Tangled Webs of History: Indians and the Law in Canada's Pacific Coast Fisheries

345 Pages·1994·18.975 MB·English

by  Dianne Newell

Tangled Webs of History
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DIANNE NEWELL
Tangled Webs of History:
Indians and the Law in
Canada's Pacific Coast Fisheries
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1993
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-0547-0 (cloth)
ISBN 0-8020-7746-3 (paper)
Printed on acid-free paper
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Newell, Dianne, 1943-
Tangled webs of history : Indians and the law
in Canada's Pacific Coast fisheries
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8020-0547-0 (bound) ISBN 0-8020-7746-3 (pbk.)
1. Fisheries - British Columbia - History.
2. Fisheries - Licenses - British Columbia.
3. Salmon fisheries - British Columbia. 4. Salmon
canning industry - British Columbia. 5. Indians
of North America - British Columbia - Legal status,
laws, etc. I. Title.
KEB529.5.H8N49 1993 343.711'07692 C93-094387-2
KF8210.H85N49 1993
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the
Social Science Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
FOR SKIP
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CONTENTS
Figures and Tables ix
Preface xi
ONE
Introduction: The Politics of Resource Regulation 3
TWO
The Aboriginal Salmon Fishery and Its Management 28
THREE
Indian Fishery Invented, 1871-1888 46
FOUR
Indian Labour Captured, 1889-1918 66
FIVE
Battling a Revolving Door, 1919-1945 98
SIX
Cast Adrift, 1946-1968 122
SEVEN
Rights Reconsidered: From the Davis Plan to Sparrow,
1969-1993 148
viii Contents
EIGHT
Vanishing Alternatives: Halibut and Herring 180
NINE
Conclusion: Indians versus Conservation? 206
Notes 221
Bibliography 255
Index 281
Illustration Credits 305
Illustrations following page 146
FIGURES AND TABLES
FIGURES
1 Indians of BC Pacific slope: language groups and
place names 12
2 Salmon canneries: Vancouver Harbour and Fraser River 16
3 Salmon canneries of the Nass and Skeena rivers 17
4 Salmon canneries: Vancouver Island and southern
outlying 18
5 Salmon canneries: north central outlying 19
6 Salmon canneries: Queen Charlotte Islands 20
7 BC canned-salmon pack (sockeye/other), by area
(Fraser/other), 1903-67 69
8 BC canned-salmon pack, by area (Fraser/Skeena/other),
1881-1956 104
9 Number of BC canneries licensed to operate for
the season, by area, 1934-73 105
10 Relative changes in the BC salmon-cannnery
work-force, 1918-46 111
TABLES
1 Population of BC coastal tribes, 1885-1984 21
2 Chronology of BC salmon-cannery districts by year of
initial site development, 1871-1966 68
3 Drag-seine licences issued in British Columbia,
1915-16 74