British Columbia wasn't colonized until the mid-1800's and most of the land here is considered unceded, which means it was never officially absorbed into the Commonwealth by any kind of treaty or official agreement with the Crown. What we think of as crown lands are actually unceded First Nations territories. What we think of as private lands are also technically unceded. Even where treaties were signed, most of them were not properly honoured. There is a long legacy of lies and broken promises when it comes to the government's interactions with Indigenous people in Canada.

The pollution and exploitation of these lands has occurred in a relatively short period of time. Previous to colonization, the people's of these lands lived from an animistic worldview where everything was interconnected and plants and animals were honoured. Land ownership as we understand it today didn't exist. The land belonged to itself.

Before the proliferation of christianity, many people in Europe also shared an animistic worldview.

Indigenous world map:
https://native-land.ca

Pre-christian map of Europe:
here