{"id":88,"date":"2014-06-13T19:40:24","date_gmt":"2014-06-13T19:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/?post_type=chapter&p=88"},"modified":"2014-09-02T15:15:59","modified_gmt":"2014-09-02T22:15:59","slug":"4-2-introduction","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/chapter\/4-2-introduction\/","title":{"raw":"Introduction","rendered":"Introduction"},"content":{"raw":"Archeological evidence shows that humans have inhabited the area now known as British Columbia (BC) for at least 10,000 to 12,000\u00a0years. The two most widely recognized routes\u00a0for the migration of humans into the region are along the coast and through an interior ice-free corridor.\r\n\r\nThe term Aboriginal<\/strong> refers to the ancestors of these inhabitants and includes the distinct subgroups of Inuit, M\u00e9tis and First Nations peoples.\r\n\r\nPre-contact Aboriginal\u00a0communities were located throughout BC in\u00a0three cultural regions identified as\u00a0the northwest coast, southern Interior, and northern Interior. These three cultural regions had dramatically different ecosystems to which indigenous people\u00a0adapted.\u00a0The southern Interior was the most climatically dry, the northern Interior the coldest, and the northwest coast the wettest and richest in terms of animal and plant resources.\r\n\r\nAlthough the pre-contact Aboriginal\u00a0population\u00a0may have numbered over 300,000,\u00a0by 1881\u00a0European\u00a0settlement had reduced Aboriginal population to an estimated 40,000.\u00a0In fact, increasing European contact and settlement from the 19th century until present has had a major impact on every\u00a0aspect\u00a0of Aboriginal life.\r\n\r\nThe 2011 National Household Survey found that 232,290 people identified\u00a0as Aboriginal in BC. This represents 16% of the total number of Aboriginal\u00a0people in Canada (1,400,685) and 5.4% of the entire BC population. The number of people self identifying as Aboriginal has increased significantly\u00a0since the early 1990s (1996 = 139,655;\u00a0 2001 = 170,020;\u00a0 2006 = 196,075; 2011 = 232,290) due to both increases in population and an increasing willingness of people (especially those over 35 and M\u00e9tis) to identify as Aboriginal.\u00a0Of the BC Aboriginal population,\u00a066.7%\u00a0identified as\u00a0First Nations; 29.9% as M\u00e9tis; and 3.4% as\u00a0Inuit, multiple Aboriginal identities or Aboriginal identities not included elsewhere (see\u00a0the table below).\u00a0The median age of the Aboriginal population in 2011 was 28.9 years, much lower than the\u00a042.2 years for the non-Aboriginal population in BC.\u00a0Most of the Aboriginal population live off reserve, with only 44.2% of the 112,400 First Nations people\u00a0with registered Indian status <\/strong>living on reserve.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_87\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"800\"]\"Figure<\/a> Table 3.1. NHS Focus on Geography Series \u2013 British Columbia[\/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile the majority of BC Aboriginals self identify as First Nations, the population is exceptionally diverse. For example, it includes\u00a0203 First Nations and over 30\u00a0spoken languages. According to the First Peoples Culture Council<\/strong> (FPCC),\u00a0over 60% of all First Nations languages are spoken in BC. However, the FPCC\u00a0estimates that\u00a0the percentage of fluent speakers of native languages among Aboriginal populations\u00a0declined to approximately 5.1%\u00a0in 2010. The interactive\u00a0First Nations Language Map of BC<\/a> [footnote]Interactive First Nations Language Map of BC http:\/\/maps.fphlcc.ca\/<\/a>[\/footnote] shows the historical and contemporary\u00a0spatial distribution of languages.\r\n\r\nDespite recent positive trends\u00a0of\u00a0health, employment status and educational attainment\u00a0indicators for BC's Aboriginal communities, the same indicators reveal that\u00a0off-reserve Aboriginal\u00a0people\u00a0continue\u00a0to trail non-Aboriginals. As we will see below, the difference in these\u00a0indicators\u00a0is inextricably linked to BC's colonial history of repressing Aboriginal access to traditional resources, Aboriginal political organization and Aboriginal cultural expression. The\u00a0historic failure to negotiate treaties\u00a0with First Nations has led to ongoing, contemporary efforts to negotiate a \"new relationship\"\u00a0that respects\u00a0Aboriginal rights and title as defined by the Royal Proclamation of 1763,\u00a0the Constitution of Canada and legal jurisprudence.\r\n

First Contact<\/h2>\r\nEuropean contact with Aboriginal people in BC occurred later than it did in Eastern Canada.\u00a0Initial contact occurred along coastal BC in 1774 when Spanish explorers sailed north from San Francisco and stopped at Nookta Sound, where they traded with the Mowachaht, part of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation. Four years later in 1778, British Captain James Cook stopped in Nootka Sound to repair his ship, staying for the better part of a month, where he initiated trade with the Mowachaht.\u00a0The motivation for exploration in the region at the time was the fur trade in sea otter pelts, which were highly valued in Europe and many parts of Asia, as well as the establishment of colonial sovereignty over the land.\r\n\r\nBy the early 1800s, overland European explorers in search of beaver pelts, mostly commissioned by the Montreal-based North West Company, made contact with Aboriginal people living in eastern BC. The routes they travelled followed established Aboriginal trade routes, often called \"grease trails<\/strong>,\" after the oil produced from oolichan fish, and extending from the coast inland.\r\n\r\nConflict over land arose as contact between Aboriginal peoples and settlers increased. In 1858 the Fraser River gold rush drastically increased European and American migration and settlement to BC, with 25,000 to 30,000 people entering the area.\u00a0The increase of settlers was matched by\u00a0increased conflict over\u00a0trespass\u00a0and land use.\u00a0Gold mining destroyed natural habitat, especially in freshwater marine environments, which in turn disturbed key food systems on a broader scale.\r\n

Attributions<\/h2>\r\n