The University of Victoria Students' Union, known as UVSS, has marked National Indigenous Peoples Day with a statement urging students and the wider community to act as allies and to speak out against injustice. The message, issued in June 2026, honours First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities during National Indigenous History Month and encourages support for Indigenous-led efforts on campus and beyond.
The statement begins with the land on which the university sits. It acknowledges the Xʷsepsəm, Songhees and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples, whose territories were never ceded, and names the Lək̓ʷəŋən and SENĆOŦEN speaking peoples as past stewards of the area. The UVic campus site was once a camas field, a food-bearing landscape previously cared for by a Lekwungen family. The statement recalls that colonial arrival at Cadboro Bay began in 1842, and that the Douglas Treaties, which shaped land arrangements on Vancouver Island, were created in 1855.
The statement also names a set of historical harms that continue to affect Indigenous families and communities across Canada. It cites residential schools, Indian hospitals and the Sixties Scoop, along with birth alerts and the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and two-spirit people. By naming these harms alongside the land history, the union frames its call to action as a response to a past that has not ended, and places the campus within that longer chronology of dispossession and resistance.
The statement points to a recent legal development in British Columbia. In December, the Gitxaala First Nation won a court case tied to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, known as DRIPA. The ruling holds that mining on Indigenous land requires prior, informed consent, a standard the union presents as central to how Indigenous rights are recognized in practice. Reports indicate the province has threatened to appeal the decision or to amend the DRIPA Act, and the future of the Act's provisions remains uncertain. The statement does not detail the province's position beyond these reports.
For students who need support, the statement lists the Native Student Union and the 24/7 Kuu-Us Crisis Line, which operates around the clock. It also references Indigenous student coordinators and counselling services at UVic, directing those who want help to campus resources first. The union further promotes local Indigenous businesses and art markets as ways for the community to engage with Indigenous culture and economies beyond the classroom.
The statement asks readers to do more than observe the day. It encourages allyship in daily life, including speaking out when injustice is witnessed and supporting Indigenous-led initiatives rather than speaking for them. In framing June as National Indigenous History Month, the union positions the observance as an ongoing responsibility for the campus community rather than a single date on the calendar.
Verification note for readers: the court ruling and the provincial response are reported in the statement as described and have not been independently confirmed in this report. The details of the Gitxaala decision should be checked against the court record and provincial statements before they are cited as settled outcomes.
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