The Aboriginal Newspaper of British
Columbia & Yukon
Published
December 11, 2000
Best Male Artist: George
Leach
At Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards held November 24, 2000
Toronto Skydome.
Photo Credit: Bert Crowfoot
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At Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards held November 24, 2000 Toronto Skydome. Photo Credit: Bert Crowfoot |
They call him Long Ago Person Found
by Troy HunterFate of legislature murals in hands of advisory panel
by Cheryl PettenRemote reserves can't keep physicians
by Paul BarnsleyReport says residential school damage is fading
by Paul BarnsleyScholarship winner studies at MIT
Shrewd election for Chretien
by Keith Matthew
Raven's Eye columnistThis is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the December, 2000 issue of Raven's Eye. If you are not receiving your own copy of Raven's Eye, then you have missed out on a lot.
They call him Long Ago Person Found
By Troy Hunter
Raven's Eye Writer
VICTORIA
Cheryl Bryce of the Lekwammen Nation welcomed the First Nations
delegates from the Champagne and Aishihik nation to the traditional
territory of the Songhees on Nov. 30. The reason for their visit
to Metulia (Victoria) was to announce the progress of research
being done on human remains that were found at the edge of a
glacier in Northwestern British Columbia.
On Aug. 14, 1999, a party of three non-Aboriginal sheep hunters
found artifacts and human remains in the Tatsenshini-Alsek Park
in the northwest corner of B.C., near the Yukon. The hunters
had traveled from the southeast corner of B.C. to get to the
park, a distance of some 3,000 km.
William Hanlon, a teacher from Elkford and co-discoverer of the
remains, addressed an audience of several hundred people at the
University of Victoria during this, the first public release
of findings.
"There was a number of sequences of coincidences that occurred"
that led to the discovery, he said. They had won their limited
entry hunting tickets through a lottery and weather and animal
patterns led them to the high ground far above the tree line.
As soon as was possible, the hunters notified authorities at
the Beringia Centre, a museum in the Yukon, about their discovery
of the remains. Subsequently, the Yukon Heritage Branch, Champagne
Aishihik First Nations and the RCMP were notified. A helicopter
was dispatched carrying a site assessment archaeologist and representatives
of the Champagne Aishihik First Nations.
The remains were found in the traditional territory of the
Champagne Aishihik. In 1995, the Champagne Aishihuk First Nations
signed a treaty in the Yukon that gave them self-governing powers
that included authority over cultural and heritage resources
within their territory.
The discovery of the human remains in the glacier was significant
because the local First Nations were the ones who had immediate
authority.
Ron Chambers, council member of the Champagne Aishihik Government,
spoke of the importance of the discovery and what role their
government played.
"This whole process has been a learning process for us."
Lawrence Joe, resource management officer for Champagne Aishihik
said protocol was addressed before anything was done at the discovery
site.
"A prayer was said because of the respect that we have."
Diane Strand, heritage resources officer and member of the Champagne
and Aishihik First Nations, said Elders in the territory wanted
to know where the remains were from. The decision was made to
recover the body for research and the Elders named the body Kwaday
Dan Sinchi. Translated the name means Long Ago Person Found.
"He was found for a reason. He was meant to be found,"
Strand said.
The territory of the Champagne Aishihik First Nation straddles
borders of Yukon and British Columbia. A highway cuts through
the land and marks the edge of the largest protected piece of
land in the world. Mountains and borders have separated the Champagne
Aishihik from their ancestral relatives, the Tlingit. Long Ago
Person Found has helped in breaking down the barriers between
the two First Nations.
"We've gone to our neighbors with this and they are extremely
interested in it," said Strand. "We're coming back
full circle to the way we were before the borders put a stop
to our interrelationship-trading between the two nations."
Two weeks after the discovery, the Champagne and Aishihik First
Nations, the B.C. Ministry of Small Business Tourism and Culture
and other organizations, worked to reach agreement on the terms
under which studies would proceed. The goal was to ensure cultural
concerns were respected while recognizing the important scientific
considerations inherent in a find of this nature.
On Aug. 31, 1999, a management agreement was reached with a deadline
of Dec. 31, 2000.
A call for proposals went out to all Canadian universities, as
well as selected institutions worldwide. Some 17 research projects
were undertaken on the remains. The participating researchers
had to fund their projects on their own accord, and key elements
of the research agreements demanded consistency with the management
agreement. All sample residues would be returned and no researcher
would own samples or genetic or other materials.
Long Ago Person Found had some artifacts with him. Carbon dating
has shown some discrepancies between some wooden artifacts found
and a robe and hat. The tools are dated to about 200 or 300 years
old while the ground squirrel (gopher) robe and a spruce root
hat are about 550 years old. The discrepancy indicates that there
was more than one event at this site. The hat is similar to the
coastal Tlingit style. Additionally, Long Ago Person Found was
carrying food (dried fish) and tools.
He was approximately 20 years old and 5'5" tall. Long Ago
Person Found was still growing, as he hadn't reached maturity.
The medical research is still in progress, but at this time there
is no indication of cause or manner of death or of any health
problems. Not all of the body was recovered as some parts broke
off with the melting of the glacier and exposure.
The wooden artifacts found with Long Ago Person Found are stored
in Whitehorse under the care of the Yukon Heritage Branch. The
Royal British Columbia Museum has been stabilizing the robe and
hat, as well as holding the human remains in a frozen state.
The Champagne and Aishihik Council will be meeting in the middle
of December to discuss what they will do with the remains and
artifacts. They are consulting with their neighboring communities
as well.
Fate of legislature
murals in hands of advisory panel
By Cheryl Petten
Raven's Eye Writer
VICTORIA
The question of what to do with the four murals hanging in
the rotunda of the provincial legislature building is now in
the hands of a newly formed Speaker's advisory panel.
Creation of the panel was announced by Speaker of the Legislative
Assembly, Bill Hartley, on Nov. 30, in response to a complaint
from the First Nations Summit earlier this year that the murals
are offensive.
The murals, which have been hanging in the legislature since
1932, have been criticized for portraying Aboriginal people in
a demeaning way, featuring topless Aboriginal women and Aboriginal
men in subservient positions to the European colonists depicted.
Members of the advisory panel are Jo-Ann Archibald, professor
of Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and
director of the First Nations House of Learning; Dr. Jean Barman,
professor of Educational Studies at UBC and past director of
the BC Heritage Trust; Dr. Martha Black, curator of Ethnology
at the Royal British Columbia Museum; Dr. John Lutz, professor
of History at the University of Victoria, and Aboriginal artist
and lecturer on Northwest Coast art and culture, Art Thompson.
Luba Lisun of the Speaker's office is working to co-ordinate
the advisory panel.
The Speaker has spent the last month or so trying to achieve
the right balance on the panel, Lisun said, ensuring the general
community interest is represented, and that the needed expertise
in the areas of history, art history, Aboriginal culture and
art are all brought to the table.
Lisun said the panel would be holding its first meeting within
the next few weeks, and she expected the issue should be resolved
in short order.
"They bring to the table a certain amount of expertise.
There will be information available, ready for them. And so the
expectation is this isn't going to be a long process, and I think
the members feel that themselves, although I don't want to speak
on their behalf," Lisun said.
Anyone wanting to submit a written brief to the panel on the
mural issue can do so by mail, fax, or e-mail. Mail your submission
to the Speaker's Advisory Panel, Clerk of Committees, Room 224,
Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4, fax them to 250-356-8172,
or e-mail them to
ClerkComm@leg.bc.ca.
Remote reserves can't keep physicians
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Writer
VANCOUVER
A report in a medical journal reveals that there is a high
turn-over rate among doctors who practice in remote communities
in British Columbia.
Carole Dawson, family, children and health director for the Union
of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, told Raven's Eye that her
first-hand experience in such communities convinces her that
the study is right on the money, but she said it doesn't tell
the whole story.
The availability of good ski hills and other big city amenities
is cited as a contributing factor to the troubling trend that
is seeing First Nations struggle to attract and keep physicians.
Other less palatable reasons why doctors don't stay on First
Nations were hinted at in the report, authored by to two British
Columbia medical researchers, that was released in late November.
The report appeared in the November edition of B.C. Medical Journal.
Dr. Stefan Grzybowski, a researcher at the University of British
Columbia medical school's family practice department, and Dr.
Harvey Thommasen, a professor of community health at the University
of Northern British Columbia, co-authored the report.
After studying data compiled in 78 British Columbia communities
with populations of 30,000 or under over a 10 year period ending
in 1999, they found that the size of the Aboriginal community
was linked to the length of stay of physicians - the larger the
Aboriginal population, the better the chance doctors would not
stay on for a prolonged period of time.
In the article, the researchers were very careful not to invoke
racism as a contributing factor to this situation. Dawson said
that her experiences tell her that racial intolerance is a factor
but not the main factor.
"Yes, there is an element of racism there. But I, myself,
have lived in small communities. I know there have been some
really good, dedicated doctors there. They are over-run particularly
in communities where there's a high Aboriginal population. Our
health indicators are poorer. Our morbidity rates are higher;
our mortality rates are higher. But to say that's the reason
they're leaving is not the entire thing," she said.
Physicians bring their spouses and children with them to remote
communities. Pressure from family members who probably are not
accustomed to small town or reserve life is another part of the
story, Dawson said.
The way the federal government conducts business in reserve communities
is another contributing factor, she added.
"There's doctors who do their empire building in these areas
where there's a high Aboriginal population. And some of them
are dedicated but, for some of them, the Aboriginal community
and its high morbidity and mortality rates become a meal ticket
for these doctors who make lots of money off contracts with Health
Canada," she said.
She said some physicians own clinics, buying into airlines that
provide medical transportation and generally have a vested interest
in discouraging competition.
"The other side of the problem is the greed of some individual
doctors who do not allow any new blood to come in. So new doctors
who try to come in, who are dedicated, who are committed people
who are really interested in working in the Aboriginal community
are prevented from doing that," she said.
The damage done by the colonial process accounts for part of
the challenge faced by doctors in areas of high Aboriginal population.
It's not something the government has acknowledged for political
reasons, Dawson said, and that leaves the doctors and their patients
caught in the middle of a difficult situation that increases
the frustration level.
"We know money isn't everything, even though poverty is
attached to poor health. I think the other factor is the loss
of our traditional diets. This is another nightmare that government
doesn't seem to get and health care officials are starting to
understand now," she said.
The federal government has an uneasy relationship with First
Nations when it comes to health care.
First Nations claim a treaty right to free health care. Government
resists that claim and tries to cap its expenditures on Native
health care. The result has been significant and on-going cuts
to non-insured health benefits that, Dawson said, create under-funded
health care systems that frustrate and discourage doctors. She
blames that, in part, on First Nation leaders.
"It's [an issue] I have been raising since 1996 and no one
seems to hear me," she said. "The Assembly of First
Nations has been co-opted by the feds because, as you know, they
have many joint committees with government officials and they
have counterparts from the vice-chiefs offices across the country.
There was one specifically for non-insured health benefits. These
erosions continue and I think they're a real detriment to our
health."
And while provincial governments have been successful in lobbying
Ottawa for restoration of health funding that was cut during
the deficit cutting era of the mid-1990s, Dawson said First Nation
leaders have not done their job in that area.
"Our leadership is not bringing pressure to bear on them
about the losses, which are major losses. We know Health Canada
keeps saying they're going to be getting out of the business.
It's a dump and run. DIAND, Health Canada, I guess the whole
Cabinet are looking at a dump and run approach," she said.
"You've got a patchwork quilt of abuse and neglect across
the country."
Dawson also criticized the provincial government, saying it has
not done much to support or retain doctors who set up practice
in remote areas. That's a problem she sees affecting all people
in remote regions, not just Native people.
"Any communities where there's a high Aboriginal population,
there's usually a small town near them. So, of course the non-Aboriginal
communities suffer equally. The high turn-over rates of physicians
becomes a problem for them, too," she said. "At one
time, the Aboriginal community was the only target for poor and
shoddy treatment. It's not the case anymore. Is it because doctors
are over-worked, is it because they're less caring, is it because
government isn't doing their share, is it because the federals
have cut down on the health transfer payments? I think it's a
combination of many factors."
Report
says residential school damage is fading
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Writer
VANCOUVER
A study of more than 2,000 Aboriginal youth aged 12 to 18
shows that the inter-generational effects of the residential
school system are finally beginning to subside, a researcher
says.
Dr. Roger Tonkin believes the positive findings uncovered by
his group's research are a sign that the younger generation is
less traumatized than previous generations.
"The front cover of the report has been done by a young
First Nations woman named Ginger Gosnell and it's a raven with
its wings wrapped around the healing wheel. And that's what it's
all about, that healing is going on.
"We're saying to people: shrug off the heavy mantle of the
past and look to the healing that's going on in your communities
and with your children," Tonkin said.
The study was done by The McCreary Centre Society, a Vancouver
based, non-profit, charitable foundation established approximately
25 years ago that focuses on youth health, primarily in British
Columbia. It was released Nov. 16 at the Aboriginal Friendship
Centre in Vancouver. Raven's Children, as the report is entitled,
concludes that Aboriginal children who remain in school are in
much better health than negative stereotypes suggest.
Tonkin, chairman of the McCreary Centre Society board of directors,
said the study of more than 2,000 Aboriginal children was part
of a larger study commissioned by Health Canada that looked at
health trends among more than 26,000 students in Grades 7 to
12. He said the data surprised the researchers.
"We said, 'OK, let's pull all the First Nations out and
look at them,' because we were expecting it to look the way the
stereotype says," Tonkin told Raven's Eye. "But that's
just not the case."
The researchers discovered that most Aboriginal children are
coping well, but all the attention goes to those who aren't.
"The stereotype of the Native kid in trouble is, in fact,
just that," Tonkin said. "The majority of young Native
people or Aboriginal people-and that doesn't matter whether you're
talking on reserve, Métis, off reserve, whatever- they're
doing all right, especially if they're still in school. That's
the big difference that we think needs to be emphasized.
"In our report, we actually have compared Aboriginal kids
in school with Aboriginal kids on the street in B.C. These are
very different groups of kids. Kids in school are substantially
different from the ones that are on the street. It's the kids
on the street in the big cities that are visible and that's where
the stereotype comes from. Because people think all First Nations
kids are like that. It's just not so. The kids on the street
are much smaller in numbers but more visible. The kids that are
quietly going about their business, getting their education,
being part of their community, don't get profiled."
Tonkin hopes the data in Raven's Children will encourage Aboriginal
leaders and parents and give pause to those who view Aboriginal
people in a negative way.
"We don't look past what we see. And what we see in Vancouver,
the kids down on Main and Hastings shooting up and hooking and
that sort of stuff, that negative stereotype is undeserved and
that's what this report is all about.
"I'm not saying those problems don't exist and don't need
to be addressed. The Innu kids in Labrador certainly have special
kinds of problems that need to be addressed, but let's not assume
all Native kids in the country are like that because otherwise
people will just throw up their hands and say, 'what can we do?'
Especially the Native leadership," he said.
But there are obviously problems that still need attention, he
added.
"No matter which community you look at-the street community
or the other communities that we studied -you certainly see higher
rates of alcohol and, particularly, marijuana use. There still
are issues around physical and sexual abuse. Those things haven't
gone away. But our point has been that our data shows that, even
in the face of those kinds of problems, if kids feel connected
to their families, connected to their schools, they will overcome
those problems. We call that resiliency."
Retention of learning and grade point averages have gone up for
Aboriginal students who stay in school, but drop out rates for
Aboriginal kids are still a problem, Tonkin said.