First Nations - Land Rights and Environmentalism in British Columbia
 
     
 

"We were never conquered and we have never surrendered
the right to govern or be stewards of our traditional territories"

 
     
 

The website www.firstnations.eu documents in pictures with commentary the environmental havoc caused by European settler society to the pre colonial world of what is now known as British Columbia (BC). It argues that the road back to environmental sanity must go through the restitution of past wrongs to First Nations by means of strong support for their land rights over and against the continuing rapacious and short sighted destruction of primaeval forests, ancient trees, wild salmon runs, grizzly bear habitats, etc. The European First Nations website links political activism with the results of scholarly and scientific studies by juxtaposing historical images with representations of current affairs.

Caveat: no concensus exists on the exact number of ethnic groups and particular nations in BC, or on the boundaries of their homeland territories. The subdivisions used here are ad hoc. Disclaimer: strategies of dispossession of First Nations have included representing them in degrading ways. This website promotes a re-iconization of some of these illustrations by placing them in a new context to serve indigenous peoples.

 
     

Source:  www.firstnations.eu     Printed:

Copyright: All Rights Reserved. Researched, written, compiled, formatted, hyperlinked and encoded by Dr. Karen Wonders. Images and intellectual property rights reside with the credited owner. Commercial transmission and/or reproduction requires written permission. Use for educational and research purposes requires proper citation.