Jerry Jack

…In late 2024, the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court seeking a declaration of Aboriginal title to a large area that tracks inland from Yuquot, also called Friendly Cove, along Nootka Sound, and where the tiny communities of Gold River and Tahsis are located. The area the Mowachaht/Muchalaht are claiming Aboriginal title to is 4,300 square kilometres of sparsely settled, forested area, nearly 14 per cent of Vancouver Island. …In its filing, the Mowachaht/Muchalaht says the province has infringed its Aboriginal title by authorizing logging, forestry roads and log handling without fair compensation. …The Mowachaht/Muchalaht are seeking a declaration of title and infringement, an accounting and repayment of provincial revenues from the claimed territory, and unspecified compensation and damages. …Jerry Jack, a hereditary chief of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht said they don’t want to stop forestry, but they want control over resource extraction. …Jack stressed their title case is not seeking private land. [A Vancouver Sun subscription may be required for full access]