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Land Claims and Treaties

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First Nations people in button blankets at Quatsino Sound
First Nations people in button blankets at Quatsino Sound, 19-- Photo Credit: Ben W. Leeson (VPL #14079)

The Vancouver Public Library has extensive resources on B.C. Indigenous peoples' land claims, treaties and related topics. This guide is designed to help you begin your research and use Library resources effectively.

Building Effective Catalogue Searches

By Subject heading - region - subdivision:

By group:

Useful subdivisions are:

  • Claims
  • Government Relations
  • History
  • Land Tenure
  • Treaties

Note: Be aware that terms or forms of names used in cataloguing or in titles of books may be different from those currently in use. For best results, you may need to use a variety of search terms or forms of names.

Examples:

  • "Bella Bella" or "Heiltsuk"
  • "Nootka" or "Nuchalnuth"
  • "Indians" or "First Nations"

Useful Websites

Useful Website Description

Map of Indigenous territories in Canada.

Useful Website Description

Research guide from the X̱wi7x̱wa Library at UBC provides direction for finding maps and mapping resources created from Indigenous perspectives as well as other maps relevant to research on Indigenous topics.

Useful Website Description

Represents the interests of First Nations working to negotiate treaties throughout British Columbia.

Useful Website Description

A research manual created by the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.

Useful Website Description

Working towards the recognition, implementation and exercise of inherent Indigenous title, rights and treaty Rights.

Useful Website Description

Provincial treaty negotiations, interim agreements, the B.C. Treaty Commission, and publications.

Useful Website Description

The independent, neutral body responsible for facilitating treaty negotiations between Canada, British Columbia and First Nations in British Columbia. This site provides a calendar of treaty discussion meetings and locations, policies, newsletters, etc.

Useful Website Description

UBC site provides background on important court cases.

Useful Website Description

From Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

Useful Website Description

This map shows the approximate traditional territories of the First Nations which entered the British Columbia Treaty Process, as described in their statements of intent to negotiate a treaty.

Recommended Books

Cover Image for It Stops Here

George, Rueben

Call Number
305.897 G34i
Publication Year
2023
Cover Image for Beyond rights : the Nisga'a Final Agreement and the challenges of modern treaty relationships

Blackburn, Carole

Call Number
970.53 B62b
Publication Year
2021
Remote Media URL
Cover Image for Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call

Arthur Manuel

Call Number
970.41 M29u
Publication Year
2015
Remote Media URL
Cover Image for Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition

Glen Sean Coulthard

Call Number
970.5 C855r
Publication Year
2014
Remote Media URL
Cover Image for The Winter We Danced: Voices From the Past, the Future, and the Idle No More Movement

Kino-nda-niimi Collective

Call Number
c820.8 W78k
Publication Year
2014
Remote Media URL
Cover Image for Negotiating the Deal: Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements in Canada

Christopher Alcantara

Call Number
970.53 A34n
Publication Year
2013
Remote Media URL
Cover Image for Oral History on Trial: Recognizing Aboriginal Narratives in the Courts

Bruce Granville Miller

Call Number
970.5 M647o
Publication Year
2011

Digital Library Resources

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Newspapers and Magazines Subject Icon

Full-text access to over 500 BC and major Canadian daily newspapers. Some titles go back as far as the 1970s.

Access:
Everywhere for Vancouver residents

Northwest History Index

This card index in Special Collection provides access to the Northwest History Collection, a heritage collection covering the early history and exploration of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.

The collection includes:

  • magazine and newspaper articles
  • pamphlets
  • books
  • chapters in books
  • many other resources

As of August 1998, no new material has been added to the Northwest History Index. It is continued by the British Columbia Index.