aC a Sole deol ROOT Eve yeni 74 - Friday, March 24, 1995 - North Shore News The following is the second part of an article on native land claims writ- ten by Burrard Band research officer Leah George. BEFORE CONTACT, First Nation populations were numerous. After contact and various diseases our popula- tions were decimated by at least 50%, and by other esti- mates, 80%. We had no immu- niiy to the new diseases that were brought here. First Nations were devastated. It would take rnuch to recover. By Leah D. George Contributing Writer The British Crown set out policy in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that recognized aboriginal title. Aboriginal land ownership and authority were recognized by the ‘Crown as continuing under British sovereignty. This policy meant that only the Crown could acquire lands from First Nations and only then by treaty, But there were no treaties . west of the Rockies except on Vancouver Island where © James Douglas made 14 purchases which became known. as the Douglas Treaties:. When the mainland was made-a colony’ in: 1858, there were no more treaties made, ‘Then’ the. Oblates of Mary Immaculate arrived in the’ 1860s. ey came and chose not to recog- “nize the social structures in place. They appointed their own chiefs or leaders. They forbade the speaking of First Nation language, banned the “songs and dances of our people and - saved the Indians, or so they thought. Individuals were punished for per- was forming ecremonies and worse, were publicly shamed. Tt was an attack on the structures that defined us a8 peo- ple: language. culture and tradition. When British Columbia joined Confederation in 1871, there was no mention of Indian title. In the terms of union with Canada, the province wanted the federal government to assume control of the Indians in the same “liberal” manner that the province had dealt with them, But this really meant that the province would never have to award any more than 10 acres per family for reserve - purposes. Meanwhile policy in the rest of the country meant that fami- lies in northern Ontario received at least 80 acres. per family. After the union. with Canada, the federal authorities had no power to compel the province either to acknowledge Indian title or to change the 10-acre formula for reserves. So for the province, the “Indian land question” settled, because Canada assumed responsibility for “indians and lands. reserved for Indians.” Canada became responsible for mat- -ters pertaining to Indians. Confederation then brought us the constraints of the Indian Act. It brought the “band” system of admin- istration, which was really an exten- sion of the federal officials, Band administrations became accountable to the federal government, not to their own people. And further, the governments banned the Northwest Coast potlatch, which was the centre of the social and political system. . Next, all First. Nations in the province were forced to send their children to residential schools. Schools, such as they were, put the emphasis on trade labor and not on education. In the school, the children were forbidden to speak their lan- guage, were separated from their i: SHYAM HIRA FOR RESULTS! ese tt LEAH GEORGE - — it is time for the federal government to deal with the land issue. families. and at times physically abused. In 1912, the federal and provin- cial governments agreed that a Royal Commission should re-examine the size of every reserve in the province. Even as the commission recom- mended ‘that the size of some reserves be enlarged, they also rec- ommended that valuable land from others be cut off. When the commission visited the Tsleil-waututh, our Chief George Sla-holt wanted his aboriginal title recognized, Of course it was not because the commission had no such mandate. On commission recommendation, the governments made reserve reductions without the consultation or consent of First Nations. To pursue recognition of title and the formation of treaties, the first province-wide First Nations organi- zation was formed, the Allied Indian Tribes of British Columbia. : Parliament’s response? 4 special joint committee held hearings in Ottawa in 1927, which dismissed the demands. ; Parliament subsequently amend- ed the Indian Act to make it iHegal _for Indians to raise or spend money to advance claims. This handily prevented First Nations from being able to pursue their rights politically and in’ the courts, In 1951, the. Indian Act was changed and the prohibitions of the pouatch and “land claims activity” were repealed. This ushered in the re-emergence of political activity in British Columbia. By the end of the decade, the Nisga’a went to court seeking a dec- laration that they had held aboriginal title to their land prior to coloniza- tion, and that their title had never been extinguished. Meanwhile,’ First Nations were not permitted to enter into the public school system until the late 1950s. We were not given the vote until 1960. In the early 1960s, more than half of our population lived well below the poverty line. When you are faced with sustaining your fami- ly, education becomes secondary and survival is primary. Our people were also facing .a shrinking resource, base, there was no longer a won- drous bounty. In. 1969, Jean Chretien came out with the infamous White. Paper Policy. This Liberal policy proposed throwing out the concept of status, the termination of the Department of ‘Indian Affairs within five years and the end of the special responsibility of the federal. government for the provision of services to Indians. It meant the end of Indian status as a legal concept. And in B.C., there was no land settlement. They wanted to end the fiduciary obligation the federal Crown has with the Indians without land settlement, What came in response was First Nations organizing on the provincial level. It is here that the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the B.C. Association of Non-Status Indians joined the ranks of other native orga- nizations already existing. In 1973, the Supreme Court of Canada went against the B.C. courts and sided with the Nisga’a in ruling that aboriginal title had existed in B.C. But the judges were split on the question of whether that title contin- ued to exist. It is here that the feder- al government brought in a “compre- hensive cldims policy.” Negotiations began with the Nisga‘'a in. 1976. Meanwhile the province continued its longstanding position of denying the validity of aboriginal title and did not join in those negotiations. In B.C. land was neither bought, sold nor ceded. The federal govern- ment must provide services in lieu of land taken. It is obligated through the Indian Act. This is why First Nations receive medical, dental and educational services. First Nations do not receive these services for free. -, Nothing comes free. First Nations . have paid a high price for these ser- vices. The federal Crown is obligat- ed, it has a fiduciary duty to First Nations. . First Nations aré not pressing for non-Aboriginals. to give. up their Property. Private property will not be an issue. There will be no indians on your. doorstep taking’ over ‘your house. 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