Indigenous People and British Columbia

1
Indigenous People and British Columbia

• History and Terminology

2
Aboriginal Title

• Aboriginal Title affirms Indigenous People as the
  Original People of the Land, and as such they
  have Title and Rights to the land and its
  resources.
• Historically, the Federal and Provincial
  Governments have denied that Aboriginal Title
  exists, and have continued to exert sovereignty
  over Indigenous territories.

3
Union of BC Indian Chiefs Aboriginal Rights and
Title Position Paper (1978)

• Aboriginal Title and Rights means we as Indian
  people hold Title and have the right to maintain
  our sacred connection to Mother Earth by
  governing our territories through our own forms
  of Government.

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We Are NOT Going We Are NOT Gone!

• May 25, 2000
• Carrier-Sekani Demonstration
• Victoria, BC

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Indigenous Sovereignty

• The inherent right of Indigenous People to
  exercise their own laws, to govern themselves,
  and their territories, and to enter relationships
  with other Nations of People.

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Thunderbird Totem, Alert Bay
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Newcomers and New Land

• Under international law, any newcomers to the
  land inhabited by Indigenous People could only
  acquire land in one of two ways
• Conquest Land is won.
• Agreement Land is voluntarily ceded through
  treaty or sale.

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Royal Proclamation 1763

• The Royal Proclamation, 1763, affirmed in law
  that while Britain asserted sovereignty over
  Indigenous territory, they could not extinguish
  Aboriginal Title.
• Land could not be taken unless Indigenous People
  and Crown agreed through treaty.

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King George III

• Signed Royal Proclamation
• October 7, 1763

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Treaty

• At the time of British and French arrival
  (contact) to Indigenous Territories in BC, the
  Nations signed Peace and Friendship Treaties.
• These agreements signed on North Vancouver
  Island, were known as the Douglas Treaties and
  in North-Eastern BC, known as Treaty 8.
• These are the only treaties in BC.

11
Sir James Douglas

• Governor of Vancouver Island 1851-63.
• Governor of BC 1858-64.
• Douglas Treaties.

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(No Transcript)
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Terra Nullius Empty Land

• The argument of the Provincial Government that
  Aboriginal Title did not exist on the grounds
  that Indigenous People were so primitive and
  uncivilized that they were incapable of holding
  Title, or having laws to govern the land.
• Terra Nullius was used as an excuse not to sign
  treaties with Indigenous Nations.

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Reserve Lands

• Instead of entering treaties, the Canadian
  Government set up Reserve Lands. These lands are
  set aside for Indigenous People, but are held In
  Trust by Canada.
• Indigenous People do not own Reserve Land.
• Reserve Lands are only a fraction of Indigenous
  Peoples Aboriginal Title Territories.

15
Constitution Act 1867 Indians

• Section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867,
  declares that the Federal Government has
  responsibility to make decisions about Indians
  and Lands reserved for Indians.
• Federal responsibility stems from the fact it
  represents Canada as a Nation.

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Constitution Act Provinces

• Section 109 of the Constitution Act declares that
  Provinces are only given power to make decisions
  about land and resources where these lands did
  not already have interests in them.
• This section declares that the Province has no
  ownership over Aboriginal Title lands, because
  Indigenous People have pre-existing interests in
  the land.

17
Land Question

• The Land Question is used to describe modern
  day disputes between the Provincial Government
  and Indigenous Nations on the existence of
  Aboriginal Title.

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Calder Case

• Landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision that
  determined Aboriginal Title legally exists.
• Dr. Frank Calder, Nisgaa, defended that Nisgaa
  People have an Aboriginal Right to the resources
  of the Nass watershed because of their Aboriginal
  Title.

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Comprehensive Claims Policy

• Federal Government created Comprehensive Claims
  Policy after Calder case.
• Indigenous People extinguish Aboriginal Title to
  whole territory in return for small land base.
• Many Indigenous People refuse to participate in
  modern land agreements.

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Interior Cowichan Hatchery
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Section 35(1) Constitution Act, 1982

• Canada separates from British Crown with
  Constitution Act, 1982.
• Section 35 (1) promises
• The existing Aboriginal and Treaty Rights of the
  Aboriginal Peoples of Canada are hereby
  recognized and affirmed.

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Delgamuukw v. British Columbia,1997

• Groundbreaking Supreme Court of Canada unanimous
  decision that Aboriginal Title was never
  extinguished, nor could ever be extinguished.
• More than the right to practice activities (hunt,
  fish) on land it is the right to the land.

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Delgamuukw December 11, 1997 Gixtsan and
Wetsuweten People

• 35 Gixtsan and 13 Wetsuweten Hereditary Chiefs,
  Plaintiffs
• Oral tradition included as legal evidence to
  exert Aboriginal Title.
• Aboriginal Title applies to modern uses of Land
  (mining, forestry)

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Oral Traditions

• The passing down of knowledge, history, and laws
  orally.
• Valid form of evidence in court.
• Equal weight to written evidence.

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Potlatch Duncan, BC
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Kyuoquot Fish Trap
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Nass Village
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School on Songhees Reserve
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• In Indigenous spiritual understanding, all the
  spirits of the world are connected in this way,
  people do not stand above the land, but at one
  with it. Unlike many world religions, sacred
  places exist on the land rather than in
  man-made structures. Losing land can mean the
  desecration of a sacred place.