treaties

BC Supreme Court ruling grants Quw’utsun Nation Aboriginal title over lands

By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer The Cowichan Tribes v. Canada trial spanned 513 days from 2019 to 2023, making it the longest trial in Canadian history.  On August 7 of this year, BC Supreme Court judge Barbara Young ruled that the Quw’utsun (Cowichan Tribes) hold Aboriginal title to an area of land near the Fraser River on what is now known as Lulu Island in Richmond. Aboriginal title refers to the “unique collective right to the use of and jurisdiction over a group’s ancestral territories.”  Initially, the Quw’utsun Nation sought title over their traditional Tl’uqtinus lands and some of the…

Continue reading