Tsimshian testimony before the Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia (1913-1916)
Date
1981
Authors
Stuckey, Naneen Ethyl-Grace
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Abstract
This thesis presents an analysis of the testimony of the Tsimshian Indians before the Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia (1913-1916). The level of generality at which Indian concerns and points of view have been considered in the past is such that local and/or regional differences of opinion and interest have been left in obscurity. This thesis remedies, for the Tsimshian, this superficial coverage of what native people have said.
'Manifest content analysis' is employed to compartmentalize the testimony into manageable units for study. The focus of the thesis, however, is on the identification of the wide range of issues or topics which the Tsimshian considered worthy of discussion at the turn of the century. It is demonstrated that while aboriginal title and land claims were of paramount concern, those Indians addressing the Commission also had much to say about the reserve system, EuroCanadian expansion, the importance of land suitable for hunting, fishing, farming, and/or logging, and the desirability of 'White' versus traditional land ownership and economic activities.
The thesis also provides comparisons between and among the various Tsimshian interests and attitudes at the local and regional levels. It is apparent that whether or not a local group (village community) chose to assist the Commission significantly affected the results of the analysis. Hence the greatest similarities, in terms of the concerns and opinions expressed, a.re shown to exist between the cooperative local groups on the one hand and the uncooperative local groups on the other. At the regional level only the testimony of the Nishga reflects generally similar interests, opinions, and attitudes toward the Commission, and although the Nishga have frequently been presented implicitly in the literature as representative of 'British Columbia Indians', it is argued here that they are not representative even of other Tsimshian.
The thesis demonstrates that Tsimshian interests were neither narrowly nor vaguely defined even as early as the turn of the century. Moreover, it is shown that, contrary to the impressions given in the existing literature, the majority cooperated with the Commission, and that though dissatisfied, were not hostile.