On a stretch of the south arm of the Fraser River, in the Vancouver area, the Cowichan Tribes in centuries past had an annual summer fishing village, a place they defended with a warrior ethos against other Indigenous groups.
But in the mid-1800s, the Cowichan – whose home territory is on Vancouver Island – were displaced from that village as the British took control and, after British Columbia joined Canada, the land was sold over the years.
Today, the land is occupied by an array of owners. Part of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and other industrial operations are there. There’s a golf course and private homes with small farms, along with a span of infrastructure such as roads and dikes. In a Globe and Mail analysis of property assessments, land and buildings in the area are worth more than $1.3-billion.
It’s an insane ruling.
