McEachern's career was not without controversy. In the 1991 Gitskan-West'suwet'en land claim case in "Delgamuukw et al. v. The Queen," McEachern's judgement was "a stunning disappointment." British Columbia, he commented that "it would not be accurate to assume that even pre-contact existence in the territory was in the least bit idyllic. The plaintiffs' ancestors had no written language, no horses or wheeled vehicles, slavery and starvation was not uncommon, wars with neighbouring peoples were common, and there is no doubt, to quote Hobbes, that aboriginal life in the territory was, at best, 'nasty, brutish and short.'", a characterization that is still subject to significant criticism. McEachern's decision was overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada in "Delgamuukw v. British Columbia."