For people living on Vancouver Island, and anyone living on the coast, we are accustomed to the vast ocean views, an abundance of fresh fish, crisp salty air, and creatures small and large who call the sea and coastline home. We’ve come to expect winding rivers flowing with clear, cold water, newly spawned salmon, and rocky bottoms. We swim in the lakes that feed those rivers, full of life, and nourishing the surrounding ecosystems with nutrients and water. All these interconnected bodies of water we are so familiar with are life-giving, sustaining, and cleansing. Despite dwindling salmon populations, the rise in ocean temperatures, and rivers and creeks drying up, it’s still easy to take for granted our access to seemingly pristine waters of the West Coast.
It is hard to imagine losing access to the ocean, rivers, and lakes we know so well. For Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation, this is already a reality. Except they didn’t lose access to these sources of life; it was taken from them. Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation’s hahoothlee (territory) is located on the Northwest coast of Vancouver Island, and their recent legal challenge seeks recognition of Aboriginal title to approximately 430,000 hectares of land, including lands submerged underwater, that they have deep connections with.
For thousands of years, Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation have maintained their connection to the water, depending on it for their way of life, culture, and commerce. As members of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, they follow the core values of hisukʔis cawaak (everything is one), ʔiisaak (respect with caring), and ʔuuʔaaluk (taking care of). However, with colonization came the immense disruption of Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation’s way of life.
Background on Submerged Lands
Like other First Nations, the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation are pushing for the recognition of their Aboriginal title to submerged lands.
Multiple Nations have taken on the work of protecting and reclaiming stewardship of water territories. For example, Heiltsuk Nation, one of RAVEN’s active campaigns, is seeking Aboriginal title to their near-shore and seabed territory. This will be one of the first times this issue will be litigated in a Canadian court. Currently, colonial jurisdiction over coastal waters in B.C. has been divided between the Federal government and the province. Heiltsuk’s case, if successful, will set a legal precedent for Aboriginal title to the foreshore and seabed.
In a 2023 case brought by the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, in which Heiltsuk Nation intervened with the support of RAVEN, the Ontario Court of Appeal decided that Aboriginal title to submerged lands is possible. This allowed the Saugeen Ojibway Nation to return to the Superior Court of Ontario to provide more evidence to establish title to the beds of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. In turn, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, supported by RAVEN, intervened in the Saik’uz case at the B.C. Court of Appeal, where they argued for the reversal of a decision that suggested Aboriginal title to submerged lands is not possible due to ships, boats, and other vessels having a right to navigate on the water above. The B.C. Court of Appeal held it did not need to decide this issue, meaning the door remains open for Indigenous groups to prove Aboriginal title to submerged territory.
Haida Nation also intervened in the case of Saugeen Ojibway Nation as the issue of submerged lands is key to their exercise of Aboriginal title rights. Haida aimed to demonstrate that Aboriginal title can be accommodated and reconciled with public rights of navigation. Indigenous peoples know how to best steward their land and submerged territories, and they are providing a road map for how to navigate relationships with the land, water, and each other.
To date, no court has granted a declaration of Aboriginal title to submerged lands. If the courts recognize Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation’s title to submerged territory, it will set a significant precedent for other coastal First Nations across B.C. and potentially elsewhere in Canada.
Caretakers of the Land and Water
No matter where they have lived on their hahoothlee, Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation have always maintained their connection to the oceans, lakes, and rivers, and they continue to care for the salmon, herring, wolves, whales, cedars, and all other beings that live side-by-side with them. By asserting Aboriginal title to the submerged lands in their territory, as well as their land-based territory, Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation is showing how far they are willing to go to care for the land and water that, in turn, cares for and sustains their community. It’s time for the government to acknowledge the decision-making authority of Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation over their hahoothlee, and set right the historical and ongoing harms of colonialism.
