Too often, history and knowledge of Indigenous-settler conflict over land take the form of confidential reports prepared for court challenges. To Share, Not Surrender offers an entirely new approach, opening scholarship to the public and augmenting it with First Nations community expertise.

The authors take us back to when James Douglas and his family relocated to Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island in 1849, critically tracing the transition from treaty-making in the colony of Vancouver Island to reserve formation in the colony of British Columbia. Informed by the spirit of cel'an'en - "our culture, the way of our people" - this multivocal work includes essays, translations/interpretations of the treaties into the SENCOTEN and Lekwungen languages, and contributions by participants of the Songhees, Huu-ay-aht, and WSANEC peoples.

As an all-embracing exploration of the struggle over land, To Share, Not Surrender advances the urgent task of reconciliation in Canada.

About the Author

Neil Vallance is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Victoria, undertaking ethno-historical research on Vancouver Island Treaty claims. Hamar Foster is a professor emeritus of law at the University of Victoria. He has co-edited five books and authored numerous articles on Aboriginal law and legal history. Graham Brazier is an independent scholar studying the human history of islands in the Salish Sea. John Lutz is a professor of history at the University of Victoria and author of Makuk: A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations. Peter Cook is an associate professor of history at the University of Victoria and has published in a variety of scholarly periodicals.

Contributors: Keith Thor Carlson, Robert Clifford, Emchayiik Robert Dennis Sr., STOLCEL John Elliott Sr., Elmer George, Stephen Hume, Maxine Hayman Matilpi, Kevin Neary, Adele Perry, Sarah Pike, Chief Ron Sam, and Laura Spitz

Reviews

The past is with us and history matters. Read To Share Not Surrender as a great example of how there can be different interpretations of the past.

-- Robin Fisher * The British Columbia Review *

"To Share, Not Surrender is a book that could help every British Columbian to better understand the historical, political, and relational fabric of this province - and the obligations that flow from this."

-- Alan Hanna, University of Victoria * BC Studies *
Until now, academic discussion of the Vancouver Island treaties has tended to be sparse, vague, and insufficiently attentive to Indigenous perspectives. In consequence, public knowledge of the Treaties, and especially the white settlers' collective failure to honour them, leaves much to be desired. To Share Not Surrender aims to overcome these shortcomings. In my opinion, it succeeds admirably. -- Martin George Holmes, University of Otago * Journal of Australian, Canadian, and Aotearoa New Zealand Studies *



Book Information
ISBN 9780774863827
Author Peter Cook
Format Hardback
Page Count 368
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press
Weight(grams) 660g