First Nations Claim Their Land – Canada’s Olympic Countdown
a report by Jürgen Hansen, Simone Stripp and Paul Webster with additional research by John Cathro
Broadcasted on DEUTSCHE WELLE International German TV on Feb. 8, 2009

When the 2010 Olympic Games put Vancouver firmly on the world sports stage, the spotlight will also be on the region’s First Nations, or Aboriginal Peoples. They are gaining increasing influence, particularly in western Canada. Their claims to ownership of key swathes of land have now been recognized by Canada’s highest courts and by the provincial government of British Columbia. With the court rulings to back them up, a few hundred native Americans can block projects worth billions of dollars, including the long overdue modernization of high-tension power lines that supply Vancouver with electricity.