Page 5 Chatter - May

THE CARCROSS TAGISH FIRST NATION
wants to have the remains of two First Nation men, executed during the Gold Rush, reburied as soon as possible after construction crews unearthed the burial site in Dawson City Yukon. Elders say no DNA testing is necessary. Archeologists identified the remains, which date back to the Klondike Gold Rush, as being those of Aboriginal men, and they are believed to be of the Nantuck brothers, Jim and Dawson, who were hanged in August 1899 for shooting two prospectors, one fatally, on the McClintock River, reports CBC News. Two other Nantuck brothers were also convicted in the shooting, but they died in jail of tuberculosis before they could be executed.

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INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE HUMAN
remains found in an orchard in Vernon, B.C. came from an old First Nations burial site. A contractor who was clearing an area to plant new trees found one bone, and when an anthropologist came on site several more bones were discovered, including a skull. The site was taped off and has been turned over to the provincial coroner’s and archeology offices. Police have been in contact with the Okanagan Indian Band to tell them of the findings.

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ABORIGINAL LEADERS FROM NORTHERN
Manitoba announced April 13 they’ll open a health clinic in Thompson this summer, reports the Winnipeg Sun. Grand Chief David Harper, the head of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, said MKO hopes the health clinic will complement the government-run health care system. “Every community should have a nursing station or some kind of hospital facility fully equipped with the proper doctors and nurses. It’s not too much to ask,” said Bill Traverse, the Assembly of First Nations’ regional chief for Manitoba. Harper said the MKO clinic will have five doctors who will provide second opinions to people not satisfied with the medical advice they receive in remote communities. Harper made the announcement after an emotional call for better care from the family of Kirby Wood, 28, who died in the nursing station at Manto Sipi Cree Nation in January after what the family described as inadequate care.

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TSAWOUT FIRST NATION FISHERY
biologist Ian Bruce says the future of the Goldstream salmon run is in doubt after 30,000 litres of gasoline flowed into the river in April when a tanker overturned on the Malahat Highway. “On a scale of one to 10, it’s pretty bad. It’s a 9.5,” said Bruce. “There are dead fish up and down the river.” The goldstreamgazette.com said impacted are chum, coho, chinook and steelhead salmon. The spill also closed the clam, oyster and mussel harvest temporarily in Finlayson Arm and Saanich Inlet. Just hours before the crash, Tsawout First Nations members and Goldstream hatchery volunteers had released 8,000 coho salmon into the river. The hatchery had earlier released 20,000 salmon. “That is about 30,000 coho that are not safe and are at risk,” said Peter McCully, a fisheries biologist with the Goldstream hatchery. “It’s heartbreaking.” He said a huge amount of work has been wiped out by one spill. Tsawout First Nations fisheries manager Dan Claxton said thousands of chum fry and coho smolts may have perished. “It’s just devastating to see that many fish gone. If you look under the banks and logs, there are lots of dead fish,” Claxton said. “Our First Nation relies heavily on the chum. We harvest chum to fill our smoke houses to get us through the winter.”

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FIRST NATIONS AND FORESTRY  
companies lobbying for changes to the Ontario Forest Tenure Modernization Act attended a Toronto consultation via videoconference. Leaders of Treaties 9 and 5, represented by Nishnawbe Aski Nation, said the legislation “largely fails” First Nations. But they are concerned their comments are falling on deaf ears. “It is very clear that Ontario does not take the concerns of First Nations seriously, with regards to the forestry tenure reform process,” said Grand Chief Stan Beardy. “Yet again, Ontario solicits input then unilaterally makes decisions without consideration of those who are directly impacted.” The best approach is to implement a community forestry tenure system putting First Nations in charge of managing forests on their homelands, he said.

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CHESTER BROWN, THE MÉTIS GRAPHIC
artist that brought us a graphic novel about Louis Riel, has just released his newest endeavour, a graphic novel that explores paying for sex. “Paying for It is billed as ‘a comic-strip memoir about being a john,’ and documents the author’s assignations with more than 20 Toronto sex workers,” reads an online review of the piece by The Walrus, a Canadian magazine. “The book begins with a record of Brown’s slow disillusionment with the concept of romantic love, then follows his carefully planned and budgeted forays into the world of being a john.” The novel sets out the case for decriminalizing prostitution by using Brown’s own experiences. The Walrus contends that Brown’s story “becomes not so much about people, but rather about the larger mechanics of their relationships, and the thorny sorting out of individual rights that results when sex and commerce collide.”