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2mo ago

B.C. Appeal Court Confirms Nuchatlaht Aboriginal Title Over More Than 200 Square Kilometres on Nootka Island

The court credited archaeological proof of exclusive occupation, signaling stronger legal protection for Indigenous heritage and old-growth cedar.

Members of the Nuchatlaht First Nation and supporters rally outside B.C. Supreme Court before the start of an Indigenous land title case, in Vancouver, on Monday, March 21, 2022. The lawsuit brought by the First Nation against the provincial government seeks to reclaim part of its territory on Nootka Island, off the west coast of Vancouver Island. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Canadian Rangers hike through dense underbrush on Nootka Island, circa 2006.

Overview

  • The B.C. Court of Appeal confirmed the Nuchatlaht First Nation holds Aboriginal title to over 200 square kilometres on Nootka Island off Vancouver Island’s west coast.
  • The three-judge panel said the trial judge misapplied the Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot’in test for sufficient occupation by using an arbitrary boundary and by wrongly limiting proof to village and reserve sites.
  • The appeal decision relied on physical and archaeological signs of long-term use, including thousands of culturally modified cedar trees, to find exclusive occupation for hunting, fishing, and gathering.
  • The ruling overturns a 2024 B.C. Supreme Court decision that recognized title to only 1,140 hectares, about five per cent of the area the nation claimed, including part of Nuchatlitz Provincial Park.
  • Nuchatlaht lawyer Jack Woodward said the decision sets a precedent that strengthens protection of archaeological sites and old-growth cedar forests and rebukes the province for neglecting First Nations heritage.