Editorial: Survival and Revival

February-March 2004

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Alan Wilson

Welcome to a special issue devoted to the first cultures of North America’s Pacific Northwest. This complex coastal environment—a vast area of isolated islands, lush valleys, high mountains, deep fjords, fast flowing channels and surf-driven beaches—has been home to human beings for at least 10,000 years.

British Columbia alone had an estimated population of at least 200,000 prior to European arrival. Many rich cultures and distinct languages evolved here over thousands of years, specialized to the diverse environments and abundant resources.

The rugged terrain of the coast determined there would be no colonial ‘sweep’, such as on the Great Plains of the continent. If epidemics such as smallpox had not devastated the first peoples in BC, things might have worked out very differently here.

But in just one of many tragic years, in 1862, smallpox wiped out half the Tsimshian people, two-thirds of the Kwagiulth, and three quarters of the Haida—some 20,000 people. Distant villages were abandoned as remnant populations relocated to small, centralized areas, only a tiny fraction of their former territories. By the 1870s—only a hundred years after the first European explorers touched these shores—the native population of BC had fallen to 20% of pre-Contact levels.

Although torn by epidemics and swamped by the rising tide of western ways, including repressive laws and residential schools which further dislocated communities, First Nations cultures miraculously survived.

Perhaps the cultural tide they faced was no more extreme than the steadily rising sea levels experienced over the millennia, as they were driven ahead of Ice Age meltwater. In any case, survive they have, and now we’re seeing an exciting cultural resurgence. First Nations are receiving world recognition for their high arts and deep roots, and through historic land claims negotiations, approaching new opportunities.

We have much to learn from these cultures. They are a window on ancient ways of being and can teach us about the relativity of our beliefs, our technologies, and our values—that we had better not value our modern lifestyle above the great cedar, the wild salmon, and the sea.

We have much to learn by dipping our paddles in coastal waters, feeling the forces of nature flow through us, and seeing through these ancient eyes.