Indigenous People and
British Columbia
History and Terminology
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.
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.”
We Are NOT Going
We Are NOT Gone!



May 25, 2000
Carrier-Sekani
Demonstration
Victoria, BC
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.
Thunderbird Totem, Alert Bay
Newcomers and “New” Land

1.
2.
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.
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.
King George III


Signed Royal
Proclamation
October 7, 1763
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.
Sir James Douglas



Governor of
Vancouver Island
1851-63.
Governor of BC
1858-64.
“Douglas Treaties.”
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.
Reserve Lands

Tahltan Indians.
Cassiar District.
Map of Reserves 1, 2, 10.


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.
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.
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.
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.
Calder Case


Landmark Supreme
Court of Canada
decision that
determined Aboriginal
Title legally exists.
Dr. Frank Calder,
Nisga’a, defended that
Nisga’a People have
an Aboriginal Right to
the resources of the
Nass watershed
because of their
Aboriginal Title.
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.
Interior Cowichan Hatchery
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.”
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.
Delgamuukw December 11, 1997
Gixtsan and Wet’suwet’en People



35 Gixtsan and 13
Wet’suwet’en
Hereditary Chiefs,
Plaintiffs
Oral tradition included
as legal evidence to
exert Aboriginal Title.
Aboriginal Title applies
to modern uses of
Land (mining,
forestry)
Oral Traditions
 The
passing down of knowledge,
history, and laws orally.
 Valid
form of evidence in court.
 Equal
weight to written evidence.
Potlatch Duncan, BC
Kyuoquot Fish Trap
Nass Village
School on Songhees Reserve
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 manmade structures. Losing land can
mean the desecration of a sacred
place.