Canada took our land and our lives. We deserve to have at least our names back

By Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr., a citizen of the Chickasaw and Ihanktonwan Nations, Canada, and the US. A respected Elder, activist, academic, and international speaker, Chief Lane has dedicated his life to preserving Indigenous languages, traditions, and sovereignty across the Americas and beyond.

The current debate in Canada over Indigenous rights, language revitalization, and the restoration of original place names, especially in British Columbia, is deeply rooted in historical truth, constitutional reality, and the lived experience of Indigenous peoples who have survived centuries of systemic efforts to erase our presence.

Over 95% of British Columbia remains unceded territory, land that was never surrendered through treaty. When British Columbia joined Canada in 1871, the provincial government refused to recognize Aboriginal Title or negotiate treaties across most of the province. This is a historical and constitutional fact.

After devastating epidemics of smallpox and other European diseases swept through our communities, colonial governments concluded that Indigenous peoples had been so weakened that we could no longer mount effective resistance.

They believed we were a vanishing race. It was this assumption that led them to seize vast territories by force of arms, without treaties or consent. This was not a lawful process. It was an illegal occupation of sovereign Indigenous lands, enforced by police and military power.

The recent formal recognition of Haida Aboriginal Title across all of Haida Gwaii, 10,180 square kilometers, by British Columbia and Canada stands as powerful confirmation of what Indigenous peoples have always maintained: Our Indigenous titles were never lawfully extinguished, and where we made treaties, they have been broken.