Shade, Jennifer Lynn2025-08-082025-08-082002https://hdl.handle.net/1828/22574Inequalities are being perpetuated in three of the four current types of Band membership codes used among First Nations in Canada. The focus of this study is on how traditional tribal/community membership was determined in Kwak waka’wakw/Laich-kwil-Tach communities in British Columbia before the Indian Act. Through the use of oral history as well as qualitative analysis, traditional methods of tribal/community membership are compared with the codes currently used to define and decide band membership in three specific communities. Current methods of determining band membership in most cases can be combined with traditional methods of determining tribal/community membership to form a membership policy that is conducive to the survival of First Nations people. There is also an examination of the impacts current band membership codes have on First Nations people and their communities.enAvailable to the World Wide WebThesis