The calamitous degradation of the natural environment in British Columbia, Canada, in particular the clearcutting of primaeval forests, has gone hand in hand with the displacement of the aboriginal inhabitants - First Nations - from their homelands and the desecration of their cultures. In fact, the most shameful consequence of colonial greed in destroying the natural world for "a quick buck" has been the pushing of indigenous peoples to the edge of destitution.

The primary means by which the European colonists took over the land and its resources, displacing and impoverishing its aboriginal inhabitants are subsumed under five categories: Invasion, Forestry, Fisheries, Mining and Development. No First Nation has remained unaffected by the onslaught and all five forms of exploitation take place,
or have taken place in a majority of traditional land and water territories. Click to continue.