Occupying the Land - Digital Library Of The Commons

• Succession:: Territories and sites are held by hereditary or culturally bestowed rightand passed on through the predominant hereditary system or, in some cases, as a gift,in settlement of a debt or to erase a transgression. Whatever the case, ownership andrights to control were formally and ceremonially passed on or awarded. Usually titlewas reinforced during recurring cultural ceremonies like the potlatch, where allpresent became witnesses of the formal change or renewed claim to ownership.• Obligations and Responsibilities: Owners at every level of the system wereresponsible for care and perpetuation of all resources under their jurisdiction,including the people living and working there, who were free to move to other kinshiplocales where they might live better. Such obligations often meant that heirs wentthrough long term training for the position, learning history, diplomacy andstewardship traditions that went with the territory. Maintenance of ownership systemsrequired adherence to the above points as well as an understanding that punishmentfor any transgression was well known and might be severe.In fact, it is likely that these models are more widely representative; as pointed out byBerkes (1999), similar systems for land tenure linked with traditional use andmanagement were in place throughout North America as well as among indigenouspeoples in other parts of the world.Relationships Between Ownership and Resource ManagementFrom the beginning of their first contacts, early European visitors to the Northwest Coastreported large populations of aboriginal peoples in the communities they visited.Tragically, successive waves of smallpox, influenza, measles and other diseases unknownin this area at the time, swept through aboriginal nations, killing large portions of thepopulace, and often, according to anecdotal archival reports, all but decimating entirecommunities (Boyd 1990). And, as we review historical records from those earlier days,reconsidering previous studies that discounted these reports as the inflated exaggerationsof field personnel or simply dismissed as hysterical over-reaction to events (Daniels1992), we are now understanding that human populations were much greater thanpreviously believed.If we consider that in British Columbia, aboriginal population estimates have grown toanthropologist Robert Boyd’s conservative calculation of 100,000-plus (1990) orhistorical geographer Cole Harris’ suggested 200,000 to 400,000, both referring to thecoastal area alone, the environmental impact implications are immense. What effectwould the supplying of food, clothing, shelter and medicinal products for that manypeople have on natural systems? What would be the extent of cultivated areas for bulbs,rhizomes and other root foods? How many hundreds of burn-managed sites would berequired to provide adequate berry fruits, green shoots, and medicinal herbs, or to attractgrazers and browsers enabling efficient hunting strategies? Where does all the proteincome from to maintain these masses? As we have lately learned, mismanagement and theimprudence of over-harvesting can soon devastate resources. Clearly, extensive and18