text: Most  of  the  issues  dealing  with  First  Nations  seems  to  revolve  around  the  question  of  who  controls  the  land  and  what  happens  on  it?
  
  In  Canada  this  question  is  confused  by  the  very  different  status  of  treaties  in  different  areas.  In  most  of  BC  formal  treaties  were  never  signed  and  there  are  valid  questions  about  whether  aboriginal  rights  were  ever  surrendered.  This  is  further  confused  by  overlapping  land  claims  by  different  FN  groups.
  
  East  of  the  Rockies  formal  treaties  were  signed  and  there  is  clear  delineation  of  FN  'reservation'  lands.
  
  Amongst  some  activists  and  media  there  is  a  repudiation  of  this  fact  and  statements  that  FN  really  control  the  land,  especially  any  Crown  lands.
  
  Any  claims  that  FN  have  a  veto  over  development  in  areas  defined  by  treaty  are  weak  and  I  think  ultimately  headed  to  failure.
  
  In  BC no  one  knows  how  it  will  end.