| Summary: | The contemporary struggles by Aboriginal Nations within the boundaries of British Columbia for land and self-determination must be understood in relation to the historical geography, and political economy, of European colonialism and imperialism. The protracted and uneven process of European cap italist expansion overseas eventually led to the establishment of a British settler colony on the Pacific Coast of North America and the wholesale displacement of the region's indigenous populations. Once this regional history of white settler ascendancy is placed in its proper historical context, present day conflicts between Natives and settlers in Canada's westernmost province can be seen as local manifestations of an ongoing struggle by Aboriginal Nations around the world to challenge settler state power and a global system (the "New World Order") whose main features and dynamics remain largely imperialist. To illustrate this point, this thesis considers both the recent upsurge of settler opposition to Aboriginal land claims and treaty negotiations in British Columbia, and the militarization of state responses to Aboriginal protest exemplified by the Gustafsen Lake Standoff of 1995. Arts, Faculty of Geography, Department of Graduate
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