Insights Into Métis History

Insights Into Métis History

This video was made to provide insights into the Métis people and their contributions to British Columbia. Western and Northern Canada had a unique political environment for 200 years. The Hudson's Bay Company was the legal government according to King Charles II Charter. Parliament tried several times to overturn the Charter and open the vast territory to settlement but it failed. It was only in 1858 when the West Coast statutory grant expired and finally in 1870 with the purchase by Canada that settlement could proceed.
James Douglas and the Colony of British Columbia

James Douglas and the Colony of British Columbia

James Douglas was part black, married to an aboriginal woman, he spoke the Chinook Jargon trade language and had already successfully opposed the legislature in Victoria which had wanted to remove the local Songhees reserve. He was appointed first Governor of British Columbia and he and Colonial Secretary Lytton established the Colony on two key principles:

  1. First Nations communities would remain permanently in place permanently. This was in opposition to what had happened just south of the 49th parallel where people were moved to distant reservations.
  2. Native people could preempt land privately off of the reserves but this land would also be available to new immigrants.
Government in Proto-British Columbia

Government in Proto-British Columbia

For 150 years the Nation State has been the dominant for of government. People today can hardly imagine anything else. But for most of history a host of other forms have thrived.

The Company State was both fully business and fully government. The Hudson Bay Company and East India Company were the largest. Between them they governed ten percent of the Earth’s surface and population.

Can You Speak British Columbian? Part II

Can You Speak British Columbian? Part II

Chinook Wawa is linked with the history of British Columbia. We might even call one form of it British Columbian.

Many languages lent words to Chinook Wawa: Nootka Jargon, French Canadien, Salishan Chehalis, and of course, Chinook.

We might even call one form of it British Columbian. Part aboriginal, part non-aboriginal, many words come from an earlier hybrid language – Nootka Jargon.

The Borders of British Columbia

The Borders of British Columbia

If British Columbia were a country it would rank 31st in size. BC is bigger than France and Germany combined. Four times the size of Britain. Almost three times that of Japan.
BC’s Deadly Smallpox Epidemic

BC’s Deadly Smallpox Epidemic

During the Cariboo Gold Rush, a ship with hundreds of miners from San Fransisco arrived in Victoria. One of them had smallpos. It takes 12 days to get symptoms and become infectious: the rip had taken four days. The infected miner shared a room with others who got sick.
Can You Speak British Columbian?

Can You Speak British Columbian?

Chinook Wawa is linked with the history of British Columbia. We might even call one form of it British Columbian.

James Cook and his midshipman George Vancouver sojourned at Nootka Sound. Their Nuuchahnulth word lists became a Nootka Jargon that spread through the Maritime Fur Trade.

Supported by Chief Concomly and the Chinook Nation, Fort George became the Canadian depot for Columbia furs. French-speaking traders married into Chinook families and learned a Broken Chinook.