Background to the McKenna-McBride Commission

Before colonization, First Nations were self-governing, self-sustaining nations, with legal, administrative and diplomatic systems that owned and managed their lands and resources. At the time of contact, relationships between First Nations and European explorers and traders ranged from mutually beneficial relationships to violent encounters. Relationship patterns changed dramatically, however, when a colonial European infrastructure was established and settlement by Europeans and Americans was promoted.

Audio	Video
Philip Paul on the difference between cut-off land claims and claims based on Aboriginal Title [1972]	Philip Paul discusses colonization and the differences between native and non-native attitudes toward the land (excerpt from "The Land is the Culture," 1975)
	Philip Paul and a female narrator on the expropriation of First Nations land by settlers, churches and governments (excerpt from "The Land is the Culture," 1975)

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