Category Archives: Indigenous Nations History

Indigenous Nations History

Precolonial Forest Gardens and Orchards

Dr Chelsey Geralda Armstrong is an associate professor from SFU and the lead author of a paper, about the ancient forest gardens in Nuu-chah-nulth territory, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. While individual species do grow in the wild, forest gardens and orchards exhibit a sophisticated understanding of cultivation and are found adjacent to ancient village sites. In a related study, Armstrong and her colleagues wrote that forest gardens largely disappeared around the time of the smallpox epidemic that swept through B.C’s Indigenous communities more than 150 years ago.

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Indigenous Nations History

Tse’K’wa cave field school underway

By Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A new dig at the Tse’K’wa cave in Charlie Lake continues this month, with University of Northern B.C. students and community members from local First Nations already discovering flakes of stone tools through their field school.

It’s the first time in over 30 years that any archaeological research has been conducted at the historic site, picking up where Simon Fraser University professor and bone expert Dr. Jon Driver left off in the 1990s at the beginning of his career.  

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Indigenous Nations History

New archaeological dig planned at Charlie Lake cave site

By Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An ancient cave site at Charlie Lake will go under the shovel for the first time in more than 30 years this spring. 

The Tse’K’wa Heritage Society will host an archaeology field school at the national historic site from May 2 to June 10.

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History, Indigenous Nations History

 British Columbia: An Untold History – filmmaker nominated for Canadian Screen Award

Terrace Standard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Northwest B.C. based filmmaker Michael Bourquin has been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for his work on the four-part documentary, British Columbia: An Untold History.

Bourquin shares the nomination with his colleague Alfonso Chin in the category of Best Photography (documentary or factual) announced last week by The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

British Columbia: An Untold History has also been nominated for Best History Documentary Program or Series, Best Direction, Best Documentary Series, Best Editorial Research.

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Indigenous Nations History

Hul’qumi’num First Nations & the “Great Land Grab”

Originally published on Ramshackle Pictures (2014)

Robert Morales represents the six Hul’qumi’num First Nations (Cowichan, Chemainus, Penelakut, Lyackson, Halalt, Lake Cowichan), whose territories span the southeastern coast of Vancouver Island. These lands were almost entirely sold off by the Federal government in 1887 to coal baron Robert Dunsmuir, in order to finance the construction of the E&N Railroad from Nanaimo to Victoria, which enabled BC and Vancouver Island to join confederation and become part of Canada.

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