The terror of the coast

Description

"On April 20, 1863 a British naval gunboat fired on a Native village on Kuper Island. The naval officers believed that the village harboured individuals involved in two recent assaults against European settlers in the Gulf Islands. The gunboat was repulsed with casualties after a fierce battle with a handful of warriors. Following this defeat, the colonial government responded with one of the largest military operations in British Columbia's history, on the east coast of Vancouver Island and extending throughout the waters and islands of Active Pass, Trincomalee Channel and Stuart Channel, from Saturna Island north to Comox." "Previously ignored, the war between the "People of the Land" and the colonial government remains of utmost significance in today's world of unsettled First Nations' land claims. After the war of 1863 aboriginal land continued to be alienated, and Native jurisdiction eroded, throughout British Columbia--leaving an inequity which remains unresolved almost a century and a half later. Book jacket."--Jacket.