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.