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<aside> ℹ️ This acknowledgement recognizes that the University of British Columbia, Point Grey Campus (Vancouver), is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam People.
Traditional: the lands were traditionally used and/or occupied by the Musqueam people or other First Nations in Canada. Ancestral: the land is handed down from generation to generation. Unceded: the land was not turned over to the government (Crown) by a treaty or other agreement.
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Today, Indigenous issues in the Canadian political sphere involve ongoing projects and conflicts aroung land and language. While there is ongoing investment into the language (see Fast Facts), land ownership, governance, and use has become a much more prevalent issue (see land below).
The separation of Indigenous culture into land and language is reinforced by current Indigenous academic voices. Leanne Simpson has presented “Radical Resistance” as a method of cultural defense for Indigenous people. This functions by having indigenous groups return to their native land (with or without consent) and use their language regardless of government or legal pressures. This non-compliant behaviour is accompanied by education and opportunities for consent-giving that help to balance out the effort. Simpson discusses having conversations with land-owners to seek consent before going onto their land (although Simpson also states that they would do so anyway).
This page will provide summaries, accounts, and geographical representations of current Indigenous land and language in Canada. It will also discuss current conflicts to demonstrate how Indigenous groups and the federal government currently interact (see land contestation).
What is the current status of Indigenous land and how is it treated by the Canadian government?