IMPORTANT DATES

10,000 B.C. Earliest evidence of aboriginal civilizations in British Columbia. Archaeological evidence found at Soda Creek in the summer of 1995 was carbon dated at approximately 5,000 years old.

Pre-contact 30 million indigenous people in North America.

1492 Columbus lands in the West Indies.

1763 Royal Proclamation signed by King George III recognizes aboriginal title and rights to the land. To acquire land for colonization, treaties must be signed between the Crown and First Nations on a nation-to-nation basis.

1770s-1780s Captain Cook explores the west coast.

1774 Juan Perez Hernandez lands on Vancouver Island's west coast.

1778 Captain Cook explores the B.C. coast and established a British claim to sovereignty.

1793 Alexander McKenzie reaches the Interior British Columbia via an overland route.

1846 BC asserts their sovereignty through the Oregon Boundary Treaty.

1849 The Hudson Bay Company (HBC) are given an imperial grant to settle and colonize Vancouver Island.

1850-54 The Colonial Office directs James Douglas to purchase First Nations lands, first in his capacity as chief factor of the HBC, and later as the Governor of the colony. He arranges 14 purchases, now known as the Douglas Treaties, mostly on southern Vancouver Island.

1858-64 Gold seekers flood the B.C. interior in what would become known as the 'Cariboo Gold Rush.'

1860s Reserves are set aside in the Interior Cariboo. These first reserve allocations were larger than today's reserves.

1862-64 Smallpox wipes out nearly half of the Secwepemc bands. Six reserves are left with only a few members who relocate to neighboring bands to survive.

1867 The British North America Act creates Canada, giving the provinces jurisdiction and ownership of land and natural resources. Canada retains responsibility for Indians and lands reserved for Indians.

1871 B.C. joins Canada. At that time, the aboriginal people in the province were the majority and still had the right to vote. The first thing the new Canadian province, B.C., passed was the Qualification and Registration of Voters Act of 1872, which stripped First Nations of the vote in provincial elections.

1875 The Dominion government passes an order in council recommending that the BC government allot 80 acres of land to every Indian family of five persons. BC refuses, asserting that not more than 20 acres of land are required for each Indian family. A revised BC Land Act is passed, setting the 20-acre Indian reserve formula while providing 160-acre land grants for individual settlers free of charge.

1876 The Indian Act is created.

1881 Indian agency opens in the Cariboo.

1885 An Indian Act amendment prohibits the potlatch and sundance. The prohibitions were rescinded in 1951.

1887 The Nisga'a Nation begins pursuing its land claims.1888 Fisheries regulations restrict what Natives might do with their catch. They could fish for food but not for 'barter, sale or commerce'. The licensing system creates a native labor pool for the fish canneries, which are owned by non-natives.

1890 The Nisga'a Nation forms its first land committee.

1891 St. Joseph's Mission opens south of Williams Lake. Three generations of Chilcotin, Carrier and Shuswap are taken there in an attempt to assimilated them into 'good British subjects.'

1899 Treaty 8 (covering Saskatchewan's north, Alberta and part of northeast B.C.) is signed with Beaver, Cree and Slavery people. Until the Nisga'a treaty in 2000, it is the last treaty signed in B.C.

1906 Squamish and Nisga'a delegations travel to England with a petition.

1910 Interior tribes in B.C. meet in Spences Bridge to present their views to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, then Prime Minister of Canada, on wanting to settle the land and aboriginal rights issue. The following tribes are involved: the Nl'kapmux, Stl'atl'imx, Okanagan, Tsilqht'in, and Secwepemc. The tribes signed the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Memorial. Laurier promised to take Native issues to privy council for resolution, but his defeat in the 1911 election ended that initiative.

1916 The Allied Indian tribes is formed. Member tribes include the Coast Salish, Wuwutsun, Nisga'a, Tsimshian, Haida, Gitxan, Nuxalk, Tsilhqot'in, Dalkelh, Kaska Dena and Ktunaxa Kinbasket.

1916 The McKenna/McBride Commission rule that the size of existing Indian reserves could be unilaterally reduced if Ottawa obtains consent from the Natives, and that other lands could be added. Land that are cut off happen to be the most desirable for ranchers, farmers, developers and towns that want to expand. The Natives withhold consent, stating the lands to be added are practically worthless.

1920 Ottawa enacts Bill 13, which overrides the need for Native consent. Canada passes the B.C. Indian Lands Settlement Act, which pursues the McKenna McBride Commission's recommendations. Next came Bill 14, which empowers the enfranchisement or removal of any Natives from 'status' who fight in the World Wars or work and lived off reserve.

1927 Aboriginal people are prohibited from raising money or retaining a lawyer for the purpose of pursuing land claims.

1951 An Indian Act amendment removes major prohibitions against Indians. Canada recognizes that Indians desire greater control over their lives. Some provisions allow for more Indian involvement in decision making. However, Canada's control over Indian lands and property, money, local government and Indian status remain.

1960 Indians are granted the right to vote in federal and provincial elections.

1969 Trudeau and Chretien's White Paper advocates the abolition of Indian status and the assimilation of First Nation people into the larger Canadian social fabric.

1973 The Calder Case is heard at the highest court of Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada recognizes the existence of aboriginal title in principle. The Court ruled that aboriginal title is rooted in the 'long time occupation, possession and use' of traditional territories.' Canada initiates a Comprehensive Claims process for treaty negotiations across Canada.

1975 The first modern treaty agreement under the new process is the Cree and Inuit of James Bay.

1975 The Williams Lake Department of Indian Affairs office in closes.

1982 The Canada Constitution Act recognizes and affirms existing aboriginal and treaty rights.

1985 The BC Native Women's and national women's organizations long hard fight results in Bill C-31, which sees women and children who have lost their status, as well as those who were enfranchised, regain their status.

1990 The "Sparrow Decision" is handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada, which lays down an aboriginal right to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes, with only conservation being a priority above the domestic aboriginal fisheries. This decision is likely the reason that B.C. decides to enter into negotiations with Canada and First Nations.

1990 B.C. joins ongoing federal treaty negotiations with the Nisga'a Tribal Council.

1991 Chief Justice Allen McEachern of the B.C. Supreme Court rules that aboriginal rights in B.C. were extinguished by pre-Confederation legislation.

1993 B.C. Court of Appeals overturns the McEachern decision, stating that undefined aboriginal rights continue to exist.

1993 B.C. Treaty Commission is established to negotiate land issues.

1993 Four Cariboo Tribal Council chiefs file a 'letter of intent' to enter in treaty negotiations with the federal and provincial governments.

1997 The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples releases its final report. It blasts Canada's comprehensive claims policy and recommends a policy that recognizes Aboriginal rights and enhanced revenue-sharing and decision-making.

1997 The Cariboo Framework Agreement is reached to move the Cariboo Tribal Council into the Agreement-in-Principle stage (stage 4) of tripartite negotiations in the BCTC treaty process.

1997 The Delgamuukw decision is handed down. Chief Justice Lamer affirms the existence of aboriginal title as burden against Crown sovereignty. However, the court does not decide on Gitksan or Wet'suwet'en title and orders a new trial. Chief Justice Lamer suggests that each side should negotiate in "good faith."

2000 The Nisga'a sign a Final Agreement that BC Premier Glen Clark hails as a template for all future treaties to be signed in British Columbia.

2002 BC holds a referendum on the principles of BC treaty negotiations and whether to continue in the treaty process.

2004 The Taku River and Haida court decisions are handed down, thus re-affirming the Delgamuukw decision which stated that aboriginal people must be consulted and accommodated on decisions that impact their integral way of life, through which title may still exist.

2005 The Hupacasath decision is handed down, overturning the provincial minister's decision to allow Brascan to reduce the amount of land on their Tree Farming License and to turn their lands into private lands. Whereas the Haida Nation and Taku River decisions did not obligate industry to consult and accommodate First Nations, Hupacasath makes it clear that any decision the minister makes with regards to the issuance of licenses, permits and tenures to industry that effects integral First Nations rights must be done with First Nation involvement.

This site was developed by Cary Morin (NSTS Public Relations/Communications Coordinator) with the assistance of Emoda Design. Any use of any materials from this site must be done with the expressed approval of the Northern Shuswap Treaty Society.

Northern Shuswap Treaty Society ©2006

To complete a webform to update your band info, then click here.