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Geography, Demography

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To study how the human occupation of British Columbia's landscape changed over time ... a relatively small group of men could fend off a much larger attack party. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Geography, Demography


1
Geography, Demography the Colonial Imperative
Terra Nullius/Tabula Rasa
2
Learning Objectives
  • To study how the human occupation of British
    Columbia's landscape changed over time
  • To examine some of the forces that shaped the
    human landscape
  • To discuss how these changes have affected B.C.'s
    social, political, and cultural geography

3
Since Time Immemorial
  • Indigenous peoples in B.C. had long-established
    tenure relationship with the land, as well as
    with their neighbouring nations

They developed economies that were relevant to
their physical, political, and social landscapes.
4
Terra Nullius the Myth of Empty Land
  • Terra Nullius was one of the conditions under
    which European nations justified the
    appropriation and occupation of Indigenous
    territories worldwide
  • Estimates of pre-contact Indigenous .populations
    are debated official figures estimate the
    total population to be 70,000 - 80,000
  • Indigenous peoples maintain that the numbers were
    much higher.
  • The colonials may have underestimated the
    Indigenous population of the NWC for several
    reasons
  • a vested interest in the appropriation of
    Aboriginal land
  • depopulation may have occurred just previous to
    contact
  • Eurocentric relationship to land a blank slate
    on which to write a new history, society, culture

5
First Contact Vanishing Indians
  • Harris posits that smallpox arrived before the
    Europeans did, decimating NWC cultures
  • He argues that Plague broke out along the Strait
    of Georgia in 1782, wiping out 90-95 of the
    Indigenous populations
  • Part of a pandemic that started in Central Mexico
    in 1779
  • He estimates that B.C.s population would have
    been 200,000 - 50,000 living in the Strait of
    Georgia

6
Social Reorganization
  • People had to re-organize around the near -
    genocidal effects of the epidemic
  • Some people moved to nearby villages, or several
    neighbouring villages might amalgamate together
  • Some survivors might have migrated into
    territories that were once occupied by others who
    had been wiped out by smallpox
  • In many instances, there were not enough people
    left to engage in subsistence activities, and
    starvation would ensue the following winter
    (leading to further depopulation).

7
Reconfiguring the Human Landscape
1881 census shows big changes in the demography
of B.C.
  • Indigenous people continue to settle in
    traditional patterns
  • Also incorporating wage labour into their
    seasonal subsistence activities (commercial
  • fishing, canning
  • logging, mining)

8
Meanwhile, Back at the Fort...
  • . During the early 1800's, British traders set up
    a series of Garrisons throughout the province.
  • The garrisons have a tactical advantage a
    relatively small group of men could fend off a
    much larger attack party.
  • These enclaves were geographically, politically,
    and socially isolated
  • connected by a system of trade and communication,
    forming a colonial network
  • Other foreign commercial interests expand,
    creating an infrastructure (transportation,
    communication, market economy) for the imported
    British culture.

9
Emerging Colonial Landscapes
1881 Indigenous people outnumber whites
Indigenous people gt50
of population
  • Introduction of
  • non-British
  • Europeans and Asians
  • White appears for 1st time as racial category
  • Many garrisons
  • are now towns, the centre in a
  • core/periphery
  • economy

10
Social, Cultural, and Political Reorganization
  • Transplanted societies
  • British and European immigrants began re-shaping
    their ethnic identities.
  • In order to do this they construct the "other".
    Race and ethnicity were easily identifiable
    markers of difference.
  • White is constructed as a conceptual/cultural
    space

11
Defining Civilization
  • "Whites" were reconfiguring physical space,
    creating enclaves of "civilization" for
    themselves (urban areas)
  • which were the centres of economic, political,
    and social
  • power.
  • the creation and administration of reserves was
    decided in these spaces
  • non-white were marginalized in ghettos
    delineated by
  • race, class, ethnicity
  • economic spaces were determined by these
  • same criteria
  • the economic interests of the ruling class
  • dictated the migration patterns of FN and
  • non-white immigrants.
  • Core/periphery economy dictated the demography
  • of working-class communities (gendered spaces)
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