The Colony of Vancouver Island Founded 1849 The Colony of BC Founded 1858 due to the discovery of gold in the Fraser Valley (1850s) British see need to establish a colony to keep the area under British rule

Sir James Douglas BC Colonial Governor 1851-1864 Colonial Policies Responsible for dealing with land treaties with the first Nations, following the outlines of the Royal Proclamation (1763) Responsible for dealing with First Nation Land Treaties Sir James Douglas BC Colonial Governor 1851-1864 Joseph Trutch BC Colonial Governor 1871-1976

COLONIAL POLICIES- Douglas The Douglas Treaties He recognized Aboriginal title to land and treaty negotiations Douglas Treaties 1850-1854 14 treaties on Van. Island land surrendered for cash, clothing or blankets Aboriginals kept existing village sites and fields, rights to hunt and fisheries

Believed First Nations should have the same rights as British settlers Douglas fought to defend rights of First Nations land Believed First Nations should have the same rights as British settlers Encouraged FNs to pre-empt land European & American settlers did not like this  Why? Douglas’ policies weren’t all good… Valued the idea of assimilating Aboriginals into European culture Began creating “Indian Reserves” Area of land given to Aboriginals, but owned by the Crown He believed this would help the survival of the FNs Answer: Feared they would take the best land for farming Image: Aboriginal family at fort Victoria (assimilating to European culture)

PRE-EMPT To pre-empt land (known elsewhere as homesteading) was the main form of land settlement by immigrants in North America. In Canada, British subjects were given 160 acres of land free, as long as they cleared the land and started farming on it. During the Douglas administration, First Nations people were encouraged to pre-empt land, but after Douglas left, the laws were changed to forbid them from pre-empting. (87)

Colonial Policies: Trutch Succeeded Douglas as administrator of FN policies stated First Nations of BC never owned land contradicted Royal Proclamation 1763 and the Douglas Treaties Shared the same general feeling of settlers land was empty and free for the taking act of making reserves was a generous gift removed the right of First Nations to pre-empt land

Yes! Another Venn Diagram :D List the similarities and differences between how Douglas and Trutch dealt with and viewed the Aboriginal peoples in BC. Douglas Trutch