Photo: Caitlyn Vernon

First Nations have populated the Great Bear Rainforest since the end of the last Ice Age. One of the earliest known coastal villages is Namu, a 14,000-year-old site in Heiltsuk territory in the heart of this immense wilderness. 

Long before European settlers arrived, B.C.’s coast supported sophisticated, organized cultures, a flourishing trade network and a thriving artisan tradition.

First Nations lived in rhythm with the seasons. In spring, summer and fall, they travelled in family groups, setting up villages and camps for hunting, fishing, berry-picking, clam gathering and root digging. In winter, they gathered in large villages for political, cultural and ceremonial events such as potlatches. 

Today, the Great Bear Rainforest remains home to 25 First Nations. These First Nations are not a single people, yet they share many common bonds. Among them is a deep connection to the land and waters that sustain them economically, culturally and spiritually.

First Nations of the Great Bear Rainforest have seen their traditional territories deeply scarred by industrial clear-cut logging. Overfishing threatens their traditional food supply. Their way of life is undermined as traditional resources vanish along with the forests.

The First Nations' right to food from the ocean is enshrined in Canada's constitution. Yet overfishing by the rest of society threatens this traditional food source.

Early in 2000, a number of First Nations who live in the Central and North Coast met to develop a strategy to ensure that aboriginal interests were included in land use planning.
That process led to a 2001 protocol with the provincial government that established how final decisions over land use in the region would be made jointly with First Nations.

Five years later, the Great Bear Rainforest land use agreements were signed. The legal agreements recognize a greater degree of stewardship for B.C.’s Coastal First Nations over their traditional territories. First Nations will have more direct decision-making power over resource development and other activities in the Great Bear. 

A central component of the Great Bear Rainforest conservation model is a $120 million financing package to fund conservation management projects and ecologically sustainable business ventures in First Nation territories. Projects will include sustainable fisheries, forestry and tourism, monitoring and management of activities in traditional territories, restoration of ecological values and capacity-building programs to support these initiatives. 

The Nature Conservancy, Tides Canada and several private foundations raised almost $60 million from Canadian and U.S. philanthropists for this financing package. The B.C. government committed $30 million as, more recently, did the federal government.

Sierra Club BC works directly with several First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest on a variety of projects. Joint initiatives include a Coastal Guardian Training Project, Environmental Education Outreach and the Salmon Nations Youth Summit.

The following First Nations have traditional territories that are entirely, or mostly, within the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii.

Da’naxda’xw
Gitga’at
Gwa’Sala-Nakwaxda’xw
Haisla
Haida
Heiltsuk
Gitxaala Gwa wa aineuk
Kitasoo/Xai’xais
Kwiakah
Kwicksutaineuk
Lax Kw’Alaams
Mamalilikula
Metlakatla
Nuxalk
Que’Qwa’Sot’Enox
Tsawataineuk
Wuikinuxw