However, the Douglas Treaty was signed with about a dozen aboriginal groups on Vancouver Island, including the Nanoose, Beecher Bay, Malaht, Songhees and T Soouke First Nations. It is reported that these treaties included the right to hunt and fish as formerly . Without reviewing the historical context of these treaties, it is unclear whether or not they will be interpreted so as to contain a right to sell fish. On their face, it would appear that these treaties do not give any rights above and beyond what has already been established in the Gladstone decision. That is, in order to establish a current right to commercially catch and sell fish, the aboriginal group must establish that in pre-contact times, trade in fish was an integral part of its distinctive culture and was not merely incidental to social or ceremonial activities.
Starvation breeds discontent.
It would appear, that things have not really changed that much since 1760. Peace with our current aboriginal groups is still bound up with the ability of these groups to sustain themselves economically. Furthermore, the level of poverty amongst aboriginal groups still breeds discontent. While at first blush the implications of the Marshall decision are unsettling, when viewed in the context of the limitations imposed upon these treaty rights by the court, this decision may well have the unexpected result of helping to secure peace with our First Nations. This article was published in the November 1999 issue of Westcoast Fisherman.