April 9, 2007
One Hundred Years of Occupation for the City of North Vancouver
In light of recent talks from friends who are involved in the celebrations around the 100 Years of North Vancouver, I wanted to know more about what was going on. Numberous events and celebrations happening, the biggest that caught my eye was the history being explored within the city. After look here, I'd like to add a better history for people in North Vancouver.I am Sḵwxwú7mesh, the Indigenous people who have resided in this land for time immemorial. When asking many residence of North Vancouver, one can ask and say, "How many' people parents were born in North Vancouver?" A few would raise hands, a few would not. When asked "How many' peoples grandparents were born in North Vancouver?" A few less would raise their hands, a few more would not. When asking my people, it's not a matter of grandparents, but generations, life-times, era's. When the Pyramids of Egypt, the philosophers of Greece, or the Colosseum's of Rome were being built, my people lived in this land. My people thrived off this land. We are the people of this land, always have, and always will. 100 years is a very short time, but as guests in this territory, one hundred years is one hundred years of relationship, or communities, of peoples.
On Oct 7th, 1764, the Royal Proclamation became law. It required that the colonies make treaties with the Indigenous peoples they were settling on. After years of thievery, corrupt negotiations, and asshole tactics, the KKKanadian government moved past the middle provinces, and hit British Columbia. Realizing that there were numerous nations, peoples, languages, cultures, and etc, they feared they would loose money with the construction of the national railway. The loss of time and construction would mean lost of money and less investors in the country. There we also fear of Amerikkka would expand over Canada with their ideals of "Manifest Destiny". Instead of actually doing anything with the Indigenous, they passed the Indian Act, pulling together all previous laws and protocols relating to Indians, and decided all the Indian in Canada, included the ones not under treaty in British Columbia, are under the domain of KKKanada. This is a massive land steal, which allows for the development of North Vancouver on stolen, unceded, unsurrendered, Indigenous land.
(Under Section Twenty-Five of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Royal Proclamation is still law. To this day, KKKanadian officials, corporations, and people break this law. See 2010 Olympics, Caladonia Land Dispute, Harriet Nahanee's death, Gustafsen Lake etc.)
In 1881, the the District of North Vancouver is incorporated. The Most important Settler property own in the North Shore is "North Vancouver Land and Improvment Company". With Edward Mahon as President and James Cooper Keith as key shareholder, they come to steal most of the lots in Sḵwxwú7mesh along the North Shore.
Also in the 1980's was the talk of another Bridge at the first narrows in Burrard Inlet. Some white folks were againt the construction for their reasons. Many also saw it as necessary in order to open up development on the North Shore, and more development and theft of Indigenous land. Alfred Taylor, who was apart of the previous proposal for the Lion's Gate Bridge, but owned the provincial franchise to build one, did not have the finaces to contruct the bridge, but the stolen land sections in North Vancouver and West Vancouver. He then interested the Guiness Family in investing in the land on the North Shore. They purchased the stolen land, 4'000 acres, of West Vancouver. This put a lot of support behind the construction of the bridge. A bridge built for a white wealthy family to get to their land, on occupied territory, by passing and old village of xwmelch'stn. A massive project used for a family to get home. On January 20, 1955, the Guinness family sold the bridge to the province for $5,959,060.
The construction also led to another massive land steal from the Provincial government. Where reserve lands had been handed out to Indians, the Provincial government decided this land (where the bridge was to be built), needed to be used for the bridge. They thus say "We're taken the land we said was yours, but isn't anymore, because we say so." These become the cut-off lands and eventually return these reserve lands came decades later.
It's a short settler history of North Vancouver. North Vancouver didn't exist prior to colonization of my peoples homeland and inclusion of my peoples history into North Vancouver (pre-contact history), would me we are North Vancouver. We are in North Vancouver, as we are in Canada.
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An interesting centennial project would be to sift through the City and District of North Van archives to find the documents that gave title to the original settlers. That would make for interesting reading.
I didn't realize I had posted it twice, one with the new paragraph I forgot to add. But, I've fixed it now.
Chris - that would be an interesting project. I know there was a lot of political scandal around the times back then with land and colonization, but to find out the people who actually were given title. That, and finding the names of all the Indian Agents and Oblates that oppressed my people would also be an interesting find.
Chris - that would be an interesting project. I know there was a lot of political scandal around the times back then with land and colonization, but to find out the people who actually were given title. That, and finding the names of all the Indian Agents and Oblates that oppressed my people would also be an interesting find.