British Columbia FIRST NATIONS (adapting to New Economies) You’re taking notes today…

First Nations in BC REview Humans have inhabited what is today British Columbia for at least 11,500 years. The Pacific Northwest had the greatest pre- contact population density in North America (outside of California) and almost half of the aboriginal population of present day Canada. This was thanks to the abundance of natural resources, such as salmon and cedar. Estimated pre-contact population: 80 000 BC is home to over thirty aboriginal languages.

Continued British Exploration 1808 Simon Fraser and his crew reached the mouth of the Fraser River at Musqueam. In 1811, David Thompson explored the Columbia River. Three month before he reached its mouth, the American Fur Trade Company of John Jacob Astor had founded Fort Astoria, arriving by sea.

Oregon Territory The staff at Fort Astoria sold the fort to the NWC within a year, who renamed it Fort George. After the HBC and NWC merged, the HBC established Fort Vancouver in 1824 as the new regional headquarters. The district south of the Thompson River was called the Columbia District, and the district to the north New Caledonia.

The Columbia District The treaty of 1818 between Britain and the United States gave each country open access to the Oregon Territory. Since the local First Nations were not interested in working as hunters and trappers, the HBC mainly employed Iroquois, Ojibwe, Scots, Métis and French- Canadians, as well as native Hawaiians, known as Kanakas. Supplies were brought to Fort Vancouver once a year from York Factory, along the “York Express”.

The York Express

1846 Oregon Treaty The US and Britain agreed to establish the 49th parallel as the border. The HBC headquarters shifted to Fort Victoria, which had been established in 1843.

The Colony of Vancouver Island In 1848, the same year that Oregon became a state, Britain created a crown colony on Vancouver Island. The HBC maintained its trading monopoly. The first governor was James Douglas.

The Douglas Treaties The Royal Proclamation of 1763 states that the crown must negotiate and sign treaties with indigenous people before land can be given to a colony. Between 1850-54, Douglas made 14 land purchases with members of the Esquimalt, Songhees, Saanich, Sooke, Nanaimo and Kwakiult nations. The treaties covered 930 km² around Victoria, Saanich, Sooke, Nanaimo and Port Hardy. First Nations kept their villages and fields, and the right to hunt and fish on surrendered land. In 1855, the colony had 774 settlers and 30,000 First Nations.

Fast forward to 1880s-1970s The major industries in BC were: 1. mining 2. forestry 3. fishing

Trade Unions and Fraser River Strike - First Nations became allies with non-Aboriginal people in trade union movement that fought for workers’ rights in the fishing industry - Fraser River strike was important for two reasons:

Fraser River Strike 1. It demonstrated that a labour force from diverse cultural backgrounds could work together toward a common goal 2. It established that the employers, the cannery owners, had to share some of their profits with the workers

Trade Unions - First Nations fishers found themselves in conflict with non aboriginal fishers because the trade unions never developed a united policy to recognize and lobby for First Nations’ Aboriginal rights and title - In 1931 the Native Brotherhood was formed by members of the Haida and Tsimshian nations. The purpose of this group was to work for the recognition of Aboriginal rights in hunting, fishing, trapping, and off-reserve logging activities

Farming Farming was made difficult for FNS because: - coastal First Nations had little arable land - interior FNS had discriminatory laws which favoured settlers - small land base - not allowed to pre-empt land - little capital to operate commercial farms

farming Seasonal work on farms in many ways suited the lifestyle of FNs better than running their own farms because they could continue with their seasonal activities. It fit their way of life!

Wage Based Economy As FNS became more involved in the wage economy, they often faced the difficult choice of: - staying at home on the reserve or local community, - or moving to an urban center where there might be more economic and educational opportunity

Wage Based Economy Changing to the wage-based economy affected FNS in the following ways: Families: - instead of the whole family working together on the production of food, roles of men and women often diverged, and they found themselves working together as a unit less often (men fished and women processed the fish at the cannery)  

Wage Based Economy Women: - primary role of processing food, such as the cutting and drying of salmon - had to spend most of the summer working for others and then try to maintain the same level of family food production when the work for their employers was done

Wage Based Economy Diet: - people moved away from their traditional diets to eat more Euro- Canadian foods - had to spend the cash they earned at grocery stores to fill the gap created by having less time for food production