![]() ![]() ![]() I thought with the Nuchatlaht … we have a new court, new government, new Supreme Court ruling - and I thought this could be done,” Woodward said.īut the case has been caught in pre-trial limbo for nearly three years as the province seeks to establish the Nuchatlaht’s abandonment of its territory, Woodward explained. “Tsilhqot’in was decided five and a half years ago and we haven’t had any new cases. ![]() That case, fought by Woodward, marked the first time in Canadian history that Indigenous title to land was granted. It is the first title case to be heard since a precedent-setting decision in 2014 granted the Tsilhqot’in First Nation rights to 1,750 square kilometres of its traditional territory near Williams Lake. In January 2017, expressing frustration with stalled treaty negotiations and extensive forestry operations that affected water quality and salmon runs, the Nuchatlaht filed its land claim in B.C. laws, giving industry - and in particular, logging companies - access to the land.Ī map showing the traditional territory of the Nuchatlaht First Nation’s traditional territory on the westcoast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. While the nation argues it maintained strong ownership over its traditional territory once European settlers arrived, in more recent history the land was parceled out under B.C. The Nuchatlaht’s traditional territory lies on the west coast of Vancouver Island, encompassing a large part of Nootka Island, Nuchatlitz Inlet and part of Esperanza Inlet. The declaration also recognizes the “urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples … especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources.”Īrticle eight of UNDRIP says governments must use “effective mechanisms” to prevent the dispossession of Indigenous lands and resources. Photo: Daniel Pierce New rules reinforce inherent Indigenous right to landī.C.’s new law acknowledges that UNDRIP’s principles are specifically written with concern that “Indigenous peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a result of … their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources.” Jack Woodward, lawyer for the Nuchatlaht. “I said to the judge that not only are these pleadings disgraceful, objectionable and distasteful, they are now illegal.” ![]() The lands were stolen and they were forcibly ejected,” Woodward said. “The province is completely wrong on the facts … They did not abandon Nootka. The province claims the Nuchatlaht do not have legal claim to their lands because the nation abandoned its territory, Woodward said. “It had its first test before the ink was dry.”īut Woodward - renowned for his role in drafting Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution, which enshrined Indigenous rights in the 1980s - said the newly minted law has meant very little to the Nuchatlaht case and arguments being used by B.C.’s lawyers in courts. “I was on my feet the day it came into force, so I could present it to the court,” Woodward told The Narwhal. government passed legislation embracing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in late November, lawyer Jack Woodward was in court representing the Nuchatlaht First Nation in a historic land title case. ![]()
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