IlahiStory

Read the 94 Calls to Action [pdf] published by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015. Look for one or a few which you can advocate for directly at your place of work or study, and for ways in which you can incorporate reconciliation into your daily ethos. There are several more reports published by the NTRC as well as testimonies from survivors. When sharing any content about residential schools and ongoing violence against Indigenous peoples, preface posts with a content warning (e.g. as an initial slide or preceding triggering content in a story).

This dissertation describes the results of ethnographic research on the wilderness tourist attraction known as the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It investigates settler-colonial views of and experiences in a space that is claimed by the Canadian state and is also part of the traditional territories of indigenous peoples. The entanglement of wilderness tourism and settler-colonialism is analyzed in the contemporary Canadian context where, it is argued, Canadian nationalism and indigenous reconciliation are in conflict. Particular attention is paid to the complex ways a space is constructed as wilderness (and therefore a-cultural and a-historical) through both material and representational actions of the settler-colonial state. The trail is a 75 kilometre backcountry hiking trail managed as the West Coast Trail Unit of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. It is co-managed by Parks Canada and the Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht and Pacheedaht First Nations. Fieldwork was conducted from 2013-2014, where the investigator based herself in the settler community of Bamfield and repeatedly hiked the length of the trail interacting with both visitors and locals. Qualitative data was collected through interviews and participant observation with both locals living on and near the trail and hikers recreating in the national park. This thesis posits that Canadian settler-colonialism venerates not only idealized images of a national landscape but also the active engagement with nature through recreation. It is contended that within this active, corporeal, and material engagement there is potential for challenges to static colonial narratives of wilderness that mask Indigenous territory.

— Salem

This thesis attempts to depict and analyze an area or time space in the life of two selected Coast Salish informants from the Musqueam Reserve. A series of interviews with the informants produced an extensive and comprehensive account of their work patterns, information on other closely related facets of the life style of the informants, and their relationship to various culture groups. Perhaps the most important features revealed are implicit — the informants' concepts of self in society. Through these texts a Native perspective of recent history can be seen emerging. This perspective is more evident in the verbatim transcripts than it would be in a closely edited text. The analysis attempts to demonstrate the relationship of work history to total life history, the importance of the culturally related patterns and cycles to work.

Amongst the important social problems today in both rural and urban areas, is the condition of inebriety. Although considerable research has been conducted on the condition of alcoholism, little has been undertaken on the condition of inebriety. It is an observable fact that, while members of some ethnic groups who drink substantially and frequently become inebriated, members of other ethnic groups who also partake of alcoholic beverages in substantial quantities do not experience inebriety. This suggests that the culture of the ethnic group determines the group's drinking patterns to a large measure, and that drinking patterns may be such that they lead participants to the condition of inebriety. In this thesis, I have attempted to examine drinking patterns of three ethnic groups in relation to several aspects of their cultural background. I devised and tested five hypotheses which are relevant to attitudes towards drinking, reasons for drinking, settings and times of the day in which drinking occurs. I have attempted also to examine Indian and Italian drinking patterns to determine to what extent each group matches or differs from Anglo-Saxon drinking patterns. The study was made on a comparative basis, and field work was conducted amongst three ethnic groups in the Greater Vancouver area during the summer, fall and winter, 1967-1968. The three groups are the Coast Salish Indians of the Mission Reserve, Immigrant Italians and Anglo-Saxons of East Vancouver. Data on the problem briefly outlined above, were sought through interviews with thirty representatives of each group, as well as by observations of members of the ethnic groups in their social drinking establishments. Two key informants in each ethnic group, as well as several pertinent documentary sources, were also consulted. The available data collected in the study suggested that the proposed hypotheses were valid. There appears to be a close relationship between the cultural background of an ethnic group and its drinking patterns. However, it needs to be stated that there were many inadequacies and limitations in the reference literature used, basic premises and hypotheses proposed, and research techniques employed. Data also suggested that there was a high degree of similarity between Anglo-Saxon and Indian drinking patterns and a high degree of difference between Anglo-Saxon and Italian drinking patterns. Additional and enlightening information which the data suggested was that many of the cultural aspects of the Indian group, particularly, are in a marked stage of transition.

The objective of this paper is to illustrate how the city came to have such a love affair with the Woodward's Department Store, and how this love affair has led to the building occupying a position of importance in the city of Vancouver. This thesis critically endeavours to argue that Woodward's has become important through the role of social memory, which is able to make and remake the idea of Woodward's, and through the social life of Woodward's objects. Here I use the term social memory to refer to the collective memory that people share about Woodward's, and also to the 'social' way through which this memory is formed. Not only is people's memory of the Woodward's Department Store social, as they remember the 'social'ness of what it meant to either work or shop there, but the objects associated with the building also have a social life, where their function, ownership and meaning have changed over time. Throughout this argument, I attempt to extract the meaning of the memories and memorabilia submitted to the Woodward's Memories Project, in order to outline the reasons why the building holds importance in the city. The story of how Woodward's came to hold such a place of importance in the city can be revealed from the 'social' aspect of both social memory and the social life of objects. Through Woodward's various functions and roles the meanings become entangled, representing the Woodward's building as an object, a memory and an agent of nostalgia. Because Woodward's was an integral part of Vancouver for generations, the store became rooted in the memory of the people and the city as a whole. This is evidenced not only by their memory of the department store but also by the current revitalization efforts of the Downtown Eastside, to which the redevelopment of Woodward's is key. By outlining the social capital of the Woodward's location as a heritage site, as well as of the Woodward's objects and the memories associated with them, one can finally begin to understand the true importance of the Woodward's Department Store to the City of Vancouver. This holds great importance for Vancouver, especially in this time of revitalization and redevelopment. Not only is the past brought to the forefront of a new project, but by tracing the social life of the building the new meanings and functions that the space served is revealed. This research represents a new part of the city's history which is important to document and share with the public. Aiding in understanding the Woodward's building, both in the past and present, the significance of this project extends beyond the scope of this thesis.

This thesis presents a participant's history of the development of the woodworkers' union in the Alberni Valley of British Columbia during the period 1935 to 1950. It is developed through Mosher's own accounts, which are treated as narratives, as the way of most effectively presenting his "insiders point of view". Mosher's interpretation, from his position as a logger, a local union leader, and a Communist Party member, adds to our understanding of the union movement by providing the perspective from the Left and information on the processes of unionization. In spite of the central position held by the union movement in the social structure of British Columbia, and the importance of the IWA within that movement, both have been under researched. Mosher's accounts are given in the context of the documentary history of the union movement and the IWA, and his narratives create a challenging interpretation in response to those established accounts. Comparisons are drawn between the interpretations of the same issues given by Mosher and by the documentary sources. Mosher's accounts express the themes and values important to his alternative history, such as the need for a union and the leadership role of the Communist Party in improving work conditions, which he claims has not before been acknowledged. This thesis is based on the assumption that there is no one true version of history. History is viewed as a process in which differing interpretations continually add to our overall understanding of a subject.

This thesis constitutes a sociological analysis of the establishment and operation of the Department of National Defence Relief Camp Scheme in British Columbia. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, unemployment reached unsurpassed levels, when the dependent Canadian economy could not export its primary resources. Faced with a fiscal crisis, the Canadian state was unable to support the dramatically increased number of destitute. The position of B.C. was particularly serious due to its economic dependence upon the export of raw resources. Thousands of single unemployed men who had been employed in resource industries, and for whom no adequate relief provisions were available, congregated on the west coast and became increasingly militant in their demands for 'work and wages'. The radicalization of this group was perceived as a threat that was beyond the capacity of usual state social control mechanisms. As a result, the Canadian state was obliged to undertake exceptional, repressive measures to contain these unemployed. This was accomplished through the Department of National Defence Relief Camp Scheme. Despite this extended state action, the dissident unemployed were not adequately suppressed, and the B.C. camps were characterized by a high level of militancy. The violent Regina Riot of July 1, 1935 served to break the momentum of the radical, single unemployed relief camp inmates. In 1936 the DND relief camp scheme was dismantled, and the single unemployed were dispersed. The DND relief camp scheme is examined in light of theories of the capitalist state and its role in society. It is concluded that the fiscal crisis of the 1930s rendered the Canadian state unable to mediate between the demands of the unemployed and the requirements of capital. The ensuing social crisis necessitated exceptional state coercion -- the Department of National Defence Relief Camp Scheme.

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh place names and history, a project courtesy of Kwi Awt Stelmexw

Western science finally catches up with the oral history of peoples who have lived here for at least 15,000.

In 2005, a well-preserved mammoth humerus (leg bone) was found while constructing a road along a hillside. It’s 17,000 years old and holds clues to the paleo-environment of the Pacific Northwest. 

The Kalapuyan tribes were about nineteen tribes and bands in three distinct areas, organized linguistically north, central, and south. They occupied the majority of the Willamette Valley with villages scattered along the rivers and streams of the valley.

Then the Great Spirit built a bridge over the big river. To each brother he said, ‘I have built a bridge over the river, so that you and your people may visit those on the other side. It will be a sign of peace between you. As long as you and your people are good and are friendly with each other, this bridge of the Tahmahnawis will remain.’

The Cascades are a remnant of a 40 million year-old chain of volcanoes from Alaska all the way down to Mexico. What happened to the rest of them?

Use Native-Land.ca's territory acknowledgement tool to quickly look up the Indigenous nations around you when you travel, or just to learn more about where you live.

Remember that time armed militants seized the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge?