As you read Joseph Gosnell's address to the British Columbia Legislature (below) consider how the Nisga'a land claim impacted the Nisga'a nation and its people. Consider the ways in which land supports self-governance.
December 2, 1998 Joseph Gosnell
Today marks a turning point in the history of British Columbia. Today, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people are coming together to decide the future of this province.
I am talking about the Nisga'a Treaty - a triumph for all British Columbians - and a beacon of hope for Aboriginal people around the world.
A triumph because, under the Treaty, the Nisga'a people will join Canada and British Columbia as free citizens - full and equal participants in the social, economic, and political life of this province, of this country.
A triumph because, under the Treaty, we will no longer be wards of teh state, no longer beggars in our own lands.
A triumph because, under the Treaty, we will collectively own 2000 square kilometers of land, far exceeding the postage-stamp reserves set aside for us by colonial governments. We will once again govern ourselves by our own institutions, but within the context of Canadian law.
It is a triumph because, under the Treaty, we will be allowed to make our own mistakes, to savour our own victories, to stand on our own feet once again.
A triumph because, clause by clause, the Nisga'a Treaty emphasizes self reliance, personal responsibility, and modern education.
A triumph, Madame Speaker and Honorable Members, because the Treaty proves, beyond all doubt, that negotiations - not lawsuits, not blockades, and violence - are the most effective, most honourable way to resolve Aboriginal issues in this country.
A triumph that signals the end of the Indian Act - the end of more than a century of humiliation, degradation, and despair.
In 1887, my ancestors made an epic journey from the Nass River here to Victoria's inner harbor.
Determined to settle the land question, they were met by a premier that barred them from the legislature...
Like many colonists of the day, Premier Smithe did not know, or care to know, that the Nisga'a is an old nation, as old as any in Europe.
From time immemorial, our oral literature, passed down from generation to generation, records the story of the way the Nisga'a people were placed on Earth, and entrusted with the care and protection of the land.
Through the ages, we lived a settled life in villages along the Nass River. We lived in large, cedar planked houses, fronted with totem poles depicting the great heraldry and family crests of our nobility. We thrived from the bounty of the sea, the river, the forest, and the mountains.
We governed ourselves according to Ayuukhl Nisga'a, the code of our own strict and ancient laws of property ownership, succession, and civil order.
But there were dark days to come.
We took to heart the promises of King George III, set out in the Royal Proclamation of 1763, that our lands would not be taken without our permission, and that treaty-making was the way the Nisga'a would become part of this new nation.
We continued to follow our ayuukhl, our code of laws. We vowed to obey the white man's laws, too, and we expected him to obey his own law - and to respect ours.
But the Europeans would not obey their own laws, and continued to trespass on our lands. The king's governments continued to take our lands from us, until we were told that all of our lands had come to belong to the Crown.
Still, we kept faith that the rule of law would prevail one day, that justice would be done...
In 1913, the Nisga'a Land Committee drafted a petition to London. The petition contained a declaration of our traditional land ownership and governance and it contained the critical affirmation that, in the new British colony, our land ownership would be respected. In the petition it said
We are not opposed to the coming of the white people into our territory, provided this be carried out justly and in accordance with the British principles embodied in the Royal Proclamation. If, therefore, as we expect, the Aboriginal rights which we claim should be established by the decision of His Majesty's Privy Council, we should be prepared to take a moderate and reasonable position. In that event, while claiming the right to decide for ourselves, the terms upon which we would deal with our territory, we would be willing that all matters outstanding between the province and ourselves should be finally adjusted by some equitable method to be agreed upon which should include representation of the Indian Tribes upon any commission which they might then be appointed.
Sadly, this was not to be the case...
How the world has changed. Two days ago and 111 years after Smithe's rejection, I walked up the steps of this legislature as the sound of Nisga'a drumming and singing filled the rotunda. To the Nisga'a people, it was a joyous sound, the sound of freedom.
What does "freedom" mean? I looked it up in the dictionary. It means "the state or condition of being free, the condition of not being under another's control: the power to do, say, or think as one pleases."
People sometimes wonder why we have struggled so long to sign a treaty?
To us, a Treaty is a sacred instrument. It represents an understanding between distinct cultures and shows respect for each other's way of life. We know we are here for a long time together. A treaty stands as a symbol of high idealism in a divided world. That is why we have fought so long, and so hard.
I have been asked, has it been worth it? Yes, a resounding yes. But, believe me, it has been a long and hard-fought battle. Some may have heard us say that a generation of Nisga'a men and women have grown old at the negotiating table. Sadly, it is very, very true.
We have worked for justice for more than a century. Now, it is time to ratify the Nisga'a Treaty, for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to come together and write a new chapter in the history of our nation, our province, our country and indeed, our world.
The world is our witness.
Be strong. Be steadfast. Be true.
B.C. Studies. No 120: The Nisga'a Treaty, Winter 1998/99, Retrieved from https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/1474/1518
As Joseph Gosnett's speech to the legislature illuminates, land has a very special and complex meaning to Aboriginal peoples. Read Value of the Land
Considering both Joseph Gosnett's speech and the reading you have completed, look back at your Icebreaker assignment and what you wrote about your place or location in the world and what it means to you. What are the similarities and differences in how you value land versus Aboriginal peoples? Is there anything you would like to now add, edit, change or delete from your posting? Why or why not?