"Reel History: A Collection of Vancouver First Nations Audio Resources" is a unique collection of audiotapes produced on open reels at Langara College, Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), during the 1970s. Many of the resources are original lectures by prominent local historians, researchers, or interviews with local First Nations personalities that took place as part of the college's BC Studies Program. The recordings selected for this collection are varied and rich, dealing with issues such as: self-government, education, social services, urban life, legends, and biography. Some of the audio resources have accompanying visual materials associated with them. The audiotapes have been digitally reproduced for this project and mounted on a Web site. Wherever possible background information and supporting materials have been added to the collection.
The lectures and interviews in this collection provide important primary
source material for BC Studies research. BC First Nation's
people have lived in what is now called British Columbia for
thousands of years. The First Nations people of BC
cover the entire province of BC from its furthermost reaches in the North to the lower mainland
and Vancouver Island. They are a people with a rich heritage
dating back thousands of years, long before European settlers came
to BC. BC's Native people are a culturally creative society and have been the province's largest contributors to world culture (Fisher, 1992).
There is no written record of the First Nations people of BC before the time of contact with Europeans (Johnston, 1996: 13). Traditionally the First Nations societies of BC transmitted cultural history orally through their elders in the form of songs, stories, and dances. This oral history is an important and reliable historical record which has proven to have a remarkable consistency with the written accounts of early European visitors to the province (Wickwire, 1994: 10). In the same tradition the audiotapes in this collection are part of the oral history convention. Recorded lectures or interviews like the ones in this collection, are important because they often create a record where none previously existed or shed light on existing information. Oral history is considered by many to be a kind of living history that is often deeper and richer than the written word.
A history of BC's First Nations people has been constructed from a combination of the archaeological record, oral traditions, and the accounts of European settlers. The history of BC's First Nations peoples is typically divided into four periods by BC Studies researchers: Pre-contact, the Fur Trade Period (1774-1849); the Colonial Period (1849-1871); and Post-Confederation (1871).
Archaeological evidence suggests that the ancestors of First Nations people have lived in BC since the last ice age, ten to twelve thousand years ago (Johnston, 1996: 12). These original inhabitants lived as small bands scattered around the province. There is evidence that they had knowledge of stone tools, hunting and fishing, small-boat building, and hide working (Johnston, 1996: 40). While not a great deal is known about these early British Colombians, evidence suggests that they had a fully evolved cultural system and remained relatively stable until European contact (Johnston, 1996: 48).
In the beginning Europeans mostly ventured to BC to trade furs (Duff, 1964: 60). The first significant contact with Europeans occurred in 1778 when Captain Cook and the crews of the Discovery and the Resolution took up residence at Nootka Sound. Cook and his men spent one month with the First Nations people living there. When they left they took with them sea otter pelts which they later traded overseas for large sums of money. This is how the Maritime Fur Trade began (Fisher, 1992: 2).
Aside from the establishment of some shore posts, maritime fur traders did not settle in BC. It wasn't until the land-based fur trade began that the first trading forts were built on the coast (Fisher, 1992: 24). The two largest players in the continental fur trade were the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company (Knight, 1996, 58). The North West Company established the first permanent fur trading post at McLeod Lake in 1805 (Fisher, 1992: 25).
Researchers and scholars of BC History are not entirely in agreement as to the effect this period had on the Native peoples of BC. Some historians believe that the Fur Trade stimulated First Nations people to new growth because with the fur trade came new wealth, new materials and new ideas (Duff, 1964: 61). As evidence they point out that during this time the arts & crafts, trade & technology; and the social and ceremonial traditions of First Nations people were brought to new peaks of development (Duff, 1964: 61). Other historians argue that the destructive influences of contact with Europeans such as disease and alcohol were devastating for First Nations culture and society, and that the fur trade began a regime of non-native power in BC (Harris, 1997: 31) with few benefits to the native peoples.
The arrival of colonists raised a new set of problems to do with ownership of land that has complicated relations between the natives and non-natives of BC ever since (Duff, 1964: 85). Sir James Douglas, the first governor of BC, developed the first policies for the ownership of land. Douglas made fourteen treaties with the tribes during his time as governor. These treaties purchased Indian ownership rights in return for land and material goods (Knight, 1996: 77). The treaties provided on average ten acres of reserve land per Native family; virtually none of the Indian treaties negotiated by other provincial governments or the federal government provided so little (Knight, 1996: 77). This period had a significant effect on the government policies of today (Duff, 1964: 89).
Canada's Indian policy was different from BC's, and many First Nations people hoped that BC's entry into Confederation with Canada in 1871 would bring about significant changes; however, this simply did not happen (Fisher, 1992: 175). Native peoples were mostly underrepresented in the negotiations that took place prior to Confederation (Fisher, 1992: 175). The only avenue available for the First Nations People to improve their situation was through self-help; however, this road was often blocked by settlers (Fisher, 1992: 178). Federal legislation known as the Indian Act was applied to the First Nations people of BC at the time of Confederation. This act created a special status for Native peoples that applied special rights and restrictions to them (Kew, 1990: 162). In 1884, an amendment to the act prohibited the important Native ceremonies - the Potlatch and the winter dance (Fisher 1977: 207). The native people of BC were also subject to a number of provincial laws, Native peoples were prohibited from homesteading land and provincial public services were not extended to the reserves (Kew, 1990: 162). During this period, BC's First Nations peoples needs continued to be ignored by the government (Fisher, 1992: 175) while the traditional culture eroded away (Fisher, 1992: 175).
In the 1960s the federal government began making improvements in its policies towards First Nations people; particularly in the areas of education and employment (Kew, 1990:165). At the same time a number of Native organizations emerged. By the mid-1970s a number of regional band organizations were formed, called tribal councils. These groups have concentrated mostly on lobbying for change at the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and in assisting bands to provide services to Native communities (Kew, 1990: 167).
In addition to these political developments there has been a notable cultural resurgence among the native people of BC (Woodcock, 1990: 253). The traditions of the Native Peoples have re-emerged and the First Nations people have recovered their self identity; asserting their culture, their traditions, their heritage, as well as their right to land (Fisher, 1992: 176) with new pride.
Duff, Wilson. The Indian History of British Columbia: The Impact of the White Man. Victoria, BC: Provincial Museum of Natural History and Anthropology, 1964.
Fisher, Robin. Contact and Conflict: Indian-European Relations in British Columbia, 1774-1890 . Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 1992.
Harris, Cole. The Resettlement of British Columbia: Essays on Colonialism and Geographical Change. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 1997.
Kew, J.E. Michael. "History of Coastal British Columbia Since 1849" . Handbook of North American Indians. Ed. Wayne C. Suttles. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1978.
Knight, Rolf. Indians at Work: An Informal History of Native Labour in British Columbia 1858-1930. Vancouver, BC: New Star Books Ltd., 1996.
Johnston, Hugh J. The Pacific Province: A History of British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 1996.
Wickwire, Wendy. "To See Ourselves as the Other's Other: Nlaka'pamux Contact Narratives". The Canadian Historical Review. Volume LXXV No. 1, March 1994, pp. 1-20.
Woodcock, George. British Columbia: A History of the Province. Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 1990.
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