There are three Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations whose traditional territories encompass the area now called Clayoquot Sound: the Hesquiaht, Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations. These Nations have lived here since time immemorial—over ten thousand years.

None of these Nations have given their lands away, lost them in battle, or signed treaties. For this reason the lands are called unceded, and the unresolved Land Question hangs over everyone who lives in the region. Each Nation has a Band Council as decreed by the Indian Act (a colonial legislation in place since 1876). However, the Act was intended to assimilate and exterminate Indigenous governance and economies. Since 1982, the Canadian Courts and Constitution, (in Section 35), recognize that there are pre-existing rights and that Indigenous people have the inherent right to self-government. Aboriginal rights and title are collectively held by the people, which reflect continued use and occupation of their traditional territories (ḥaḥuułʔi).

Colonialism has been (and continues on a daily basis to be) harmful to Indigenous People living here as elsewhere in Turtle Island. But there is a powerful resurgence well underway—the Nuu-chah-nulth are known as leaders in healing from the pain and suffering of the Residential School system, which was meant to “take the Indian out of the child”.
As well there is a political resurgence underway, which some recognize as having begun with the battle for Meares Island. Back in the 1980s, Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht united to stop the clearcutting of this large island near Tofino. Their court victory is what has kept the trees standing there for the past 35 years, and is a major precedent in Canadian Indigenous law. The Meares Island / Wanachis-Hilth-huu-is Tribal Park was protected as a Conservancy in 2024, as were most of the pristine (iiḥmis) forests of Clayoquot Sound.

In June 2020, Chantel Moore—a young Tla-o-qui-aht woman living in New Brunswick, was shot by police during a “wellness check”. It was a wake-up call for many Canadians who may never have heard before of a wellness check. This killing, which came during a period of heightened public awareness and racial tensions in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, shone a light on how deeply systemic racism runs in Canada’s political and policing systems.

A lot needs to change if there is to be justice, if we are to learn to live together peacefully in the lands we now share. Clayoquot Action is committed to working to see a new Canada emerge, where all people are respected and included.