From the late 1700s to the mid 1800s, devastating First Nations' population declines occurred throughout B.C. due to disease outbreak and armed conflict as a result of the arrival of European settlers.
Although the Douglas Treaties stipulated that the First Nations people would be able to continue land based ceremonial and subsistence practices, the creation of Indian Reserves led to the encroachment of non-Natives within traditional resource harvesting locations and ongoing projects of civilization that led to land degradation [REF].