In the final episode of Freddie Flinotff Goes Wild, Freddie goes on something of a spiritual journey as he stays deep in the Vancouver forest with a First Nations chief.
To mark this we thought we’d look at the vast natural region of Canada’s British Columbia and some of the cultural practices of the First Nations in this week’s FACTS…
FACT 1: British Columbia is the third largest and most westerly province in Canada and excluding Alaska is larger than any of the US states. It is also four times larger than the UK.
FACT 2: Forestry, tourism, mining and fishing are the main industries of British Columbia.
FACT 3: It is estimated that over one million birds use the Pacific Flyway over British Columbia during seasonal migrations.
FACT 4: Native animals in British Columbia include: moose, rocky mountain elk, deer, woodland caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, black bears, grizzly bears, Kermode white bears, glacier bears, cougars, wolves and the hoary marmots.
FACT 5:
Sea life is in abundance in Vancouver Island with Pacific grey whales migrating along the west coast and Orcas living off the east coast.
FACT 6: There are 198 distinct First Nations in British Columbia that speak more than 30 different languages. Each nation has its own unique tradition and history.
FACT 7: The most important and most common teachings across First Nations cultures is that people should live in harmony with the natural world.
FACT 8: After successive court cases during the early 1970s the existence of Aboriginal rights was confirmed and in 1982 the Canadian constitution was amended to affirm Aboriginal rights. However the constitution didn’t actually enforce or define any new rights but simply recognised already existing rights without spelling out what these were.
FACT 9: Over the past 30 years specific rights and laws relating to individual Aboriginal communities have gradually started to be recognised.
FACT 10: Whilst historically First Nations communities were suspicious to sign treaties with the Canadian government in 2005 the Government of British Columbia and the First Nations Leadership Council entered into a new relationship based on respect for each other’s laws and responsibilities.
Related Links
Find out more about Freddie Flintoff Goes Wild
See pictures of Freddie in Canada
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