The Native Brotherhood of British Columbia

by John MacFarlane 2013

Native Brotherhood Sticker

Established in 1931, the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia (NBBC) is recognized as Canada’s oldest active Native organization, and a senior British Columbia fishing organization. The NBBC was formed by a group of coastal villages solely for the betterment of Native people. Members would display stickers prominently on their vessels to indicate membership. It represented First Nations fishermen, tendermen, and shore workers in British Columbia. The organization proclaims itself as the senior First Nations organization in Canada.

It was modeled in spirit and structure on the Alaska Native Brotherhood. In 1942 it absorbed the the Pacific Coast Native Fishermen's Organization. In 1945 some of the membership split off to form the North American Indian Brotherhood.

Membership is denoted by colourful stickers seen on the windshields of member–owned fishboats.


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. (2013) Native Brotherhood of British Columbia. Nauticapedia.ca 2013. http://nauticapedia.ca/Articles/Native_Brotherhood.php