Collective Rights v. Individual Rights

In this Canadian Supreme Court case, the Behn family was asserting individual rights to the land wherein they ran their trap line in British Columbia.  The Moulton logging company was given a permit by “the Crown” to log that area.  The Behr family set up their camp in such a way as to prevent the logging company from accessing the area to be logged.  The Canadian Supreme Court held that because the First Nation did not take action to halt the logging operation, or authorize the “blockade” set up by the Behn family, the “collective rights” of that First Nation were not violated.

As it’s reported by the Turtle Talk blog, this is a “cautionary tale” for those individuals who would engage in “civil disobedience” in defense of  “collective” rights.  The big difference between the Behn family action and my placing an Eagle Feather on the Beaver Creek well-head is simple –my right to engage in “individual” “historically traditional activities” is guaranteed under the Consent Decree.

http://turtletalk.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/moulton-contracting-v-british-columbia-collective-rights-vs-individual-rights/