Appellants factum - Woodward & Company

12…I am satisfied Tsilhqot’in people have continuously occupied the Claim Areabefore and after sovereignty assertion. There has been a “substantialmaintenance of the connection” between the people and the land” throughout thisentire period … 9746. At the end of the trial, the Defendants both conceded this incontrovertible factand admitted that the Tsilhqot’in people held Aboriginal rights to hunt and trapthroughout the Claim Area. 98Such Aboriginal rights, by definition, require proof ofcontinuous hunting and trapping by Tsilhqot’in people throughout the Claim Area frombefore contact with Europeans (1793) to the present day. 99Accordingly, that theDefendants’ concession “brings with it an admission of the presence of Tsilhqot’inpeople in the Claim Area for over 200 years”. 100J. Tsilhqot’in Patterns of Occupation: Settlements, Cultivation and SeasonalRounds47. At contact and the subsequent assertion of sovereignty, the Tsilhqot’in peoplelived a “semi-nomadic” life, surviving by hunting, fishing, trapping, berry picking, rootgathering, and trading with neighbouring Aboriginal groups. 101Tsilhqot’in people used awell-defined network of foot trails, horse trails and water courses to access hunting,fishing and plant-harvesting grounds, pursuant to a “clear pattern of Tsilhqot’in seasonalresource gathering in various locations in the Claim Area”. 10248. The “harsh environment” 103 of the Chilcotin plateau demanded a high degree ofterritorial mobility for survival. 104 Although he described the Tsilhqot’in way of life as“semi-nomadic”, the Trial Judge cautioned that this should not be interpreted as“haphazard”:97 Trial Decision, para. 945 [underscore added]. See also paras. 792, 825.98 Trial Decision, paras. 1223, 1374.99 Trial Decision, paras. 1154, 1173-74 and authorities cited therein.100 Trial Decision, para. 1374. See also para. 681.101 Trial Decision, para. 1211.102 Trial Decision, para. 948.103 Trial Decision, paras. 364, 436.104 Trial Decision, para. 647.