Editorial: Great hosts: good job B.C by Paul Barnsley
Oh so close for Team B.C. by Paul Barnsley
Fish war threatens Native fishing rights by Linda Dumont
News in Brief
Gustafsen sentence prompts protest
Full page ad blitz attacks Nisga'a AIP
Neskonlith ask for Coho injunction
Here is a full list of additional stories featured in the August, 1997 issue of Raven's Eye. If you are not receiving your own copy of Raven's Eye, then you have missed all this information.
Click here for Raven's Eye subscription information.
· Fontaine takes Mercredi's job
· Vancouver's new police chief has ties to First Nations
· First Nations women honored
· Guest column - Business as usual
· North American Indigenous Games wrap up
· Angela Chalmers calls it a career
· Lacrosse hall names inductees
· The Rez returns to television
· Mural captures Coast Salish history
On July 30 Judge Bruce Josephson sentenced Jones William Ignace (Wolverine) to four-and-a-half years in jail and also jailed other defendants charged as a result of the 31-day Gustafsen Lake confrontation.
Supporters of the defendants traveled from the Surrey courtroom to downtown Vancouver to protest the verdicts outside the Trade and Convention Centre where the Assembly of First Nations 18th annual general assembly was in progress. They attracted the attention of several of the many reporters who were covering the AFN leadership vote.
Protesters charge that the RCMP mishandled the situation and that the protesters had the right to occupy land they claim was never lawfully surrendered. They accused Canada of ignoring its own law in order to suppress a legitimate land claim.
A group of Nuxalk people who disagree with the widely-publicized stand that Chief Ed Moody and others have taken against logging on their traditional homeland were outside the front door of the Trade and Convention Centre early on July 30.
"Out of 55 Elders they've probably got, I'd say maybe, seven Elders that support them. That's quite a big difference for them coming out in the world and saying they speak on behalf of the Nuxalk Nation," said Mary Tweedie of Bella Coola. "I'm sorry, they don't speak on behalf of myself, my husband, my kids. I want my kids and my grandchildren to grow up in their beautiful community and if these eco-terrorists have their way, we'll be a ghost town."
The paddlers were a few minutes late for their scheduled 9 a.m. arrival at Victoria's inner Harbor to herald the beginning of the North American Indigenous Games and host Willy Seymour had to fill a bit of time at the microphone to keep the crowd of more than 10,000 occupied.
"I know I'm not supposed to say anything controversial," Seymour said, "but, what the heck."
He then talked about what a beautiful place the Victoria waterfront is and about its rightful owners.
"The rent is overdue," Seymour said, to the delight of the many Aboriginal people in the audience, with a mischievous glance at the government representatives in attendance sitting nearby. "About 150 year ago, the government paid a rent of 342 Hudson's Bay blankets for the use of the port. That was the end of it. I guess, as those blankets disintegrated, so did the rental agreement."
The Citizen's Voice on Native Claims, a group of businessmen, Reform Party supporters and other conservatives, wants a referendum held among the general population of British Columbia before the Nisga'a Agreement-in-Principle is formalized.
Native leaders note that the group claims to have fairness at the top of its agenda, saying all the people of the province should have a say on an agreement that will help compensate peoples who are now in the minority for sins and land thefts committed against them by people who are now in the majority. Several leaders wondered just how fair the results of that referendum would be or just how fair the group really wants it to be.
Government officials so far are ignoring the group which spent a substantial amount of money to make its point of view known, placing full-page ads in every major daily in the province late last month.
A Federal Court has not yet rendered a decision on a request for an injunction against the harvest of Coho salmon that was filed by fishing officials with the Neskonlith band.
Chiefs and representatives attended court in late July hoping to hear a ruling. Instead they were told the ruling would be delayed.
"The interests of First Nations in the Pacific fishery is second
only to conservation as a result of the Sparrow decision and we are disappointed
that the governments have not recognized this in this instance," John
said. "We hope that all sides in this current 'salmon war' will come
to their senses and realize that the conservation of the resource must be
the top priority."
Editorial: Great hosts - good job BC
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Editor
Congratulations to the new national chief, Phil Fontaine. For the next three years, we'll be following up on the many promises you made as a candidate. If you keep them, we'll tell the world. Likewise, if you don't. Good luck to you. If you do well then Aboriginal people should see better days. Right?
And congratulations to the participants in the North American Indigenous Games - winners all, especially the organizing committee who put together a spectacular effort that made it a pleasure for all of us who attended. People from all corners of the continent had a chance to see where the new centre of the universe is located. Does anybody remember a place called Toronto?
Speaking of congratulations: Introducing Bitter Root and welcome to its controversial author Arnie Louie.
On the facing page, you'll see the new Raven's Eye feature that we expect will become a regular fixture. The monthly space we'll provide to Mr. Louie is going to be filled with the not-so-private thoughts of this outspoken Okanagan Nation member. We won't always agree with what he has to say - and neither will you, we suspect - but we'll defend to the death his right to say them.
Louie is a representative of one point of view in British Columbia. We don't necessarily endorse that point of view but we sure do enjoy hearing it expressed with such force.
We'd enjoy it even more if other people with equally strong opinions wrote us letters or submitted their own columns in response - let's get a dialogue going, a debate about the essential issues in the Aboriginal community in British Columbia, across Canada and even, if you want, around the world.
Louie decided to call his column Bitter Root. The title refers to traditional medicines that taste really bad but work really good. From the title, you can guess what his writing style will be like even before you let your eyes wander over to Pg. 5. He believes that First Nations communities need to take a little bitter medicine in order to progress.
That's something he knows a bit about, by the way. Arnie Louie is recovering from- not 'suffering from' but recovering, he'll tell you - cancer. He had to resign as the Executive Director of the Okanagan Tribal Council in June of 1996 because of his condition. The former Oosoyoos Indian Band councillor says he's worked in the band council system both as a councillor and as an administrator. And his involvement in tribal council business means he has an intimate understanding of many sides of the system.
When his illness forced him to take time away from the system, this prolific writer went looking for ways to expend some of his considerable energy and he found us.
Louie believes the system needs to be completely reformed - if not eliminated - and he's not shy about telling you why.
Our new columnist is confident that his recovery will continue. He says he plans to secure a nomination to run as the AFN British Columbia vice-chief the next time around, if all goes well.
The exposure this space will provide may aid him in reaching that goal. We know it's one reason why he contacted us; he didn't try to fool anybody.
But his opinions will entertain and inform our readers: if he's using us, it's very much a quid pro quo.
If you agree with what he has to say, write in support. If you feel he needs to be set straight, get in touch and we'll give you the chance.
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Editor
VICTORIA
The host team had to settle for second place in this year's North American Indigenous Games even though Team B.C. earned the most gold medals overall.
Team Saskatchewan's 840 athletes earned 2,967 points in the overall team standings to claim their 4th straight NAIG team title. The runners-up from British Columbia First Nations had 2,477 points, earned by 690 athletes.
Alberta was third, then Ontario, Manitoba, Kahnawake and the Yukon, with a very strong showing from a team that arrived in Victoria with fewer than 60 members.
The games kicked off with a spectacular opening day on Aug. 3. Early that Sunday morning the inner harbor in the provincial capital was jammed with onlookers as the tribal journey made a stop in Victoria before continuing on to Washington state. The ocean-going canoes from various coastal communities paddled into the harbor and were welcomed in the traditional manner by the Coast Salish chiefs.
Later that day, across town at the University of Victoria, the athletes marched - team by team - around the track during the games' official opening ceremonies.
The next morning competition began. The cultural village in Sidney, a twenty minute drive north of the main games site, opened on Monday as well. The cultural and atheltic sides of the Indigenous Games continued throughout the week until the closing ceremonies on Aug. 10, during which the 2,000 volunteers, the 5,000 athletes and the 3,000 cultural participants, 32 games staff and the government and corporate sponsors were honored.
Team Saskatchewan, as the top team, was presented with a carved wooden paddle which was painted with a killer whale design. NAIG executive director Alex Nelson made the presentation to Saskatchewan Chef de Mission, Lorne Arcand.
British Columbia athletes won a games-high 117 gold medals. Team B.C. also picked up 67 silver medals and 53 bronze.
Team B.C. had several multiple gold medal winners. Among them (all final results were not available at press time) were: swimmers Gary Trask, of Fort Nelson, Leanne Wilkinson, of Cowichan Bay, Ashley Boucher, Lesa Grant, Nina Chickite of Campbell River, Cece Jimmie and Neil Atleo of Victoria; canoeists Emmy Morris of Brentwood Bay, George Horne of Brentwood, Francis Williams of Chiliwack, Gordon Seymour and Anna Morris of Sidney; track and field athletes Dave Davis of Nanaimo, Keona Joe of Vernon, Leanne Tull of Abbotsford; wrestler Melody Watts of Prince Rupert and boxer Dan Everts of Black Creek.
Next stop for the best Aboriginal athletes in North America is Fargo, North Dakota in 1999.
By Linda Dumont
Raven's Eye Writer
WILLIAMS LAKE
Aboriginal tribal groups from three states and the province of B.C. are collectively suing their governments over the lack of a salmon treaty. The Tsilquot'in National Government is bringing the lawsuit before the courts.
"We are a well organized tribal council and we will take the initiative to protect fundamental Aboriginal rights." explained Dan Wise, issues co-ordinator for the Tsilquot'in.
The Tsilquot'in Nation People live in a non-urban area near Williams Lake, near British Columbia. They follow a traditional lifestyle. Salmon is their staple food. It is dried, canned and frozen for year-round use.
They and other Aboriginal people from Alaska, Washington State, Oregon, and British Columbia are concerned about the salmon war between commercial fishermen from Canada and the United States They believe the current impasse threatens the spawning streams in their territories.
The Alaskan fishermen have been taking more than their share of spawning fish, according to federal Department of Fisheries officials in Vancouver. Alaska agreed that it would take only 120,000 sockeye in the Noyes area but this year to date Canadian officials say they have taken 600,000. These are Canadian sockeye, Fisheries officials say. Canadian government officials accuse the Alaskan government of sanctioning the over-fishing.
Canadian fishermen in the southern part of B.C. threatened to retaliate by taking more than they should of the spawning fish headed for the Frazer river. These fish are the food fish for many of the Aboriginal people in the interior of B.C., including the Tsilquot'in Nation.
This is the fourth year without a salmon treaty. To date, Canada has exerted pressure on the United States to come up with a treaty, but has been unsuccessful. This year there was a stakeholders process where shareholders from Canada and the U.S. had to come up with recommendations for a treaty. That process failed.
On July 25, following the blockade of an Alaskan ferry off Prince Rupert, two envoys were appointed: William Rucklehouse to represent the United States federal government and Dr. David Strangway to represent Canada. Their mandate is to come up with recommendations for a specific salmon treaty by the end of this year.
"There is a specific salmon commission that negotiates with the U.S. and there are First Nations people involved in that," said Diane Lake from the Department of Fisheries. "Aboriginal people are part of the process in trying to hammer out an agreement, but so far they have not been successful."
The lack of a salmon treaty threatens Aboriginal rights to fish for food, something that ignores Canadian law as it was spelled in the
Sparrow decision.
"According to Sparrow, a supreme court case in 1990, the first priority in fishing is conservation to ensure that there are enough spawning salmon to replenish the stock, the second priority is Native subsistence fishing or food fish, and the third priority is commercial fishing." Tsilquot'in spokesman Wise explained.
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