The Aboriginal Newspaper of British Columbia & Yukon Published August 16, 1999 Convention attracts protesters! Members of the Native Youth Movement and off-reserve residents protested outside the historic joint session of the Assembly of First Nations and National Congreee of American Indians. The protesters made a point of reminding the chiefs who travelled to Vancouver in July that there are issues they haven't addressed. Photo Credit: Paul Barnsley Penticton airport closed for a day by band protest by Tracey K Bonneau Tsimshian resist extinguishment by Jeff nagel Province accused of undermining treaty process by Dana Wagg Ancient island village designated historic site By Marie Burke Healthy adolescent development - column by Gil Lerat On the western edge of Indian Country- column By Keith Mathew News in brief: National chief raps DFO Shuswap bands file for judicial review New Native Studies course offered in Vancouver Program renewed Province rapped by judge for bad faith dealing Here is a full list of additional stories featured in the August, 1999 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. Minister blasts Liberal leader Liberals pledge treaty referendum Bob Nault replaces Jane Stewart National chief raps DFO Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Phil Fontaine condemned what the AFN is calling an intense campaign of harassment of Aboriginal fishermen. Boats manned by members of the Cheam First Nation are on the water exercising the Aboriginal right to fish which was defined by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Sparrow decision, the AFN claims, and Department of Fisheries and Ocean officials are chasing the boats with helicopters and their own boats. "It is reprehensible that a federal department disregard the law of the land in such a flagrant manner," Fontaine said. "Court decisions such as the Sparrow decision have recognized First Nations' rights in harvesting, such as fisheries. Yet, the department single-mindedly takes court decisions and interprets them through policies that have a total disregard for the court decisions. The government doesn't respect its own legal institutions yet they expect us to respect administrative institutions." Shuswap bands file for judicial review Two Shuswap (Secwepmc) bands filed an application for a judicial review of sport fishing regulations in late July, saying the regulations allow the sport fishing of coho salmon despite the fact the fish populations are dangerously low. The Neskonlith band and the Adams Lake band filed the application in Federal Court. Shuswap Nation Tribal Council Chairman Art Manuel said the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has done an inadequate job of protecting fish stocks. "We need every coho on the spawning grounds in our territory to prevent the loss of our local coho fishery and the impacts on our traditions and culture forever," Manuel said. "This is our right and this is about principles underlying the management of the B.C. salmon fishery, not about sports fishers. We will fight for the protection of these precious coho before it's too late because without them our rights are hollow." New Native Studies course offered in Vancouver Langara College, working with the Institute of Indigenous Government, will offer Greater Vancouver's first Native Studies program beginning in January of next year. Forty students, both full and part time will be able to enrol in the course. "The program is designed to provide direct employment options for graduates," said Dave Pearson, the First Nation education coordinator at Langara. " We consulted with a variety of public and private sector organizations to find out the kinds of job-ready skills they needed and these have been incorporated into the curriculum." Langara College, is located in central Vancouver. Program renewed The Visions for the Future program has been renewed for its second year, Small Business, Tourism and Culture Minister Ian Waddell announced in late July. The $700,000 program provides conferences across the province where Aboriginal youth can find information and guidance on career planning, entrepreneurship and education. "Many of the challenges faced by young people today are compounded for those who live in smaller, remote communities," Waddell said. "The Visions program addresses serious youth employment concerns and motivates young people to achieve their long-term personal and professional goals." Province rapped by judge for bad faith dealing In a ruling that appears to lend credibility to claims by Native leaders in British Columbia that the province has acted in bad faith in treaty negotiations, a provincial court judge ruled on Aug. 2 that the provincial government acted in bad faith. British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Glen Parett ruled that the government failed to disclose documents and abused its power by removing a timber-harvesting license from Prince Rupert-based Carrier Lumber Company. Minister of Forests David Zirnhelt is under fire as a result of the decision. The Opposition Liberals are calling for Zirnhelt to resign and for a public inquiry. Liberal leaders Gordon Campbell said he's never seen a more toughly-worded decision from a judge criticizing a government. The judge said the ministry failed to produce more than 200 documents. Zirnhelt was not minister at the time the license was cancelled but Campbell believes the minister should resign because he's responsible for his ministry's actions. Tsimshian resist extinguishment By Jeff Nagel Raven's Eye Writer TERRACE Tsimshian people want to have some level of control over their entire traditional territory around Terrace under an eventual treaty. Under a lands and resources proposal tabled in treaty talks, Tsimshian chief negotiator Gerald Wesley indicated the Kitselas and Kitsumkalum bands don't want to simply duplicate the treaty achieved by their neighbors, the Nisga'a. In that deal the Nisga'a got about eight per cent of their traditional territory as core lands but gave up control of most of the rest, apart from hunting and fishing rights in a larger area. The Tsimshian are instead suggesting that in addition to a substantial area of core lands surrounding Terrace, they'd also be part of boards or panels with authority over land use throughout the local traditional territory. The two bands claim much of the lower and mid Skeena River valley and tributaries in northwestern British Columbia. The other five Tsimshian bands are scattered along the north coast from Prince Rupert to Kitasoo. Wesley likened the approach to a blend of the Nisga'a model of selecting a core lands area and the Gitxsan model in the upper Skeena area, where Native people there are trying to negotiate co-management over all their territory instead of just core lands. "We want to find a way to recognize 100 per cent of our territory," Wesley said. Provincial negotiators have always leaned towards the land selection model, but it presents difficulties for Aboriginal groups. First Nations families trace their ties to specific areas of the land and forcing a group to decide whose land is in a treaty and whose land is out can be highly divisive. The Nisga'a are still struggling with dissidents from their westernmost village of Kincolith, where some people feel key traditional territories were left out of the treaty. Most controversial is the Tsimshian assertion that they don't want to completely give up their Aboriginal rights. The Nisga'a, in their treaty, agree to release all Aboriginal rights they could ever be entitled to in exchange for clearly laid out treaty rights. But the Tsimshian propose that instead of agreeing to release or extinguish their Aboriginal rights, they'd agree to not invoke them as long as senior governments abide by the treaty. "We want to keep an ace up our sleeves," Wesley explained. "I don't see that we're ever going to give up our Aboriginal rights." Provincial negotiator Lyle Viereck said that's going to be difficult because the province's goal is to gain long-term certainty on as much Crown land as possible. "We don't see the treaty resulting in a bunch of undefined rights that sit out there and could be activated at any time," Viereck said. "That doesn't give us certainty." He was also uncomfortable with the proposals for shared land-use control over the entire territory. Exactly who will have the final say on land control and development would have to be spelled out, he said. "We can't have jurisdictional regimes that leaves who's in control unclear." Other Tsimshian proposals that will be contentious are their suggestion that a share of municipal and regional district property taxes collected in their territory go to the Tsimshian government. That was just part of a list of financial transfers they want under a treaty. They're also seeking: * Compensation for historic removal of resources and use of the land. * A cash treaty settlement. * Training money to prepare the Tsimshian for the jobs of governing themselves. * An agreement to share resource royalty revenue, even on areas outside their core lands. * A stream of money to help implement the treaty over 20 years. The Tsimshian insistence on a very decentralized treaty giving each village maximum autonomy remains a "vexing problem," said the province's chief negotiator. Lyle Viereck said the province wants to avoid ending up with the equivalent of several different treaties for the Tsimshian, and hopes the end result will be somewhat centralized and efficient to run. Viereck said it also raises questions of whether to table an offer to the entire group or to individual bands. "Do we put offers forward in stages or to the First Nation as a whole?" he asked. The decentralized approach has been key to maintaining unity among the Tsimshian by promising each band customized treaty options. The seven disparate bands - which extend inland as far as Terrace and up and down the coast from Prince Rupert to Kitasoo - have very different issues and likely wouldn't be at the table together without the concept. "Central government won't work for us," said Kitselas band negotiator Mel Bevan. "Autonomy is the only thing that will work." "But even though we're talking about autonomy, it can all be done in one treaty," he said. Province accused of undermining treaty process By Dana Wagg Raven's Eye Writer NANAIMO Angry Vancouver Island First Nations vow they'll use legal and direct action to stop the provincial government if it presses ahead with a plan to give land that's under claim to timber giant MacMillan Bloedel (MB). The proposal compensates the company for timber rights and investment lost to new parks and protected areas on the West Coast since 1991. It stems from an $84 million settlement agreement signed by the government and MB on March 16 following out-of-court negotiations prompted by an MB lawsuit. At the government's request, MB selected land instead of cash. The company selected 32,000 hectares of Crown land and said it wants fewer logging restrictions on 91,000 hectares it already owns. If the deal goes through, the land transferred to MB would become private and free of costly Forest Practices Code restrictions and not subject to provincial stumpage fees. Thirty-eight large parks - including 14 in Clayoquot Sound - and upwards of 35 smaller ones were created from land taken from MB, which lost logging rights on about 7,793 hectares of timber licenses and on 43,877 hectares of Crown land in two tree farm licenses. The company lost about 5.75 million cubic metres of old growth timber from licenses and a 100,000 cubic metre annual allowable cut from other Crown forest land. (One cubic metre equals the size of a telephone pole.) "The public wants more protected areas and parks, yet people want a stable forest industry in the province," said MB's director of corporate communications, Virginia Aulin. "People need to be willing to make trade-offs." The proposed settlement would impact a host of First Nations including members of the Hul'qum'num Treaty Group and the Victoria-based Te'mexw Treaty Association. They're planning to file requests for judicial reviews if the province doesn't back down. The Te'mexw, who are at Stage 4 (agreement-in-principle) of the six-stage treaty talks, say they were sandbagged by the settlement and the province acted in bad faith by offering treaty table land to MB. The province maintains it wouldn't transfer land if it undermined treaty talks. First Nations potentially affected include Chemainus, Nanaimo, Malahat, Cowichan and Huu-aye-aht on Vancouver Island and Sechelt and Sliammon First Nations on the Sunshine Coast. This giveaway of Crown lands to MacMillan Bloedel sends the treaty process down the tubes, said a Te'mexw news release. "The province agree to transfer virtually all Crown lands on southeastern Vancouver Island to MacMillan Bloedel. First Nations on south Vancouver Island have been trying to get a fair treaty since 1850. Now, in one year of private negotiations, the province has given a corporation what amounts to a treaty," said the release. Native leaders say the province is showing contempt for its legal obligations to First Nations. "It's clear I was lied to at the treaty table," Songhees Chief Robert Sam said. "There are no treaties without land. This means the province is risking the whole treaty process," Nanoose Hereditary Chief Wilson Bob said. "We will go to court just like MacMillan Bloedel to get a good deal. This is one of the many forms of direct action we can take. Remember, there is only one highway going north," Beecher Bay Chief Burt Charles said. Te'mexw coordinator Linda Vanden Berg said the nations' complaints aren't with MB. "MacBlo has been so cooperative. They met with us right away. They gave us documents. They were marvelous," she said. "We can't fault MacBlo, we fault the province. MacBlo is not our enemy here." After the proposed land swap was heavily criticized, the province asked Victoria lawyer David Perry to hold a series of public meetings and to report back. Meetings were held in nine communities in June. Reaction was overwhelmingly against the plan. At a highly-charged meeting in Nanaimo, Clarence Dennis of Huu-aye-aht First Nation warned in a passionate, seven-minute speech, there'd be "war" if the plan went ahead. He said he and his wife are upset the scheme threatens their dream of building a longhouse near Sarita Lake, north of Bamfield on the West Coast, on land that has been in his family for thousands of years. He said they've been negotiating for four years to get approval for the longhouse only to find out that land on which they'd been hoping to smoke their own fish and grow their own food is included in the proposed compensation package. Dennis said he feared the site would be logged and noted the area between Bamfield and Port Alberni is already heavily logged, blaming it for having driven salmon in 37 local streams to extinction. "They are not going to take any more wood from our land," he said. "We're going to put up armed roadblocks, we're going to stop MacMillan Bloedel from taking any more wood from our territory." During the meeting, strong support had been expressed for resolving Aboriginal concerns. Dennis, the last speaker, thanked them and ended by noting Huu-aye-aht will ask for a judicial review if the province doesn't scrap its plan. The deal also faces strong objections from environmentalists, union leaders and some ministry of forest employees, who say it amounts to privatization of a public resource. It has been attacked by the Sierra Legal Defence Fund (SLDF), the Sierra Club of B.C. and the Forest Action Network. It's a lopsided deal, which heavily favors MB, according to Sierra Legal and the Sierra Club. Lisa Matthaus, Sierra Club forest policy analyst, said, "This is a great deal for MB and a bad deal for B.C. The value of the trees on those lands, assuming MB logs sustainably, is at least $263 million." SLDF executive director Karen Wristen estimated the annual loss in stumpage revenues at $6 million. "That means, on the first logging pass alone, the total loss of tax revenue could be as much as $480 million," she said. Built-in cost savings in the deal are worth an estimated $21 million a year to MB, according to a Sierra Legal backgrounder, allowing MB to recover the $84 million settlement within five years and then earn an annual $21 million profit. Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gordon Wilson told The Vancouver Sun he was "very unsettled" by the proposed deal. "With that land quantum coming out of public land holdings, it is going to be extremely difficult to not run into conflict with First Nations' demands," he said. Two other heavyweight provincial cabinet ministers have also weighed in on the privatization debate: Deputy Premier Dan Miller and Forestry Minister David Zirnhelt. Faced with the concerns of First Nations and environmentalists, MB has softened the hard-line position it took in April, shortly after the agreement was announced. MB chief forester Bill Cafferata had responded to criticisms saying "We made a deal in good faith with government to accept land to the extent practical. So, we're not going to go back on a deal. A deal's a deal." Since then MB has done an about-face. It now says it will accept cash. And, in a surprise announcement MB said it was willing to surrender some forest lands if the province agreed to change some rules. "We are willing to give up the lands for treaty settlements, community use, conservation and other purposes. In return we need meaningful reforms that will allow us to be more responsive to customer needs," said Cafferata. "This province, and this country, developed through a series of land grants to individuals, companies and communities. Aboriginal people were largely excluded from this. They have witnessed the economic advantages enjoyed by those, who obtained these grants and, properly they are now seeking to obtain control of their own lands and resources to enjoy similar advantages," said MB, in a prepared statement. "We are prepared to work with First Nations and the provincial government to expedite treaty settlements. We are looking for innovative means that could, during the pre-treaty period, direct forest revenues to First Nations. We believe we will be able to assist in building First Nations' economic capacity in a pre-treaty period and we are prepared to make that objective a priority," it said. MB's announcement was welcomed by Chief Joe Mathias and Grand Chief Edward John of the First Nations Summit. Mathias praised MB for "openly supporting the B.C. treaty negotiation process. We hope the rest of the business community, governments and the environmental community follow similar courses of action." The Summit said, in a prepared statement, it hoped the government's decision to negotiate compensation with third parties indicated it would "discuss compensation for past and present infringements of Aboriginal rights and title with First Nations at treaty tables. To date, both the federal and provincial governments have refused to negotiate compensation with First Nations." MB, Canada's largest forest company, controls 1.1 million hectares of land, most of it on Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands. It was at the centre of Clayoquot Sound's forestry war and seems to want those days behind it forever. Years of pitched battles with environmentalists forced MB into a new way of logging. The fight was costly for the company and activists. At its peak, in 1993, hundreds of people were arrested and thrown in jail. "Certainly we are not happy about re-entering the conflict zone," Cafferata said after the proposed compensation plan was ripped into at the first of a series of public meetings on the proposal. "We keep getting nailed with this notion we are out to get as much land as we can," he said, noting MB didn't ask for land as compensation. Ancient island village designated historic site By Marie Burke Raven's Eye Writer SMITHERS The Healthy adolescent development By Gil Lerat Raven's Eye Columnist VANCOUVER The past couple of months' columns have looked at why adolescents choose to drink and use drugs, as well as profiling the typical adolescent who may be prone to chemical dependency. Before we can truly understand why teens make these choices, we must first begin to view what healthy adolescent development is. The primary goal in adolescence is to develop the capacity for independent thought and independent action, for this is how we become adults. Adolescents need to complete four major responsibilities: a) individuation; b) separation; c) autonomy and d) cooperation. Accomplishing these tasks is an unconscious process. Let's view each of these tasks separately because it's important to understand the necessity of independence in order for healthy development. Individuation means "I am separate from my parents, I am different. I am more than just my mom and dad's son or daughter. I am me; a separate and unique person." As I stated in an earlier column, most adolescents are confused and have no sense of who they are. This is why adolescence is one of the most trying times in our lives. Adolescents share other people's identity through relationships or attachments. "That's Tom and Darlene's daughter, Sharon" or "Sharon is a student at Little Rock High School." Adolescents struggle for a personal identity. Separation means "I have to separate from my family. My parents have controlled my environment all my life. If I'm going to become an adult, I have to break away from them and their influence. I have to start thinking for myself and not seeing the world through their eyes, and in order for me to do that, I need my own space." So how does this separation take place? This is when they don't want to be seen with their parents in public. This is the time when most arguments begin to take place between parents and teens. One of the reasons is because in order to become independent people they must experiment with roles and behaviors that parents may not always approve of or accept. Becoming independent means thinking for yourself and learning consequences, learning what's in your best interest. Adolescents need to start to evaluate the world based on their own experiences and to critically evaluate people, places and situations to develop the ability to think independently. Autonomy means "I have the right to self govern." This occurs when adolescents start to develop their own values. The adolescent begins to realize, "I have the right to decide what is right and wrong for me; what's good or bad for me, what I do and don't believe in." Adolescents stop accepting everything their parents say just because they said it. Cooperation means adolescents figure out that if they are going to make it in society, they have to cooperate with other people. That the world is not all about them, but about a collection of people trying to accomplish their own goals. In conclusion, full healthy development is complete when adolescents finally get to the point where they begin to see the whole picture. If they haven't been given enough space to go through individuation, separation and autonomy, or if they were too numbed out from chemicals to go through them, they will struggle with these tasks and to act out that struggle until the time that they abstain and start to deal with reality, and in some cases, that happens to people in their 20s, in others, to people in their 30s, 40s or, unfortunately, never. If these past three columns have left you wanting more, most of the information that I have given you comes from a manual that I keep in my personal library, Preventing Adolescent Relapse by Tammy Bell. It is a good resource book for parents, teachers and counsellors. On the western edge of Indian Country By Keith Mathew Raven's Eye Columnist It sure has been busy in British Columbia this summer. Here are just some of the events I have had a chance to attend: The joint meeting of the Assembly of First Nations and the Congress of American Indians and the historic signing between the two national assemblies of Indians in Vancouver; the Canadian Fastball championships in Westbank; and the B.C. Elders Gathering in Kamloops. The political climate here in the interior has been heating up along with the weather. Although not technically in the interior, the Sto:lo Nation in the Chilliwack area, specifically the members of the Cheam First Nation, have been involved in asserting their Aboriginal rights to the first runs of salmon for the season. They were also among the First Nations that demonstrated outside of the provincial government's Ministry of Environment offices in Kamloops in mid-July. That is notable because the Sto:lo Nation is currently involved in the British Columbia treaty process and Cheam is a member. There are rumblings that they are about to leave the negotiations but are concerned about the fallout with other Sto:lo First Nations. The Esketemc First Nation (formerly the Alkali Lake Indian Band) has sent notice out that they are leaving the treaty process as well. They have reached an impasse with the provincial and federal governments and walked away from the process and served notice that they will be asserting jurisdiction over their territory within the Secwepemc Nation. The Shuswap Nation Tribal Council and Chief Art Manuel have pledged their support in this dispute. Westbank First Nation is threatening to log without a license within its territory as well and Westabnk is also involved in treaty negotiations. The band is arguing that it has never given up title to the land and that it is seeing millions of dollars in timber leaving its lands without so much as a single job to compensate. Contrast that with the fact that the provincial government is contemplating giving up money for timber licenses to the former MacMillan Bloedel forest company (now owned by Weyerhaeuser Canada) to compensate them for the fact that they lost timber in the protected areas strategy implemented by the government a couple of years back. In my mind the principle being argued by the Westbank First Nation is that Aboriginal title isn't worth a thing while timber licenses with companies are considered sacrosanct by a provincial government (or federal government for that matter) unwilling to talk compensation to First Nations. Indian governments must first prove Aboriginal title to the land according to provincial officials. That is the proverbial riddle wrapped within an enigma for First Nations looking for an answer to land claims in their respective territories. On one side you have the First Nations participating in the treaty process who are signed on to a lopsided land claims transaction and on the other you have the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs who are adamantly opposed to negotiations the way they are structured right now. Provincial and federal officials would never utter the dreaded "c" word to First Nations in the treaty process. Presumably, compensation is a four-letter word that will never see the light of day in the current process because it would drive costs for settlement up considerably. In my mind the process is about managing Aboriginal peoples' expectations. So-called militant First Nations in the Interior Alliance maintain a hard line on land claim negotiations while bands and tribal groups in the treaty process talk about negotiation instead of litigation and roadblocks. The gap between the coastal groups and Interior First Nations has only been closed once in recent history. In 1969 the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs saw the only modern day alliance between the two groups. The fight then was with the federal government who tabled a proposal called the White Paper that would have effectively wiped Indians off the map and absorbed us into mainstream Canadian society. Federal governments, having learned their lesson, have been slowly chipping away at rights by devolving programs back to First Nations such as health programs and training dollars for First Nations people. Where does the fiduciary duty of the federal government lie when these programs are given up to First Nations? But in the end, all First Nations will be legislated out of existence by Bill C-31. Ultimately it will take Indians off of the government's hands by taking status or treaty rights away by legislation. I was at a workshop hosted by the Indian Affairs Research and Analysis Directorate recently in Victoria which was hosted by the provincial government and they can prove using statistics that Indian populations across Canada will plateau at about the year 2015 and after that they will begin to steadily decrease. Putucw (poo-tookw ñ or 'see ya' in Shuswap).