Chapter 10 Section 3
British Columbia:
Economic and
Cultural Changes
Each of the first
groups to come to
British Columbia had
a complex society
and its own language
and customs.
The first
European
explorers to
arrive in
the late
1700s
wanted to
trade.
The lives of the
indigenous peoples in
British Columbia were
not changed as much by
trade with Europeans, as
by the discovery of gold!
Victoria’s
population
doubled
overnight when
over 400
miners arrived.
Boomtowns sprung
up in the Cariboo
region since the
government built a
highway to the
region.
Canadian laws
banned
indigenous
peoples’
customs,
religion and
languages, by
the late 1880s.
Canadians began to
work on a railroad
which would link
Montreal and
Vancouver in 1881.
Because of
the
enormous
size of the
project,
immigrants
from all
over the
world came
to Canada
to find
work on
the
railroad.
Many people who live in British
Columbia today feel that their
future lies with other countries, not
with the rest of Canada.
British
Columbia’s
location ties it
to the economy
and culture of
the Pacific Rim.
Reviewing Key Terms
totem pole
boomtown
A tall, carved
wooden pole
that contains
the symbols
of a
particular
Native
American
group, clan
or family is a
totem pole.
A boomtown
is a settlement
that springs up
quickly to
serve the
needs of
miners.