Nuchatlaht First Nation Media Coverage
Nuchatlaht ‘betrayed’ in Nootka land trial – Times Colonist
The lawyer for a B.C. First Nation challenging the province in a land rights trial says the government’s decision not to adjust the case based on its own new litigation directives “undermines the process of reconciliation.” Read more…
Nuchatlaht Town Hall Meeting in Vancouver, BC
On March 20th, the Nuchatlaht Nation held a town hall meeting in Vancouver, BC to discuss their landmark Indigenous title case against he BC Government to reclaim their territory on the northern part of Nootka Island. Click here to view
Nuchatlaht Courthouse Rally
On March 21st, 2022 the Nuchatlaht Nation commenced an Indigenous title claim against the BC Government. Click here to view.
Trial over rights and title of Vancouver Island First Nation Community enters second day – CHEK
A trial over the rights and title of an Indigenous community on the west coast of Vancouver Island is entering its second day in court. The Nuchatlaht Nation is fighting in the BC Supreme Court for recognition of its jurisdiction over more than 200 square kilometres of Nootka Island.
Lawyer Jack Woodward began arguments on behalf of the nation yesterday, saying the legal basis for the claim is a test for Aboriginal title set out in the Supreme Court of Canada’s precedent-setting Tsilhqot’in decision in 2014.
The case recognized the Tsilhqot’in Nation’s rights and title over a swath of its traditional territory in BC’s central Interior, not only to historic village sites. Read more…
B.C. Government disputes First Nation’s Land Claim – The Globe and Mail
The British Columbia government admits that members of the Nuchatlaht First Nation are descended from a historical Indigenous collective, but the lineage through a family of chiefs doesn’t establish Aboriginal title, a provincial lawyer says.
Jeff Echols told a B.C. Supreme Court trial Tuesday that the province disputes the nation’s claim to 230 square kilometres of land off Vancouver Island’s west coast. Read more…
Historical Land Title Trial – CBC (TV) – watch here
Historic land title case is about reconciliation and justice, lawyer for First Nation says – CBC
A lawyer for a tiny First Nation in B.C. kicked off the opening day of a historic Aboriginal land title trial Monday by calling on the judge overseeing the case to give his clients the justice they have been denied for centuries.
Jack Woodward told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elliott Myers that even the Crown’s experts agree the ancestors of the Nuchatlaht First Nation have been living off the west coast of Vancouver Island since at least the late 1700s. Read more…
First Nation heads to court Monday to assert claim to portion of Nootka Island – Vancouver Sun
Representatives of a small First Nation say they’re feeling confident as they prepare for Monday’s court case seeking Indigenous title to 200 square kilometres on Nootka Island, off Vancouver Island’s rugged west coast. Read more…
CBC Radio – listen here
Radio Canada – listen here
Global News (TV) – watch here
B.C. First Nation’s land rights claim is about reconciliation, lawyer tells court – Toronto Star
VANCOUVER – The lead lawyer in an Indigenous rights and title lawsuit used the words of British explorer Capt. James Cook in his opening arguments to prove the Nuchatlaht Nation’s claim to its territory on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Jack Woodward said that when Cook encountered Nuchatlaht people in the 1770s, he wrote in his journal that he had “nowhere met with Indians who had such high notions of everything the country produced being their exclusive property as these.” Read more…
The Nuchatlaht Legal Fight is a Big Deal. Here’s Why – The Tyee
As Archie Little anticipated the groundbreaking Indigenous title case that began in B.C. Supreme Court yesterday, March 21, he emphasized the phrase supporters are using to describe the legal battle between the tiny Nuchatlaht First Nation and the provincial and federal governments. We’re small, but mighty,” said Little, Nuchatlaht house speaker, confidently predicting the case will change the course of recent history for Nuchatlaht and also chart a path for other First Nations in B.C. hoping to lay title claim to their unceded territories. Read more…