Occupying the Land - Digital Library Of The Commons

email to Nives Dolsak and Elinor Ostrom, co-chairs at Indiana U cc. "Fikret Berkes" IASCP 2000 Conference,ABSTRACTOccupying the Land: Traditional Patterns of Land and Resource Ownership amongFirst Peoples of British ColumbiaNancy J. Turner and James T. JonesSchool of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria,Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2 Canadaphone (250) 721-6124; FAX (250) 721-8985; email: A frequent misconception of early European settlers in what is now British Columbia wasthat the Aboriginal inhabitants were not really using most of the land, did not reallyoccupy very much of it, and held no real concepts of ownership for either the land or itsresources. This perspective was encouraged among the newcomers, who otherwise mighthave had to restrict their own desired occupation of the land and conform to existingcodes of ownership.In fact, First Peoples throughout the region had well developed concepts of territory,occupancy and proprietorship over lands and resources with firmly embedded protocolsfor resource use and distribution within and among families and communities. Theseconcepts varied from one cultural group to another, and access to some areas and primeresources, such as salmon streams and important root gathering and berry picking areas,were more closely controlled than others. In all cases, however, traditional proprietorshipwas inextricably linked with responsibilities of the owners for stewardship and sharing ofresources.We provide examples of different cultural models of land and resource ownership,ranging from communal control of territory at the tribal level for Salishan peoples, tomore specifically focussed hereditary ownership and control of lands by clan chiefs, aspracticed by the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw, Haida, Nisga’a and other NorthwestCoast peoples. The implications of these systems of ownership for resource sustainabilityare also discussed. The systems have been largely disrupted from the imposition ofEuropean law and property systems, but they still exist, and with new arrangements forland tenure deriving from Treaty Negotiations, they may be reinstated to some extent inthe coming years. There is a good potential for improving contemporary resourcemanagement through incorporation of some of these traditional models of land tenure anduse.30