The Secwepemc Nation in BC - GIS and Traditional Knowledge

The traditional territory of the SIMPCW and Secwepemc people of the Shuswap Nation is found at the head of the North Thompson River in British Columbia. A small group of these people has found a way to combine new technologies with traditional knowledge for the benefit of their community and nation.

In 1993, a few members of the Shuswap Nation had the opportunity to receive some training in GIS, the Geographic Information System. GIS isn't one system but the combination of data sources about geography like satellite imagery, mapping and even traditional knowledge brought together through the power of computers. It might not seem like a big deal, but working with GIS it becomes very easy to place lots of information on a map. Why is this important? Well, the Shuswap know.

Using this technology, the members of the SIMPCW GIS Team, as they are called, have been able to make maps which contain information about all the different ways their people have traditionally used the land. Using these maps, the team can help determine the impact of any new development on their trap lines, fishing waters etc. For instance, if the band council wanted to develop some of the mineral resources on its land, the proposed roads and mining site could electronically be placed on top of the GIS developed map of traditional land use, and any conflict with trap lines or sacred grounds avoided.

The SIMPCW GIS team developed their maps by consulting Elders and other people who know about their traditional territory. From these consultations they create a database which can then be combined with other information like existing satellite images and databases such as the Fish and Fish Habitat Inventory Program maintained by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The team has undertaken contracts for both government ministries and their own band council.

GIS is only one of the many growing uses of computer technology in Native communities. In other places computers are used to sell the work of local artisans around the world, or even run online casinos. While computers are a relatively new technology they can be combined with traditional activities for the benefit of the community.

Haida Gwaii, Haida Nation - Islands of the People

One hundred kilometers west of the northern coast of British Columbia (and 600 km north of Vancouver), on the very edge of the Pacific continental shelf, lies a group of 200 islands. Since 1787, this archipelago has appeared on maps under the name of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Queen Charlotte was the wife of wife of George III of England). The people of the Haida nation, who have lived there for thousands of years, call their land Haida Gwaii or "Islands of the People."

It is estimated that at one time the Haida people numbered close to 30,000. Contact with Europeans was devastating; small pox and other diseases killed about 95% of the islands' population. Today, approximately 4,000 Haida live on the islands. Most of the population live on Graham Island which has two fairly large towns - Skidegate in the south and Old Massett in the north. Sandspit on Moresby Island is home to about 600 people, and is the only community in the archipelago not on Graham Island.

Far off shore, surrounded by the northern Pacific, Haida Gwaii is the most isolated land mass in Canada. It can only be accessed by boat, ferry or airplane. But the ocean currents around the islands have provided the people there with an abundance of forest and ocean-based resources which have sustained them for at least 9,000 years. Since the 1930s, the islands' economy has been based on forestry and commercial fisheries. With the decline in fish stocks and the need protect old-growth forests, the Haida have begun to develop their economy in new directions.

More than half of the BC sea lion population live in the waters around the Haida Gwaii; more than a quarter of the nesting seabirds in the Canadian Pacific are supported by the islands; and, the forests of Haida Gwaii contain some of the largest trees on the planet. In 1993, the Government of Canada and the Council of the Haida Nation signed the Gwaii Haanas Agreement to protect the unique wildlife, plant life and heritage of the islands. Gwaii Haanas National Park covers the southern part of the archipelago and is a protected heritage site. It includes the remains of Skung Gwaii which, with the agreement of the Haida, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (a United Nations organization) in 1981.

Gwaii Haanas and Skung Gwaii are staffed by Haida Watchmen who ensure that tourists respect the sites and the wildlife. They are part of a growing tourism industry on the islands, which is contributing to local economic development. To further support tourism and local education in Haida culture, the Haida plan to build a new $10 million cultural centre near Skidegate. Among other things it will house a museum containing a large portion of world-renowned Haida artist Bill Reid's work.

This article was written based on information at the following websites:

The Nisga'a Nation - Negotiating Land Claims

The Nisga'a people of northwestern British Columbia have lived in the Nass River valley for more than 10,000 years. Traditionally, they lived off of the abundance of the land the Creator had given them: hunting, fishing, trapping and trading their goods with other villages and nations. When they made contact with Europeans, the Nisga'a numbered about 8,000 people and had several thriving communities. As in other areas of Turtle Island, smallpox and measles, European diseases for which the Nisga'a had no immune defenses, were devastating to their population; by 1900 only about 800 Nisga'a people remained. Despite the injustices of residential schools and bans on their traditional cultural practices like the Potlatch, this small group of people survived and grew. Today, there are 6,000 Nisga'a people around the world. About half still live in four villages near the Nass River.

Lately, the Nisga'a have been making international headlines; they have just negotiated the first modern-day treaty between an Aboriginal nation and the governments of Canada and British Columbia. It is the first treaty ever signed west of the Rocky Mountains and is a goal they have been working towards for more than 100 years!

The Nisga'a never gave up their title to the lands on which they traditionally lived. In 1887, Nisga'a Chiefs paddled into Victoria Harbour and went to the BC Parliament houses to demand recognition of their title and negotiation of treaties with the BC government. They were turned away by the province's premier. Three years later they created the Nisga'a Land Committee. Its job was to campaign for the reinstatement of territorial rights and self-government. Over the years, the Nisga'a tried several times to have the law recognize that they had never given up any title to the lands of the Nass River valley. It was only in 1973 that the Judges of the Supreme Court of Canada agreed with them, and that was when the federal government decided to start treaty negotiations with the Nisga'a people.

The Nisga'a Agreement, was initialed by everyone involved in the summer of 1998. In November 1998, the Nisga'a people held a referendum in which they voted overwhelmingly to accept the terms of the treaty. It now has to be approved by the provincial government in BC and the federal government in Ottawa.

Once it receives final approval, the treaty gives the Nisga'a people title to about 2000 square kilometers of land, including the natural resources on and below those lands. They will have the right to negotiate their own contracts, to make laws regarding culture, public works, traffic and transportation, land use, marriage, health and child welfare. The Nisga'a will also have their own police and court system, although they have agreed to abide by the laws of Canada and British Columbia and to pay taxes. Within the agreement, the Nisga'a have recognized that non-Native people living on Nisga'a land should have a voice in issues which affect them and so certain public bodies, like those to do with health, will have seats set aside for non-Natives.

Over the next 15 years, BC and Ottawa will transfer just over 190 million dollars to the Nisga'a as part of the treaty settlement. Much of this money will be used for education. Nisga'a Chief Joseph Gosnell has described the Agreement in this way,

"…clause by clause, the treaty emphasizes self-reliance, personal responsibility and modern education. It also encourages, for the first time, investment in Nisga'a lands and resources and allows us to pursue meaningful employment from the resources of our own territory for our own people. It gives us a fighting chance to establish legitimate economic independence, and to prosper in common with our non-Aboriginal neighbours in a new and proud Canada."

This article was written based on information found at the following web sites: