Home Partner News Media Releases Mainstream News Opportunities Multimedia Events April 24, 2024 British Columbia and the Haida Nation’s historic agreement recognizes Haida land ownership across the archipelago — and marks the first time a colonial government in Canada has recognized Indigenous Title outside the courts Twenty years ago, Geoff Plant, the then attorney general of British Columbia, made an offer to the Haida Nation. Many West Coast First Nations, including the Haida, had never signed treaties with the Canadian government ceding their traditional lands or resources, and Plant was trying to revive the faltering process of treaty making. He wanted to smooth over relations with Indigenous Peoples, but he also wanted to help the province extract more resources from Indigenous lands. To entice the Haida — a nation known throughout Canada for its political savviness and resolve — he had what he thought was a bold bargaining chip. Like many other officials, Plant viewed the B.C. government as the clear landlord of provincial lands, including those of the Haida Gwaii archipelago — 10,000 square kilometres of forested islands located roughly 650 kilometres northwest of Vancouver, and the Haida’s home for at least the past 13,000 years. So here was Plant’s pitch: the B.C. government would give the Haida control of 20 per cent of their lands, but that would require the nation dropping a title case it had recently filed with the B.C. Supreme Court. Title refers to the inherent right to own and manage Indigenous territories based on traditional use and occupation. The Haida maintained that their territory included all of the land area in the archipelago, as well as the surrounding airspace, seabed and marine waters. Read More: https://thenarwhal.ca/haida-get-their-land-back/
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