So you've never heard of the rank of a matrix? Hmm, that makes it a bit more difficult.
Anyway, our u and v are independent iff
[tex]\alpha u+\beta v=0~\Rightarrow~\alpha=\beta=0[/tex]
were alpha and beta are real number.
So, how do you proceed. You assume that there exists alpha and beta such that
[tex]\alpha (\cos t,\sin t)+\beta (-\sin t,\cos t)=(0,0)[/tex]
this will give you a system of two equations and two unknowns (the alpha and beta).
Solve this system. If you find [tex]\alpha=\beta=0[/tex], then our u and v are independent.