Last week, we hosted a workshop at the University of British Columbia Okanagan on Aboriginal water rights and title.
The objective of this workshop was to raise awareness of the implications of Aboriginal Title and Rights as they relate to water in BC, as well as historical and contemporary impacts on water systems within the unceded territory of the Syilx. The session enabled government, industry, and academic participants to understand, navigate, and catalyze the paradigm-shifts that are occurring with respect to water-related decision-making in BC and beyond.
Dr. Marlowe Sam, an expert on Indigenous water rights and customary laws, and Carrie Terbasket, a UBCO cultural studies student and two-term member of the National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk co-led this event. The session featured a presentation on the historical issues, policies, and Supreme Court decisions that impacted Indigenous water and resource rights, with a focus on unceded Syilx territory.
You can find the coverage of the event below.
https://indiginews.com/okanagan/aboriginal-water-rights-and-title-ubco