A Short History of First Nations
When Captain Vancouver arrived in English Bay in 1792, more than 50 First Nations were living in what is now British Columbia, speaking about 30 languages from six distinct language families.
Exactly where each tribe lived, when they arrived, and how many members each had is all now a matter of some controversy, but evidence suggests that the area had been settled for some 10,000 years. One hundred percent of the province's land area is now claimed by one or more First Nations. Negotiations are proceeding slowly: One of the most important aspects of any claim is a band's oral tradition. The stories and legends about where a band came from, what lands it occupied, and how and where it gathered food are much more than just stories and legends; in certain circumstances they are considered the equivalent of legal documents, with their content and ownership a huge issue.
Living in the rainforest, all of these coastal peoples developed an extremely rich and complex culture, using cedar as their primary building material and, for food, harvesting marine resources such as herring, shellfish, and especially salmon. The richness of the local environment allowed these peoples ample surplus; their spare time was devoted to the creation of stories and art. Now undergoing a revival, coastal art, whether in wood, glass, or precious metals, usually depicts stylized figures from native mythology, including such universal figures as the Raven, or tribal totems such as the Bear, Frog, or Killer Whale.
The central ceremony of the coastal First Nations was and is the potlatch, a gathering of tribes held to mark a significant event such as the raising of a totem pole or the coming-of-age of a son or daughter. Invited tribes sing and dance traditional songs (which are considered to be their private intellectual property), while the host, both to thank his guests and to demonstrate his wealth, gives away presents. At the end of the 19th century, when First Nations culture -- supported by a flood of wealth from the sea otter trade -- reached unprecedented heights, potlatches could last for days, and chiefs would give away all they had.
The sea otter debacle aside (encouraged by American and British fur traders, coastal natives hunted sea otters to extinction along most of the coast), coastal indigenous peoples were exemplary environmental managers (many were instrumental in forming the blockades that prevented logging in Clayoquot Sound's old-growth forests in the 1980s and 1990s). Pre-contact, First Nations society was divided into a nobility of chiefly families, commoners, and slaves, the latter mostly war captives taken during raids.
In the years after contact, the coastal First Nations were decimated by diseases such as smallpox (it's estimated that some 10,000 people lived along the coastal waterways and all but 600 of them were killed by smallpox carried by white settlers), the loss of traditional fishing rights, the repression of traditional rituals such as the potlatch, and the forced assimilation into English-Canadian culture. In the decades after World War II, an entire generation of native children was forced into residential schools, where speaking native languages and learning native stories were forbidden. The 1970s saw the first steps toward a long and slow recovery. The term "First Nation" came into common usage in the '70s, replacing the word "Indian," which some regarded as derogatory. There is no legal definition of "First Nation," but the term "First Nations peoples" generally refers to all the indigenous peoples in Canada. Though still beset by problems, the First Nations communities are on their way back to becoming a powerful and important force on the B.C. coast.
