Israel Wood Powell (April 27, 1836 – February 25, 1915) was British Columbia's first superintendent of Indian Affairs and a businessman, politician and doctor.

He was a supporter of union with Canada and brought the first Canadian flag to BC on June 17, 1871[1] which he presented to the Victoria Fire Department on July 1st.

[2] He had received the flag from his close friend and fellow Mason The Right Honourable Sir John A. Macdonald, Prime Minister of Canada.

He was a constant critic of the provincial government's resistance to providing Indigenous people with land and water rights, and fought for the establishment of Indian Reserves.

[4] He was particularly known for working to subvert communal ownership and the potlatch, a ceremony at the core of west-coast Indigenous culture, and in 1884 he succeeded in having the Indian Act amended to outlaw it.

[6] The 2778-acre parcel of land known as Lot 450, situated on traditional Tla’amin, Klahoose, and Homalco territories and encompassing several traditional villages and seasonal sites, continues to be a site of contention dating from when land speculator and Victoria politician Robert Paterson Rithet purchased the timber lease under “dubious circumstances” in 1874.

"[10] On June 10, 2021, in light of the finding of unmarked gravesites and the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, of which Powell was a leading proponent of its creation, the City of Victoria announced the cancellation of its upcoming Canada Day festivities.