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Historic Vancouver Island land deal prompts human rights claim

As a group of Island First Nations awaits a landmark ruling from an international human rights body, their chief negotiator is taking the opportunity to reach out to the public about how international law could bridge an important gap in land dispute

As a group of Island First Nations awaits a landmark ruling from an international human rights body, their chief negotiator is taking the opportunity to reach out to the public about how international law could bridge an important gap in land disputes.

Ladysmith lawyer Robert Morales will speak on indigenous land rights under international law at the University of Victoria on Thursday, part of the Centre for Co-operative and Community-Based Economy series.

“In a nutshell, the recognition of indigenous peoples’ land rights didn’t exist during the time of discovery. It was a different mindset,” Morales said.

He will touch on cases around the world but focus mostly on one here at home: The Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group’s petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights over thousands of hectares of land given away by the provincial government in the late 1880s.

It’s a history most Vancouver Island residents likely never learned.

In a deal to promote development on the Island, the federal and provincial governments included about 109,000 hectares of traditional First Nations land in a parcel granted to coal baron Robert Dunsmuir for a railway in 1867. This became the E&N Railway.

The land stretched from Ladysmith to Victoria and covered territories of six local nations, the Hul’qumi’num, who were not consulted or compensated in the deal. The Hul’qumi’num includes Cowichan Tribes, Lake Cowichan First Nation, Halalt First Nation, Penelakut Tribe, Lyackson First Nation and Stz’uminus First Nation.

“Sadly, that was the mindset back then. Indigenous [people] were seen as inferior and heathens,” Morales said.

While a land claims process was later established, the problem for the Hul’qumi’num is that the two levels of government will not negotiate transfers of or compensation for private land. The land is now owned by three major logging companies — Hancock Timber Resource Group, TimberWest Forest Corporation and Island Timberlands.

“This goes beyond land rights,” Morales said. “The cultural loss of these territories is immeasurable. They were spiritual sites, hunting grounds, communities.”

Local First Nations now face gates, trespassing threats and a constant stream of clearcuts in the area. “The devastation to the area is considerable,” he said.

This has brought together a variety of human rights advocates, environment, church and citizen groups to see the land protected. If the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights rules in favour of the Hul’qumi’num, it will issue a report and recommendations for resolving the case.

Ana Maria Peredo, director of the Gustavson School of Business and Centre for Co-operative and Community-Based Economy, said it was important to include an aboriginal perspective in the program. Promoting co-operative business practices with different cultures is crucial, she said.

spetrescu@timescolonist.com

Robert Morales speaks 4 p.m. Thursday in the Cornett Building, Room A120.