Land claim and treaty negotiations in British Columbia, Canada: Implications for First Nations land and self-governance

2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Curry ◽  
Han Donker ◽  
Richard Krehbiel
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Land Claim ◽  
Treaty Negotiations

scholarly journals Delgamuukw v. British Columbia: When Aboriginal Voices of Law Were Finally Heard

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-36
Author(s):  
Reid Gomme
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Bad Faith ◽  
Canadian Government ◽  
Land Claim ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Indigenous Land

This essay analyzes the enduring impact of the case Delgamuukw v. British Columbia (1997), in which the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the original ruling by the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1997 upon appeal by members of the Gitskan and Wet’suwet’en peoples representing the Delgamuukw side. The case set strengthened precedent in Canada’s legal system for the use of indigenous oral history as acceptable evidence in identifying first nations land claims based on their ancestral accounts. As has been shown in more recent indigenous land claims cases such as Tsilhqot’in v. British Columbia (2014), this precedent is finally allowing some first nations communities a legal tool recognized strongly enough within Canadian legal systems, historically entrenched in European common and civil law approaches of justifying evidence, to gain more just land claims settlements. While actions by some levels of Canadian government, such as the British Columbian Liberal government’s 2001 popular referendum on the merits of indigenous land claims, have shown bad faith for the prospects of nation to nation land claim settlement negotiation, the pressure exerted on all levels of Canadian government by decisions such as Delgamuukw and Tsilhqot’in show promise in forcing a shift to more just land claim settlements in future disputes.

“Welcome In, But Check Your Rights at the Door” : The James Bay and Nis[vBar ]ga'a Agreements in Canada

2000 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Rynard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
James Bay ◽  
Aboriginal Rights ◽  
Treaty Negotiations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Significant Achievement ◽  
Final Agreement ◽  
The Relationship

The signing of the Nis[vBar ]ga'a Final Agreement in August of 1998 was an event of singular importance in the history of “First Nations relations” in Canada. It marked the completion of the first treaty negotiations in British Columbia in the twentieth century and will soon be followed by many others as nearly province–wide negotiations redefine the relationship between First Nations, the province and Canada. Given a political climate hostile to Aboriginal rights, the treaty is a significant achievement and deserves the support of fair–minded Canadians. It certainly does not “give too much” to the Nis[vBar ]ga'a Nation as its critics in the Liberal and Reform parties of British Columbia frequently assert.

Housing, crises and crime

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-46
Author(s):  
John Braithwaite
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Public Housing ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Housing Policies ◽  
Treaty Negotiations ◽  
Disadvantaged Neighbourhood ◽  
Neoliberal Policies ◽  
Just Society

A disappointment of responses to the Covid-19 crisis is that governments have not invested massively in public housing. Global crises are opportunities for macro resets of policy settings that might deliver lower crime and better justice. Justice Reinvestment is important, but far from enough, as investment beyond the levels of capital sunk into criminal justice is required to establish a just society. Neoliberal policies have produced steep declines in public and social housing stock. This matters because many rehabilitation programmes only work when clients have secure housing. Getting housing policies right is also fundamental because we know the combined effect on crime of being truly disadvantaged, and living in a deeply disadvantaged neighbourhood, is not additive, but multiplicative. A Treaty with First Nations Australians is unlikely to return the stolen land on which white mansions stand. Are there other options for Treaty negotiations? Excellence and generosity in social housing policies might open some paths to partial healing for genocide and ecocide.

scholarly journals Bringing Ethics Review Home to Cowichan: Indigenizing Ethics Review in British Columbia, Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cowichan Tribes
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Research Ethics ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Preterm Births ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Ethics Review ◽  
Research Ethics Review ◽  
United Nations Declaration

Cowichan Tribes’ territory, located in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, is experiencing an alarmingly high rate of preterm births compared to the national average of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. In response, and in partnership with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), Cowichan Tribes is in the first year of a 3-year study to investigate causes. Cowichan Tribes’ Elders and community members are guiding the study to ensure it follows Cowichan Tribes’ research processes and to support self- determination in research. Furthermore, as a way to enhance reconciliation, Elders and community members guided an on-site ethics review on Cowichan Tribes territory. This article outlines the collaborative, in-person research ethics review process that Cowichan Tribes, Island Health, and FNHA completed on August 21, 2019. The purpose of this article is to provide suggestions other First Nations could use when conducting a research ethics review, and to explain how this process aligns with the principles of ownership, control, access, and possession (OCAP®), the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and above all, the Cowichan snuw’uy’ulh (teachings from Elders).

scholarly journals Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13270
Author(s):  
Max C. Leveridge ◽  
Amélie Y. Davis ◽  
Sarah L. Dumyahn
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
New Ecological Paradigm ◽  
Relational Value ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Significant Difference

Cohabitation between humans and carnivores is vital to the continued existence and integrity of ecosystems, often playing a large role in the success of large carnivore conservation. We focus on interactions between humans and carnivores in the world’s largest, relatively intact temperate rainforest—The Great Bear Rainforest (GBR), British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, we focus on residents of Prince Rupert, a city within the GBR, and examine its residents’ ecological and relational attitudes towards the surrounding area of protected rainforest and the large carnivores present in the area. We aim to determine the strength of public attitudes and values of the environment and carnivores in the GBR, and to examine whether they differ between First Nations and non-First Nations residents of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. We conducted 28 semi-structured interviews of Prince Rupert residents. At the start of the interview, respondents self-administered a survey consisting of statements from the Social Ecological Relational Value and the New Ecological Paradigm scales. We find no significant difference between First Nations and non-First Nations respondent attitudes. This is possibly due to three factors: (1) cultural influence from the local First Nations, (2) the fact that these carnivores are important for the local economy through tourism, and (3) a strong sense of place associated with the area and the carnivores that inhabit it regardless of positive or negative encounters with these animals. While we find positive attitudes towards carnivores and little evidence of human–wildlife conflict, feelings towards carnivores encountered in town or while hiking tend to be negative, especially when they involve wolves. In order to mitigate these effects in a way that protects these valuable creatures, respondents overwhelmingly clamored for a conservation officer to be assigned to Prince Rupert. We conclude that policy and management might alleviate human–carnivore conflicts in the area should our results be corroborated by studies with larger sample sizes.

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