Sponsor
Research for this paper was undertaken in part through a grant to NT from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#410-2000.1166 and others), and through the MCRI Coasts Under Stress Research project funded by SSHRC and the National Science and Engineering Research Council (Rosemary Ommer, P.I.). We are grateful to Tricia Gates Brown and Dr. Brenda Parlee for their editorial contributions and helpful suggestions for this paper.
Published In
Facets
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-14-2022
Subjects
Indigenous Peoples -- Culture -- British Columbia
Abstract
Indigenous Peoples’ lives, cultures, and values are defined largely by their long-term relationships with the lands, waters, and lifeforms of their territories. Their stories, names, ceremonies, and connections with the plants and animals on which they have depended over countless generations are cornerstones of their knowledge systems, systems of governance and decision-making, traditions of intergenerational knowledge transmission, and values and responsibilities associated with natural and human domains alike. For First Nations of North America’s Northwest Coast, as for many other Indigenous Peoples, the arrival of European newcomers disrupted both the natural world and associated cultural practices in interconnected ways. The industrial exploitation of lands and resources had wide-ranging effects: traditional land and resource appropriation; impacts on culturally significant habitats by industrial-scale fishing, logging, and mining; and discrimination and marginalization contributing to resource alienation. This paper documents some experiences of Kwakwaka’wakw and other Coastal First Nations in coping with the cultural effects of environmental loss. It highlights their concern for the ecological integrity of lands and waters formerly under their stewardship but reshaped by non-Native extractive economies, and describes how these losses have affected the cultural, social, and physical health of Kwakwaka’wakw peoples up to the present time.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2022 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1139/facets-2021-0092
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/37659
Citation Details
Dick, C. A., Sewid-Smith, D., Recalma-Clutesi, K., Deur, D., & Turner, N. J. (2022). “From the beginning of time”: The colonial reconfiguration of native habitats and Indigenous resource practices on the British Columbia Coast. Facets, 7(1), 543-570.