This course will introduce students to First Nations’ perspectives on traditional land use and explore the protection of treaty and aboriginal rights in the face of escalating resource extraction activities. Students will review the history of treaty-making in Canada and look at the modern-day treaty-making process in British Columbia. Critical court decisions on First Nations rights, as well as current land-use conflicts and agreements involving competing interests in the land will be discussed. The course will focus on the cumulative impacts of the forestry, oil and gas industries on Treaty 8 First Nations’ ability to exercise their treaty and aboriginal rights within their traditional territories.

Lecture Hours: 45