Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation (M4-3)

http://www.gov.bc.ca/arr/

This is the website of the British Columbia Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.  On this website, information about certain aspects of Provincial – Aboriginal relations can be found, such as news releases and photographs of events in B.C.

Important and/or useful links from this site are:

• Treaties and Negotiations (Provides links to current Final Agreements; general background information about the treaty process; and links to other negotiations in B.C.)
• Economic Development (Provides information about government-funded economic initiatives aimed at sustainable aboriginal economy; discusses the First Citizens Fund initiative; and gives a basic outline of training opportunities available)
• Social Programs (Describes in general, various social initiatives put forth by the government, including housing, health, grants and education services)
• Cultural Programs (Describes the First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Council (FPHLCC), and provides a link to their website)
• Cross-Government Aboriginal Programs and Services (Provides links to other government ministry sites)
• Guide to Aboriginal Organizations (A pdf document with the same title is available from this page, including a guide to services for Aboriginal people, language pronunciation guide, and hotlinked resources)

This website would be useful in collecting general information about B.C. Government-First Nations relations, and would be a good starting place for research into this or any related issue.  I came across this site in search of solid information about language policy and indigenous languages in B.C., and I have to say I was disappointed to come up short.  The FPHLCC site, however, provides a great deal of information about languages in B.C.