The Monopoly System of Wildlife Management of the Indians and the Hudson's Bay Company in the Early History of British Columbia

Abstract

During the centuries before the white man's arrival in British Columbia, the native peoples, belonging to ten linguistic groups and numbering from 8o,ooo to 125,000,* developed a system of land tenure that provided the base for effective management of major animal, fish and plant resources needed for a livelihood. Because this system lasted well into the European/Canadian fur-trade era, there is considerable documentation of it and of the monopoly wildlife management practised by the Indians of British Columbia at the time of contact. Each of the ten Indian language groups divided into several bands or tribes who separately held a generally well-defined territory, the sover­ eignty of which was recognized by neighbouring tribes. Tribal territory, in turn, divided into hunting territories and fishing sites, the possessor)7 rights of which were held and strictly guarded by a clan, a smaller family group or even an individual. Usually these rights were handed down from one generation to another. This monopoly control provided the essential conditions upon which the efficient management of important resources could be implemented. The recorded evidence of Indian owner­ ship of hunting and fishing grounds in British Columbia covers the entire province.3