(The following article is from the December 1-31, 2007 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.

PV Vancouver Bureau

The Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) First Nation in central British Columbia has won a major legal battle in the long struggle to defend their land and way of life. In a precedent-setting decision, Justice David Vickers of the B.C. Supreme Court ruled on Nov. 21 that the Tsilhqot'in people have proven Aboriginal title to approximately 200 square kilometres in and around the Nemiah Valley, south and west of Williams Lake. Justice Vickers said he could not make a declaration of title, since the Tsilhqot'in had presented an "all or nothing" legal demand for their full claim area of 440 sq. km. But he stated that aboriginal title had been proven through "continuous and exclusive occupation" in almost half the Claim Area, and urged the province to negotiate on that basis.

     The trial lasted 339 days, during which 29 Tsilhqot'in witnesses gave evidence, many in their native language. More than 600 exhibits were entered, including one containing over 1,000 historical documents. The evidence proved conclusively that the Tsilhqot'in have never surrendered their traditional territories to Britain or later to Canada.

     "The court has given us greater control of our lands. From now on, nobody will come into our territory to log or mine or explore for oil and gas, without seeking our agreement," said Tsilhqot'in Chief Roger William. "The court recognized that we have proven title in about half of the Claim Area - and from today we accept our renewed responsibility and powers of ownership of those lands."

     Justice Vickers ruled that the Tsilhqot'in people have aboriginal rights, including the right to trade furs to obtain a moderate livelihood, throughout the entire Claim Area. He also found that B.C.'s Forest Act does not apply within Aboriginal title lands, and that the province has unconstitutionally infringed the Aboriginal rights and title of the Tsilhqot'in people since B.C. joined Canada in 1871. Parliament, he ruled, has also failed to uphold its constitutional responsibility to protect Aboriginal lands and Aboriginal rights.

     In contrast to the rest of Canada and the United States, colonial governments did not make treaties with First Nations in most of British Columbia. Instead, they simply denied that indigenous people own their lands, to allow easier access to resources for corporations and ranchers. About 95 per cent of the province has been considered provincial-controlled Crown land, including surface timber and underlying mineral resources. But most of these lands are subject to claims of aboriginal title.

     While the ruling may be appealed, it marks the first Canadian court decision in favour of aboriginal title. The lawsuit began as an attempt by the Tsilhqot'in to block large-scale commercial logging on their traditional territory. The Vickers ruling is a breakthrough for First Nations, since modern-day treaties in British Columbia have averaged about 5 per cent of the traditional territories claimed, plus cash compensation. In this case, the Crown had accepted the band's claims to aboriginal rights to hunt and fish in the valley, without conceding title.

     "This is an absolutely critical decision and it may have significant ramifications for treaty negotiations," Shawn Atleo, B.C. Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, told the Globe and Mail in an interview.

Found at: https://peoplesvoice.ca/articleprint08/05__TSILHQOTIN_NATION_WINS_HISTORIC.html