Formation of the Allied Tribes of British Columbia
The Commission as guests at the home of Chief Qualicum Tom, 1913. British Columbia Archives, H-07057
1916
In 1916, the McKenna-McBride Royal Commission on the “Indian reserve question” in British Columbia recommended that 482 new reserves — totalling 35,325 hectares — be provided to British Columbia’s First Peoples, and that 19,043 hectares be “cut off” from existing reserves there. However, the lands that were removed from reserves were far more valuable than the lands added. Consequently, many First Peoples representatives in the province opposed the Commission’s findings and formed the Allied Tribes of British Columbia in June 1916. This advocacy organization presented Aboriginal land claims to the provincial and federal governments.
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