Description
Landing Native Fisheries: Indian Reserves and Fishing Rights in British Columbia, 1849-1925 written by Douglas C Harris, Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia, for the UBC Press series, Law and Society. Part history, part legal analysis, this book offers general readers and those interested in First Nations Studies, history, and the law a way of evaluating the years from 1849 and 1925 as it applies to the First Nations fisheries and reserves. The author draws parallels between the government policy of establishing Indian reserves within the province and the role of the government in establishing fisheries law and policy. The book is organized to assist understanding the issues surrounding First Nations land rights and rights to food fisheries. The government policy led to the loss of lands and access to traditional fishing areas for First Nations. Subsequently the First Nations were restricted to marginal workers in fishing canneries rather than owners, and lost this economic link when migrant workers supplanted them. The book clearly demonstrates the way government policies worked to deny First Nations access to land and fishery resources while opening up the province to other interests such as the commercial fishery, sports fishermen, and the canneries. The chapters are enriched by numerous maps and archival photographs.