Roots of the Socio-Economic Gap

By Gord Elliott –(ȻELOȽEMKEN) Director of Operations, W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council

When we ask why the socio-economic gap exists, the answers are found in our history. However, the decisions, policies, and actions that create these are not distant events locked away in the past, they continue to shape our lives every day.

Colonization was not a single moment; it was a system of intentionally designed processes that dismantled our governance, took our lands, outlawed our economies, and targeted our children through residential schools. Every part of this system had the same goal: to weaken W̱SÁNEĆ people and remove us from our rightful place on the land and waters.

Understanding this history is uncomfortable, but necessary. The socio-economic gap we live with today is not the result of our people’s failure. It is the direct outcome of these deliberate actions, and naming them is the first step toward undoing their impacts.

Where Did the Gap Come From?

The gap did not appear on its own. It was deliberately created through a series of government actions that took away W̱SÁNEĆ lands, resources, and rights.

The Douglas Treaties: In 1852, W̱SÁNEĆ oral history tells us the agreements were about peace and mutual recognition — not the selling of land. This understanding is supported by modern research into the Douglas Treaties (To Share and Not Surrender, 2022). Yet, the written versions claimed otherwise, allowing settlers to claim ownership over vast tracts of our territory.

Land Pre-emption: Colonial governments passed pre-emption laws that allowed settlers to claim and occupy Indigenous lands, often before treaties were even signed. These were explicitly racist laws: while settlers were encouraged to acquire land, “Indians” were legally prohibited from purchasing it. This exclusion was not because our people lacked resources. In fact, W̱SÁNEĆ families were wealthy at the time, with thriving land and sea-based economies. Early settler accounts describe their shock when witnessing potlatches where a host distributed thousands of dollars’ worth of goods. Our people had the means to purchase land under the colonial system, but the law deliberately prevented it. This ensured that W̱SÁNEĆ wealth and jurisdiction would be erased and replaced with imposed poverty and dependence.

Outlawing the Fishing Economy: Another blow came when the government introduced laws that outlawed our traditional fishing economy. Important fishing locations that had been in families for generations were taken over by settler fisheries, and buyers were prohibited from purchasing fish, shellfish and other resources from W̱SÁNEĆ people unless it came through a licensed system controlled by the Crown. The hunting and fishing policies that were imposed on our people, criminalized the very practices that had sustained us and our economy for thousands of years. This was a direct breach of the Douglas Treaties, which promised that we would be able “to fish as formerly.” For W̱SÁNEĆ, fishing “as formerly” always included the right to trade, to build wealth, and to support our families. By outlawing this economy, the government stripped away both our sustenance and our ability to generate prosperity. (This topic will be explored in much more depth in a future blog on economic development and resources.)

The Indian Act and the Reserve System: Passed in 1876, the Indian Act controlled nearly every aspect of First Nations life. It created the reserve system, confining W̱SÁNEĆ to small parcels of land, often requiring W̱SÁNEĆ people to have passes to leave the reservations. This limited our access to resources that we gathered to sustain ourselves, but it also fundamentally changed our governance system: once exercising authorities across our entire territory, our jurisdiction was reduced to reserve boundaries. Band Chiefs and councils were imposed and were designed to administer programs on tiny reserves rather than govern as nations. This was not self-determination; it was administration under federal control.

Residential Schools: Another tool of colonization that contributed greatly to the socioeconomic gap was the residential school system, which was designed explicitly to “take the Indian out of the child.” These schools were not about education — they were about assimilation and control.

Children were forcibly removed from their families, sometimes taken hundreds of kilometers away, they were forbidden to speak their languages, practice their cultures, or connect with their communities, what they experienced instead was abuse, neglect, and violence.

The impacts were devastating:

Identity Crisis: Children grew up disconnected from their families, languages, and cultures, leaving many struggling with who they were and where they belonged.

Trauma and Abuse: Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse were widespread. Malnutrition and neglect left children scarred physically and emotionally.

Loss of Parenting Skills: Generations of children grew up without their parents and later returned home without having learned how to parent in a loving and supportive way. This disrupted family structures in ways that continue to echo today.

Intergenerational Impacts: The trauma did not end with the children who attended. It carried forward into their families and communities, showing up in cycles of poverty, addictions, mental health struggles, and fractured relationships.

These schools did not teach our children skills for success, no math, reading, writing, business acumen, life skills, they taught our children, hate, abuse and shame. Residential schools were not just a chapter of the past — their impacts are still deeply felt today in every First Nations community across Canada. The deliberate attempt to destroy identity, culture, and continuity succeeded in creating lasting harm that forms a major part of the socio-economic gap.

Summary:

• Racist Land Laws
• Settlers were encouraged to pre-empt land.
• Indigenous peoples were legally barred from purchasing land — even though W̱SÁNEĆ had the wealth and resources to do so.
• This erased treaty rights and cut us out of the settler economy.
• Residential Schools
• Designed to “take the Indian out of the child.”
• Children were removed, mentally and physically abused, and disconnected from their languages and families.

Impacts:

• Loss of resources led to poverty and dependence.
• Suppression of culture weakened identity and community strength.
• Fragmentation of governance confined authority to reserve lands, erasing recognition of W̱SÁNEĆ jurisdiction across the whole territory.
• Underfunded education systems denied our children the same opportunities as others.
• Residential school trauma disrupted families and continues to affect every generation.
• Trauma and identity loss created social struggles that still impact families today.
• Our ways of life — once grounded in harvesting, fishing, ceremony, and strong governance — were systematically attacked.

Why This History Matters Today

For many, this history is not distant, its impact are lived every day. The dispossession of land, the suppression of language, the breakdown of governance, the outlawing of our fishing economy, and the trauma of residential schools have all contributed to the creation of the socio-economic gap in our communities.

These laws and systems were deliberate and systemic — they were deliberate policies of colonization that continue to shape the socio-economic gap today. This history also explains why First Nations remain at an economic disadvantage, even as Canada benefits from the lands and resources taken from us. By naming these truths, we make clear: the socio-economic gap was not created by accident, nor by the failings of our people. It was imposed through deliberate policies of colonization.

Closing the Loop

Community Note: So when we ask: why does the socio-economic gap exist? The answer lies in history. It was created through colonization — through broken promises, racist land pre-emption laws, the outlawing of our fishing economy, the Indian Act, the reserve system, and residential schools. It is not a natural condition of our people. By understanding this truth, we are better prepared to change it. Our resilience has carried us this far, and it will carry us into a future where the gap no longer defines our lives.

Call to Action: This history is a responsibility of all levels of government and for the people that live in and benefit from our territory. All people need to acknowledge that this gap was created by colonial policies and chronic underfunding and to move forward, governments must invest and people must support the solutions that restore our lands, resources, and our governance in our territory. The W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council is putting forward proposals to address these inequities. It is time for governments to act.

✦ Next Post: Health Inequities — how colonization reshaped our diets, disconnected us from land and food systems, and created the health crisis we see today.