Editing British Columbia (section)

===Indigenous societies{{anchor|First_Nations_(Aboriginal)_history}}===
{{main|Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau|The Canadian Crown and Aboriginal peoples}}
[[File:Namgis (Native American). Thunderbird Transformation Mask, 19th century.jpg|thumb|[[ʼNamgis]] ''Thunderbird Transformation Mask'', 19th century]]
The area now known as British Columbia is home to First Nations groups that have a deep history with a significant number of indigenous languages. There are more than 200 First Nations in BC. Prior to contact (with non-Aboriginal people), human history is known from oral histories, archaeological investigations, and from early records from explorers encountering societies early in the period.

The arrival of [[Paleoindians]] from [[Beringia]] took place between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago.<ref name="Muckle2007">{{Cite book |last=Muckle |first=Robert James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=11ii63EytIYC&pg=PA18 |title=The First Nations of British Columbia: An Anthropological Survey |publisher=[[UBC Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7748-4010-1 |pages=18–19 |access-date=November 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518204848/https://books.google.com/books?id=11ii63EytIYC&pg=PA18 |archive-date=May 18, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Hunter-gatherer]] families were the main social structure from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago.<ref name="BastianMitchell2004">{{Cite book |last1=Bastian |first1=Dawn Elaine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IsyQu1kDK-kC&pg=PA6 |title=Handbook of Native American Mythology |last2=Mitchell |first2=Judy K. |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-85109-533-9 |page=6 |access-date=November 22, 2015 |archive-date=June 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627185953/http://books.google.com/books?id=IsyQu1kDK-kC&pg=PA6 |url-status=live }}</ref> The nomadic population lived in non-permanent structures foraging for nuts, berries and edible roots while hunting and trapping larger and small game for food and furs.<ref name="BastianMitchell2004" /> Around 5,000 years ago individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally. Coast Salish peoples had complex land management practices linked to ecosystem health and resilience. Forest gardens on Canada's northwest coast included crabapple, hazelnut, cranberry, wild plum, and wild cherry species.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 22, 2021 |title=Ancient Indigenous forest gardens promote a healthy ecosystem: SFU study |website=SFU News |publisher=[[Simon Fraser University]] |url=https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2021/04/ancient-indigenous-forest-gardens-promote-a-healthy-ecosystem--s.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612135304/https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2021/04/ancient-indigenous-forest-gardens-promote-a-healthy-ecosystem--s.html |archive-date=June 12, 2021}}</ref> Thus with the passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization with a more [[sedentary lifestyle]].<ref name="BastianMitchell2004" /> These indigenous populations evolved over the next 5,000 years across a large area into many groups with shared traditions and customs.

To the northwest of the province are the peoples of the [[Na-Dene languages]], which include the [[Athapaskan languages|Athapaskan-speaking peoples]] and the [[Tlingit people|Tlingit]], who live on the islands of southern Alaska and northern British Columbia. The Na-Dene language group is believed to be linked to the [[Yeniseian languages]] of Siberia:<ref name="BENGTSON" /> the [[Dene]] of the western Arctic may represent a distinct wave of migration from Asia to North America.<ref name="BENGTSON">{{cite web |last=Bengtson |first=John D. |year=2008 |title=Materials for a Comparative Grammar of the Dene-Caucasian (Sino-Caucasian) Languages – In Aspects of Comparative Linguistics |url=http://starling.rinet.ru/Texts/dene_gr.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921181955/https://starling.rinet.ru/Texts/dene_gr.pdf |archive-date=September 21, 2021 |access-date=April 11, 2010 |publisher=Moscow- RSUH |pages=45–118 |volume=3}}</ref> The [[British Columbia Interior|Interior of British Columbia]] is home to the [[Salishan languages|Salishan language]] groups such as the [[Secwepemc|Shuswap (Secwepemc)]], [[Okanagan people|Okanagan]] and Athabaskan language groups, primarily the [[Dakelh]] (Carrier) and the [[Chilcotin people|Tsilhqotʼin]].<ref name="Archives" /> The inlets and valleys of the British Columbia coast shelter large, distinctive populations, such as the [[Haida people|Haida]], [[Kwakwakaʼwakw]] and [[Nuu-chah-nulth people|Nuu-chah-nulth]], sustained by the region's abundant salmon and shellfish.<ref name="Archives" /> These peoples developed [[Complex society|complex cultures]] dependent on the [[western red cedar]] that included wooden houses, seagoing whaling and war canoes and elaborately carved [[potlatch]] items and [[totem poles]].<ref name="Archives">{{cite web |url=http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/timemach/galler07/frames/wc_peop.htm |title=First Nations – People of the Northwest Coast |year=1999 |publisher=BC Archives |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314102800/http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/timemach/galler07/frames/wc_peop.htm |archive-date=March 14, 2010 |access-date=April 11, 2010}}</ref>

Contact with Europeans brought a series of devastating epidemics of diseases the people had no immunity to.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boyd |first=Robert T. |title=Handbook of North American Indians: 7 the Northwest Coast |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |year=1990 |chapter=Demographic History, 1774–1874}}</ref> The population dramatically collapsed, culminating in the 1862 smallpox outbreak in Victoria that spread throughout the coast. European settlement did not bode well for the remaining native population of British Columbia. Colonial officials deemed colonists could make better use of the land than the First Nations people, and thus the land should be owned by the colonists.<ref name="gilmartin2009">{{Cite book |last=Gilmartin |first=Mary |title=Key Concepts in Political Geography |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |year=2009 |chapter=Colonialism/ Imperialism}}</ref>{{Citation page|page=120}} To ensure colonists would be able to settle properly and make use of the land, First Nations were forcibly relocated onto [[Indian reserve|reserves]], which were often too small to support their way of life.<ref name="gilmartin2009" />{{Citation page|page=|pages=120-121}} By the 1930s, British Columbia had over 1500 reserves.<ref name="gilmartin2009" />{{Citation page|page=121}}