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Historic timeline
- 1. Historic Timeline Edited2014. Original presentation developed by Kitselas Treaty Office, July 2012
- 2. • We havetried to continue to be active, viable partners in the development of BC since the arrival of non-aboriginal people • Earliest written records show that this began in the 1700s with missionaries from Russia, and fur traders from Europe. Although this most likely began much earlier. • At this time we traded and maintained good relationships with visitors to our lands Credit: National Archives of Canada, A-022556
- 3. D #23005 Credit:National Archives of Canada, C-140172 1700s 1763 the Royal Proclamation of King George II recognizes Aboriginal title and rights to land While this is recognized by the British Crown, on the North American continent this promise is not held 1792 Captain George Vancouver charts the coast of BC, more trading ships begin to venture inland With the arrival of more trading ships, links with coastal and inland fur traders are solidified D #23005 Credit: National Archives of Canada, C-140172
- 4. 1800-1850 1830 aware of the spread of new disease, the HBC begins inoculating Native people against smallpox throughout what is now known as Canada The epidemic reaches BC in the 1860s, thousands die from smallpox. 1 in 3 aboriginal people die in the epidemic 1843 HBC begins laying down boundaries in BC This lays the foundation for how land and territories will be parceled out to non-aboriginal peoples
- 5. 1850-1860 1858 British government passes an act establishing direct rule on mainland BC. James Douglas, the first governor of BC, maps Indian Reserves 1859 William Downie claims the Skeena pass in Gitksan territory as a route for the Pacific Railroad, soon after more extensive exploration begins along the Skeena River This railroad corridor is still used today
- 6. 1860-1900 1864 Joseph Trutch replaces James Douglas. He reduces size of reserves and implements discriminatory ‘Indian’ policies, denies existence of Aboriginal rights This perception does not change until the 1970s 1867 Constitution Act Section 91(24) says Canada is responsible for Indians and Reserve lands for Indians I-56070 Credit: British Columbia Archives
- 7. 1860-1900 1876 Indian Act imposed 1880s Government begins to remove aboriginal children from their homes, placing them in Residential Schools Schools begin to phase out in the 1960s, the last one closes in the 1990s
- 8. 1860-1900 1884 Parliament outlaws the potlatch, the primary social, economic and political express of most Native cultures on the Northwest Coast 1887 Tsimshian and Nisga’a Chiefs travel to Victoria to press for treaties and self-government. They are turned away. “Since the arrival of the first Europeans in the Nass Valley, the Nisga'a nation has attempted to negotiate on numerous occasions and to sign a treaty relating to their land claims. In the mid 1880s, aboriginal leaders started making representations to the authorities. However, their efforts met with no success for several decades, because the leaders at the time refused to recognize the aboriginal titles to the land they were claiming” Right Honourable Ghislain Fournier Manicouagan, QC speaking in front of Canadian Parliament
- 9. 1900-1930 1915 McKenna-McBride Commission re-evaluated reserve lands and resulted in significant changes to reserve lands in BC. Local First Nations were a part of this Commission making passionate pleas to have their lands restored. Their concerns were dismissed.
- 10. 1900-1930 1927 Canada makes it illegal for Aboriginal people to organize to discuss land claims or raise funds to hire a lawyer. Resistance moves underground
- 11. 1931-1950 1931 Tsimshian and Haida form Native Brotherhood to secretly discuss land claims and form protests on fishing, lands, taxation and social issues. “…we suffer as a minority race and as wards, or minors without a voice in regard to our own welfare. We are prisoners of a controlling power in our own country – a country which has stood up under the chaos of two world wars, beneath the guise of democracy and freedom, yet has enslaved a native people in their own home land.” ~ Jack Beynon, Tsimshian, Port Simpson, 1931 1949 Native men allowed to vote provincially, native people can vote federally in 1960
- 12. 1950-2000 1951 Canada amends the Indian Act, removing the anti-potlatch and anti-land claims provisions 1973 through the Calder Case, the Supreme Court of Canada rules aboriginal title did exist prior to contact, but is split on whether it continued to exist in the present Credit: CBC http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/features /first-nations/mapping-the-future/pack- 10-key-dates/index-10keydates.html
- 13. 1950-2000 1982 Constitution Act recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and treaty rights 1984 Tsimshian Tribal Council (TTC) is formed, representing the 7 Tsimshian groups in the Northwest 1990 The 7 Tsimshian groups enter into modern-day treaty negotiations 2004 Tsimshian Tribal Council disbands. Treaty negotiations continue with Kitselas, Kitsumkalum, Kitasoo, Hartley Bay and Metlakatla as part of the Tsimshian First Nations Treaty Society
- 14. The future TheTsimshian Nations could have Final Agreements, ushering in a new era of political and socioeconomic opportunity free from the bounds of the Indian Act