Many of the Nations that signed the Douglas Treaties in the 1850s thought they were signing an acknowledgement of their ownership to their villages and their ability to continue to hunt over unoccupied lands and to fish ‘as formally’. They felt no threat in signing the document because it clearly promised ownership of their villages, enclosed fields hunting and fishing as formerly. If they had believed what they were signing was extinguishment to their lands, they would never have agreed to such a treaty.

Our territory was cut in the 1880s when the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Land Grant was given to coal mine owner by Canada in 1884. This land went directly through our traditional territory. Many villages were relocated and our land base was drastically reduced.

Not only did we lose some of our main villages, but also hunting, medicinal plants, and cultural and sacred sites. We were essentially cut off from any type of prosperity, self-sufficiency and economic viability which led to a cycle of dependence, despair and poverty.

Although Malahat’s traditional territory is large, our reserve lands were allotted to what was called the Saanich Tribes by the Joint Commission in 1877. In 1957, the Tribe divided into five bands: Pauquachin, Tsawout, Tsartlip, Tseycum and Malahat.