Not So Uncommon an Oath: The "Chicken Oath" in BC Chinese Canadians' Testimonies

Andrew R. Sandfort-Marchese

In 1939, a reporter for the Province newspaper wrote a small piece on the special role of different language interpreters in Vancouver courts. He interviewed court translator Gordon Cumyow, the son of the legendary Won Alexander Cumyow.1 A serious topic arose, that of oaths sworn by Chinese witnesses. Cumyow, reflecting on his long career, recalled a case in Nelson a few years earlier, where Chinese litigants belonging to the Dart Coon Club of Chinese Freemasons “denuded the town and nearby country of roosters” to swear the so-called “chicken oath,” paying the hefty price of $2 a chicken.2 In Canada, the legal right of Chinese people to swear oaths and to testify was because of certain common-law precedents that held that anyone, not just White Christians, could swear an oath to…

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British Columbia History (Digital) - 1 Issue, 57.4 Winter 2024

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