Taking It To the People – Whose Territory Are You On?

Since September I have lived and learned on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Hunqeminem speaking Musqueam people, and so have my roommates and neighbours. Through exposure from going to the longhouse, being raised in a First Nations family, and through my FNIS course I know whose land I exist on and I have an idea of the significance of what it means to live on non-treaty territory. The residents whom I talked to were from provinces in Canada outside of BC and lived on treaty territories before coming to UBC. They did not grow up in a First Nations family, they do not go to the longhouse, and they have never taken an FNIS class. So naturally, I decided that for my Taking It to the People project I would have a frank and non-judgemental conversation about treaty and about the territory UBC is located on with four of my fellow residents to find out what they knew and fill in gaps for things they didn’t know. Aubrey and Kendra, who are my roommates, both come from Alberta while Josh and Mac come from Ontario borderline Quebec. Aubrey is from Treaty 6 territory (Edmonton), Kendra is from Treaty 7 territory (Calgary), and Josh and Mac are from Treaty 9 territory (almost all of Ontario). We talked about the number of treaties there are in Canada and I heard suggestions from 9 to 73: there are only 11 numbered treaties in Canada. When we talked about what a treaty was only one person, Aubrey, had an idea about what a treaty was and gave a pretty decent description: an agreement between the government and a group/groups of Indigenous people. None of them knew though which treaty they had lived on for their entire lives. When the conversation moved to BC, watching the confusion and shock on their faces when I told them that BC has no numbered treaty was kind of remarkable. When the information sank in they started asking if that was why the Musqueam territory is called unceded. I told them they were spot and soon I was listening to them realise that because there was no formal agreement between the Indigenous groups of BC and the crown the land was unceded and virtually stolen. I was so proud. The group and I probably talked for about and hour and although it was a relatively short amount of time when talking about treaty, I think that they went away knowing more and had a better respect and understanding of where they came from and where they live now.