, R. v. Dennie and Joseph, New Brunswick Provincial Court; 2015: Environmental Impact Assessment Panel Member, New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government, Sisson Project. 2014: Expert Witness Testimony, R. v. Millea, New Brunswick Provincial Court. 2013: Expert Witness Testimony in R. v. Darren Paul, New Brunswick Provincial Court; 2011: Expert Witness Testimony in R. v. Daniels, Federal Court of Canada.

Research Interests

History , Indigenous Peoples, Law, Native & Colonial North America, Indigenous History and the Law.

Sir John A. Macdonald Prize for the best scholarly book in Canadian history by the Canadian Historical Association - 2013
Clio Prize winner by the Canadian Historical Association - 2013
Governor General’s Award for Scholarly Achievement - 2013
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada - 2020
Clio Prize winner by the Canadian Historical Scoiety - 2003

Current Research Projects

TARR Centre records and oral history: Preserving and Creating Mi'kmaw Records for Future Generations

Summary:

This project done through the leadership of the Mi'kmaw Studies programme at Cape Breton University , the Treaty and Aboriginal Rights Research Centre at Shubenacadie, NS (TARR) and the Union of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq, will investigate records that are currently held by the TARR Centre in order to preserve them for future research. The project will also begin a pilot oral history project of Mi'kmaw elders who have been involved in Mi'kmaw politics since the 1960s.

Start Date:

Month:

Year:

Becoming White, urban, and working class: Clinton Claus and the Migration of Six Nation People, 1870-1920

Role: Principal Researcher

Start Date:

Month:

Year:

Books

Publication

Year

2012 The Colonization of Mi’kmaw Memory and History, 1794-1928: The King v. Gabriel Sylliboy Toronto: University of Toronto Press 336 pp.

2012

2004 John G. Reid, Maurice Basque, Elizabeth Mancke, Barry Moody, and Geoffrey Plank, The Conquest of Acadia, 1710: An Interpretive and Contextual History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

2004

2002 Mi’kmaq Treaties on Trial: History, Land and Donald Marshall Junior Toronto: University of Toronto Press 301 pp. 2004(reprinted)

2002

1998 Jo-Anne Fiske and Susan Sleeper-Smith, co-editors New Faces of the Fur Trade: Selected Papers from the Seventh North American Fur Trade Conference. (Lansing: Michigan State University Press)

1998

Book Chapters

Publication

Year

2005 ‘Passamaquoddy Identity and the Marshall Decision,’ in Northeast Borderlands Stephen Hornsby and John G. Reid, eds. (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 50-8.

2005

2004 ‘Mi’kmaq Decisions: Antoine Tecounenemac, the Conquest and the Treaty of Utrecht,’ in John Reid, et.al. The Conquest of Acadia, 1710 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press), 86-100.
Reprinted in Margaret Conrad, Alvin Finkel, ed., Foundations: Readings in Pre-Confederation History. Toronto: Pearson Education, 2007.

2004

1998 ‘Re-examining Mi'kmaq-Acadian Relations, 1635-1755.’ in Vingt ans après, Habitants et marchands: Lectures de l'histoire des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles canadiens sous la direction de Sylvie Dépatie, Catherine Desbarats, Danielle Gauvreau, Mario Lanlancette and Thomas Wien. Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 93-114.
Reprinted in Bryden, Coates, Lux, marks, Martel, and Samson, Visions: The Canadian History Modules Project, Pre-Confederation. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2011, pp. 182-90.

1998

1991 ‘Mi'kmaq Land in Southwestern Nova Scotia, 1771-1823.’ In Making Adjustments: Change and Continuity in Planter Nova Scotia 1759-1800, Margaret Conrad, ed., Fredericton: Acadiensis Press, 113-122.

1991

Journal Articles

Publication

Year

1998 ‘R. V. Donald Marshall Jr., 1993-1996.’ Acadiensis, XXVIII, 1 (Autumn 1998), 6-15.

1998

1995 ‘Heard it from my Grandfather: Mi'kmaq Treaty Tradition and the Syliboy Case of 1928.’ University of New Brunswick Law Journal 44 (1995), 146-161.

1995

1994 ‘The Mi'kmaq and Wuastukwiuk Treaties.’ University of New Brunswick Law Journal 43 (1994), 241-253.
Reprinted in Aboriginal Legal Issues: Cases, Materials & Commentary John J. Borrows and Leonard I. Rotman (Toronto and Vancouver: Butterworths 1998), 157-161

1994

1993 ‘26 August 1726: A Case Study in Mi'kmaq-New England Relations.’ Acadiensis, XXIII, 1 (Autumn 1993), 5-22.

1993

Conference Papers

Publication

Year

May 2011 ‘The King’s Road Controversy.’ Canadian Historical Association Fredericton, N.B.

2011

March 2009 ‘Child-Women Ratios in Mi’kmaq Communities Of Nova Scotia, 1871-1911.’ Aboriginal Policy Research Conference Ottawa, Ont

2009

September 2008 ‘After the Siege’ Colloque Louisbourg Sydney/Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

2008

September 2005 ‘The Supreme Court’s decision in Marshall: An historical retrospective’ Wanipitei Conference Lake Temagami, Ont.

2005

February 2003 ‘A History of Mi’kmaw Governance’ Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs and Councils Conference Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

2003

February 2003 ‘An Historian’s Practical Guide to the Courts.’ York University Graduate Students New Frontiers Conference York University

2003

October 2003 'The Union of Nova Scotia Indians and the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, 1971-1999.' Dalhousie Law School Conference on the History of Nova Scotia Supreme Court

2003

Research Reports

Publication

Year

April 2011 Response to Expert Opinion Reports of Professors Patterson and Von Gernet In the Matter of Daniels v. INAC & AG of Canada On Behalf of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Federal Court of Canada 25 typescript pp.

2011

March 2011 The Prince Edward Island Mi'kmaq and the 18th century Treaties Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat Prince Edward Island Government 48 typescript pp.

2011

December 2010 The Objectives of Section 91(24) of the British North America Act of 1867 Report Submitted in the Matter of Daniels v. INAC & AG of Canada On behalf of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Federal Court of Canada 174 typescript pp.

2010

June 2008 Identifying People of Mi’kmaq Ancestry: A Report Submitted to the Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative 112 typescript pp.

2008

March 2008 Night Hunting in Mi’kmaq historical communities R. v. Francis and Paul Nova Scotia Provincial Court For Union of Nova Scotia Indians 26 typescript pp.

2008

April 2008 Review of Expert Opinion Reports In the Matter of R. v. Babin Nova Scotia Provincial Court 20 typescript pp.

2008

August 2007 Night Hunting in Maliseet Society New Brunswick Court of Appeal For Mawiw 15 typescript pp.

2007

March 2006 Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI: Strategic Research Plan: Some Thoughts For the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI 15 typescript pp.

2006

January 2006 The 1778 and 1779 Treaties A report for the Migmawei Maowiomi Secretariat Listugjug, Q.C. 67 typescript pp.

2006

October 2005 Report on the Inuit Treaty of 1765 For the Labrador Metis First Nation 9 typescript pp.

2005

August 2004 The Mi’kmaq Community in Southwestern Nova Scotia In the Late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries Acadia First Nation 70 typescript pp.

2004

May 2004 The Mi’kmaq of Gaspe in the 20th Century for the Wesgijinua’luet Research Project Mi’gmawei Mawiomi Secretariat, Listuguj, Q.C. 60 typescript pp.

2004

October 2004 `A Metis Community in southwest Nova Scotia’ in the matter of R. v. Babin Nova Scotia Provincial Court 27 typescript pp.

2004

December 2003 Statement of Opinion re. Mi’kmaq Hunting in New Brunswick,’ For the Attorney-General of New Brunswick re. Mi’kmaq hunting along the Salmon River 4 typescript pp.

2003

September 2003 `The Gespe’gewa’gi Mi’kmaq in the 19th century’ for the Wesgijinua’luet Research Project Mi’gmawei Mawiomi Secretariat, Listuguj, Q.C. 67 typescript pp.

2003

June 2002 Executive Summary of Research Reports Prepared for the Wesgijinua’luet Research Project Mi’gmawei Mawoimi Secretariat, Listuguj, Q.C. 28 typescript pp.

2002

March 2002 Executive Summary of Restigouche River Project [four reports on historical, archaeological, and linguistic analysis of the Restigouche River] for Listuguj First Nation, P.Q. 12 typescript pp.

2002

March 2002 Mi’kmaq use and occupancy of the Restigouche River for Listuguj First Nation [PQ] 19 typescript pp.

2002

September 2002 Report in the Matter of R. v. Alex MacDonald, et. al. For the Union of Nova Scotia Indians and Confederacy of Mainland Micmacs 221 typescript pp.

2002

April 2002 Review of Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision in R. V. Stephen Frederick Marshall, 5 March, 2002 for UNSI and CMM 22 typescript pp.

2002

May 2002 `Mi’kmaq use and Occupancy of Gespe’gewa’gi 1534-1871.’ Wesgijinua’luet Research Project Mi’gmawei Mawoimi Secretariat, Listuguj, Q.C. 90 typescript pp.

2002

June 2001 Statement of Opinion re. Maliseet in St. Lawrence River Valley for François Robert of Martin, Camirand & Pelletier Montreal, PQ 85 typescript pp.

2001

November 2000 Statement of Opinion re. New Brunswick Maliseet night-hunting practises in the matter of R. v. Polchies and Tomah for Cameron Gunn of the New Brunswick Public Prosecutor’s Office 4 typescript pp.

2000

September 2000 Statement of Opinion re: Mi’kmaq of Newfoundland and the 1761 Treaty in the matter of R. V. Drew for Shayne MacDonald representing Conne River Newfoundland Supreme Court 35 typescript pp.

2000

June 1997 Statement of Opinion re: Mi’kmaq Treaties and Taxation in the matter of Vaughn Pictou v. R. for the Union of Nova Scotia Indians Federal Tax Court of Canada 118 typescript pp.

1997

1993 Report Submitted to MAWIW [Big Cove, Burnt Church and Tobique, First Nations Reserves, New Brunswick]. “A Report on the Eighteenth Century Treaties with Documents Attached.”

1993

1993 Report Submitted to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. and John G. Reid. An Overview of the Eighteenth Century Treaties Signed Between the Mi'kmaq and Wuastukwiuk Peoples and the English Crown, 1725-1928. 202 typescript pp

1993

Degrees

Ph.D., Department of History, McGill University
M.A., History of the United States, McGill University
Honours B.A., East Asian History, McGill University

Appointments

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Professional Leadership

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC), 2020- ; Board Member, Canada's History Society 2014- 2020 Jury Member, Canadian Historical Association, Sir John A. Macdonald Prize, 2015-2018.

Community Contributions

Research Interests

History , Indigenous Peoples, Law, Native & Colonial North America, Indigenous History and the Law.

Awards

Sir John A. Macdonald Prize for the best scholarly book in Canadian history by the Canadian Historical Association - 2013
Clio Prize winner by the Canadian Historical Association - 2013
Governor General’s Award for Scholarly Achievement - 2013
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada - 2020
Clio Prize winner by the Canadian Historical Scoiety - 2003

Current Research Projects

TARR Centre records and oral history: Preserving and Creating Mi'kmaw Records for Future Generations

Summary:

Start Date:

Month:

Year:

Becoming White, urban, and working class: Clinton Claus and the Migration of Six Nation People, 1870-1920

Role:

Start Date:

Month:

Year:

All Publications

Book Chapters

Publication

Year

2005 ‘Passamaquoddy Identity and the Marshall Decision,’ in Northeast Borderlands Stephen Hornsby and John G. Reid, eds. (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 50-8.

2005

2004

1998

1991

Books

Publication

Year

2012 The Colonization of Mi’kmaw Memory and History, 1794-1928: The King v. Gabriel Sylliboy Toronto: University of Toronto Press 336 pp.

2012

2004 John G. Reid, Maurice Basque, Elizabeth Mancke, Barry Moody, and Geoffrey Plank, The Conquest of Acadia, 1710: An Interpretive and Contextual History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

2004

2002 Mi’kmaq Treaties on Trial: History, Land and Donald Marshall Junior Toronto: University of Toronto Press 301 pp. 2004(reprinted)

2002

1998 Jo-Anne Fiske and Susan Sleeper-Smith, co-editors New Faces of the Fur Trade: Selected Papers from the Seventh North American Fur Trade Conference. (Lansing: Michigan State University Press)

1998

Journal Articles

Publication

Year

1998 ‘R. V. Donald Marshall Jr., 1993-1996.’ Acadiensis, XXVIII, 1 (Autumn 1998), 6-15.

1998

1995 ‘Heard it from my Grandfather: Mi'kmaq Treaty Tradition and the Syliboy Case of 1928.’ University of New Brunswick Law Journal 44 (1995), 146-161.

1995

1994

1993 ‘26 August 1726: A Case Study in Mi'kmaq-New England Relations.’ Acadiensis, XXIII, 1 (Autumn 1993), 5-22.

1993

Conference Papers

Publication

Year

May 2011 ‘The King’s Road Controversy.’ Canadian Historical Association Fredericton, N.B.

2011

March 2009 ‘Child-Women Ratios in Mi’kmaq Communities Of Nova Scotia, 1871-1911.’ Aboriginal Policy Research Conference Ottawa, Ont

2009

September 2008 ‘After the Siege’ Colloque Louisbourg Sydney/Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

2008

September 2005 ‘The Supreme Court’s decision in Marshall: An historical retrospective’ Wanipitei Conference Lake Temagami, Ont.

2005

February 2003 ‘A History of Mi’kmaw Governance’ Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs and Councils Conference Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

2003

February 2003 ‘An Historian’s Practical Guide to the Courts.’ York University Graduate Students New Frontiers Conference York University

2003

October 2003 'The Union of Nova Scotia Indians and the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, 1971-1999.' Dalhousie Law School Conference on the History of Nova Scotia Supreme Court

2003

Research Reports

Publication

Year

2011

March 2011 The Prince Edward Island Mi'kmaq and the 18th century Treaties Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat Prince Edward Island Government 48 typescript pp.

2011

2010

June 2008 Identifying People of Mi’kmaq Ancestry: A Report Submitted to the Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative 112 typescript pp.

2008

March 2008 Night Hunting in Mi’kmaq historical communities R. v. Francis and Paul Nova Scotia Provincial Court For Union of Nova Scotia Indians 26 typescript pp.

2008

April 2008 Review of Expert Opinion Reports In the Matter of R. v. Babin Nova Scotia Provincial Court 20 typescript pp.

2008

August 2007 Night Hunting in Maliseet Society New Brunswick Court of Appeal For Mawiw 15 typescript pp.

2007

March 2006 Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI: Strategic Research Plan: Some Thoughts For the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI 15 typescript pp.

2006

January 2006 The 1778 and 1779 Treaties A report for the Migmawei Maowiomi Secretariat Listugjug, Q.C. 67 typescript pp.

2006

October 2005 Report on the Inuit Treaty of 1765 For the Labrador Metis First Nation 9 typescript pp.

2005

August 2004 The Mi’kmaq Community in Southwestern Nova Scotia In the Late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries Acadia First Nation 70 typescript pp.

2004

May 2004 The Mi’kmaq of Gaspe in the 20th Century for the Wesgijinua’luet Research Project Mi’gmawei Mawiomi Secretariat, Listuguj, Q.C. 60 typescript pp.

2004

October 2004 `A Metis Community in southwest Nova Scotia’ in the matter of R. v. Babin Nova Scotia Provincial Court 27 typescript pp.

2004

December 2003 Statement of Opinion re. Mi’kmaq Hunting in New Brunswick,’ For the Attorney-General of New Brunswick re. Mi’kmaq hunting along the Salmon River 4 typescript pp.

2003

September 2003 `The Gespe’gewa’gi Mi’kmaq in the 19th century’ for the Wesgijinua’luet Research Project Mi’gmawei Mawiomi Secretariat, Listuguj, Q.C. 67 typescript pp.

2003

June 2002 Executive Summary of Research Reports Prepared for the Wesgijinua’luet Research Project Mi’gmawei Mawoimi Secretariat, Listuguj, Q.C. 28 typescript pp.

2002

March 2002 Mi’kmaq use and occupancy of the Restigouche River for Listuguj First Nation [PQ] 19 typescript pp.

2002

September 2002 Report in the Matter of R. v. Alex MacDonald, et. al. For the Union of Nova Scotia Indians and Confederacy of Mainland Micmacs 221 typescript pp.

2002

April 2002 Review of Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision in R. V. Stephen Frederick Marshall, 5 March, 2002 for UNSI and CMM 22 typescript pp.

2002

May 2002 `Mi’kmaq use and Occupancy of Gespe’gewa’gi 1534-1871.’ Wesgijinua’luet Research Project Mi’gmawei Mawoimi Secretariat, Listuguj, Q.C. 90 typescript pp.

2002

June 2001 Statement of Opinion re. Maliseet in St. Lawrence River Valley for François Robert of Martin, Camirand & Pelletier Montreal, PQ 85 typescript pp.

2001

2000

June 1997 Statement of Opinion re: Mi’kmaq Treaties and Taxation in the matter of Vaughn Pictou v. R. for the Union of Nova Scotia Indians Federal Tax Court of Canada 118 typescript pp.

1997

1993 Report Submitted to MAWIW [Big Cove, Burnt Church and Tobique, First Nations Reserves, New Brunswick]. “A Report on the Eighteenth Century Treaties with Documents Attached.”

1993

Current Courses

Term	Course Number	Section	Title	Type
Fall/Winter 2024	AP/HIST3850 6.0	A	Murder & Other Crimes in North America	LECT
Fall/Winter 2024	AP/HIST4515 6.0	A	Murder in the Archives	SEMR

Upcoming Courses

Term	Course Number	Section	Title	Type
Summer 2025	AP/HIST3550 3.0	A	Pre-Confederation Canada	LECT