The Aboriginal Newspaper of British
Columbia & Yukon
Published
January 15, 2001
Happy New Year from Raven's Eye
Photo Credit: Debora Lockyer Steel
|
|
|||
|
Photo Credit: Debora Lockyer Steel |
Chiefs vow to protect Spotted Lake
by Joan TaillonCampaign school adds Aboriginal component
by Cheryl PettenTrans-Canada project includes traditional knowledge
by Troy HunterGraduates gain employment at university
by Yvonne Irene GladueNVIT gets $107,000 for community development
by Lee ToopThinking positive about the future
by Keith Matthew
Raven's Eye columnistThis is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the January, 2001 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.
Chiefs vow to protect Spotted Lake
By Joan Taillon
Raven's Eye Writer
KELOWNA
A decades-old controversy over who should control use of a
lake that the Okanagan Nation Alliance considers sacred is heating
up again around the town of Osoyoos, about 13 miles north of
the United States border.
The property containing Spotted Lake is currently owned by descendants
of the late Ernest Smith, who once had the idea of developing
a spa there but who was thwarted when Native people and their
supporters blocked rezoning of the property.
The bottom line, according to the chiefs of the alliance, is
they never ceded the land in any treaty, so the current ownership
of mineral-rich Spotted Lake by Smith's estate is not the last
word.
The property has been appraised at $250,000; the alliance has
offered $500,000 to purchase it; but Christine Smith is said
to be asking $1.2 million, a figure the chiefs and the mayor
of Osoyoos said is unreasonable.
Chief Stewart Phillip of the Penticton Indian Band said, "what
they're attempting to do is exploit the situation. They know
it's a sacred site and they know we have placed a high value
on it for those reasons, and they're just attempting to extort
an unreasonable amount of money out of the Okanagan Nation."
The alliance is requesting the federal government step in to
purchase the land for a reserve to be shared by all the member
bands.
"The federal government has been put on notice as to the
urgency of this situation," said Chief Phillip. "I
believe the federal government has a great deal of experience
with respect to spiritual conflicts. They know spiritual conflicts
can be very volatile and very emotional, so I think they realize
that there's a potential for this to escalate into a conflict.
And I think they're fully aware . . . that we're not going to
allow the proposed developments to take place."
The latest battle started when the Okanagan Nation was alerted
that someone had placed an advertisement in the Osoyoos Times
calling for trucking contractors to tender bids to haul 10,000
tonnes of mineral mud from the lake to Oroville, Washington.
It is believed the owners want to market it for cosmetic or spa
products. Since then the Okanagan bands have been attempting
to reopen negotiations for the property with the Smith family,
to no avail.
The Native leaders said their people still go to Spotted Lake
for its spiritual and medicinal properties, despite the "no
trespassing" signs. At one time the lake was full of rainbow
colors from mineralization. These features were partly destroyed
by mining for minerals that were apparently needed for the war
effort during the 1940s. No one could say for sure what minerals
these were, but Mike Newman, publisher of the nearby Oliver Chronicle,
said he had heard they needed magnesium.
Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band and Chief Dan
Wilson of the Okanagan Indian Band both mentioned 365 colored
rings visible within the small lake.
Chief Louie said a meeting was arranged for Dec. 11 at a place
chosen by Christine Smith, between the alliance, Christine, her
son Roy Smith and her daughter Darlene MacMillan. The family
didn't show up but sent their two lawyers.
In a press release issued Dec. 13, Chief Wilson, who has a law
degree from the University of British Columbia, said "Ironically,
our non-productive meeting with these lawyers happened on the
third anniversary of the Supreme Court's Delgamuukw decision."
Spotted Lake's current owners are not accepting any telephone
calls from the Okanagan Nation.
When Raven's Eye contacted Darlene MacMillan to discuss the dispute,
all she said was "No comment. Talk to my lawyer."
Lawyer Larry Salloum did not return our telphone call, but a
man identified as Salloum was interviewed with Chief Louie on
CHBC TV evening news in Kelowna Dec. 14. In response to the interviewer
who said the nation "is prepared to protect the site from
any development from the owners," Salloum retorted, "they
are not intimidated by threats of camping on the grounds or any
of that other nonsense that takes place when the Aboriginal people
don't always get their own way."
The chiefs say if a solution is not reached soon they fear the
dispute could escalate the way disputes over other sacred sites
have escalated. They mentioned Ipperwash, Oka and Gustafsen Lake.
Although they said they don't want a confrontation, they are
prepared to do what is necessary to save Spotted Lake from desecration.
They have the backing of the Assembly of First Nations. Chief
Mike Mitchell of the Mohawk Nation seconded Chief Wilson's motion
at an AFN confederacy meeting in Ottawa in December to "safeguard
the sanctity" of Spotted Lake and, if negotiations with
the owners fail, to press the federal government to expropriate
the property and convert it to reserve status.
On Dec. 19, Mayor Tom Shields of Osoyoos said he had heard Spotted
Lake's owners were telling people they had the zoning changed,
but he was not aware of any application to do that. He placed
a call to the regional district office in Penticton and found
"it went to a public hearing in 1980. . . . It featured
a lot of Native people, coming from as far away as South Dakota,
and after the hearing, the (Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen)
board rezoned the land (for a health spa). However, the minister
of municipal affairs at the time (later Premier Bill Vanderzalm)
. . . reversed that decision." Shields said he believes
the original zoning is for grazing.
"All I know is . . . we've heard that somebody wants to
take up the mud. And I guess we're not in favor of that."
Shields, who has lived in the area since 1979, added as he is
a friend of Chief Louie and was a friend of his late brother.
He understands and respects the sacredness of the lake to the
Okanagan bands.
"And also from our side, a non-Native issue . . . as you're
passing Highway 3, coming from Vancouver, say five kilometres
outside of town, off to the right there's a lake and it's got
all these spots on it . . . and it's obviously a unique feature
that I don't think any of us would like to see disturbed. . .
. I think it is very important to us all."
Shields said the town's economic development committee met a
week prior and had agreed they did not want to see the lake developed
or commercialized.
"We're in favor of it being left as it is." Prior to
the mid-1960s when Highway 3 was constructed within 200 metres
of the lake, there was no road access.
"They can't be selling something that they think has got
a market value for a spa that would never get rezoned to that,"
said Shields, in reference to the million dollar plus price tag.
"You can always sell your land at the highest use, but at
not all times is the highest use obtainable. . . . the $1.2 million
is just not obtainable, is it?"
The Okanagan Nation Alliance was set to meet with Osoyoos town
council on Dec. 21. Shields said current town bylaws might not
be enough to protect the environment surrounding the lake. He
indicated they will put a motion through that the matter goes
to the provincial Department of Mines for review, "and in
the meantime, we're going to ask that no movement be made to
change any of the landscape around Spotted Lake."
Campaign school adds Aboriginal component
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Writer
VANCOUVER
A four-day workshop at Simon Fraser University's downtown
Harbour Centre, beginning Jan. 25, will allow women with an interest
in politics to learn the tricks of the trade.
Chief Sophie Pierre of the St. Mary's First Nation will be the
keynote speaker at the opening reception. Viola Thomas, the first
woman elected president of the United Native Nations, British
Columbia, is on the list of scheduled presenters.
It's the third year for the Women's Campaign School, only the
second non-partisan school of its kind in North America. Charlene
Brisson, the president of the Canadian Women Voters Congress
(the group that operates the school in partnership with the university)
attended the non-partisan school at Yale University four years
ago. She returned to Canada on a mission to give Canadian women
the chance to improve their participation rate in politics.
Joanne Silver, the school chair, said women are still not fully
participating in the various political processes across the country.
"Women are 52 per cent of the population and, I haven't
got the stats from the last election, but prior to that, 21 per
cent of all federal, provincial and municipal politics were women.
And, as Viola [Thomas] pointed out to me, the First Nations women
have an even bigger place to go," Silver said. "When
the gender balance is there it will change the shape of politics."
Silver said the school is actively encouraging First Nations
women to get involved for the first time this year.
"We address provincial, municipal and federal, but the part
that was missing was the First Nations," she said. "So
we talked to some women and invited them in and got our eyes
opened. First Nations government is another segment of government
in this land that is a player.
"So when these women come to the campaign school they're
from all parties, from Reform to NDP. They're learning the same
skills. They're creating a dialogue, so when they're elected
they know each other. That, in addition to all of the skills."
Aboriginal women who attend the school will find they can learn
lessons from those with experience in mainstream politics that
they can apply in First Nation politics.
"It's about mainstream politics but some of the same issues
that women face in mainstream politics are faced by women trying
to be elected within First Nations' governments," Silver
explained.
Women believe they can change the face of established political
processes by removing some of the confrontational attitudes,
something Silver sees as a male approach.
"As we move forward in this century with land claims and
self government, women who have networked together in learning
campaign skills will be sitting across the table from each other
doing land claims and doing respectful government - our government,
your government. My vision is, by bringing First Nations government
into our curriculum, the basis will be laid there for non-confrontational
discussions as we go forward," Silver said.
Political parties conduct similar schools for potential candidates,
but a non-partisan school allows people of all political ideologies
to learn how it's done. And since women are under-represented
and relative newcomers to the corridors of power, this school
is important.
"There's a couple of things here. It's learning the skills
to get into politics or to assist people in campaigns. And not
just elected politics. We prepare women to sit on boards or sit
on commissions and it's all the same skills. The important thing
about it is that it's non-partisan," she said. "It's
the only one in Canada. They have schools within parties and
they have schools for women within parties. But there's no place
where women can come together across parties and learn skills."
Silver left no doubt that she believes the world of politics
will be a nicer, more humane place when women gain full access.
"It's about changing the game. At our opening, the very
first school, [Senator] Pat Carney spoke. One of the things she
said is that when the percentage of women, which I didn't know,
but when the percentage of women within a room at a meeting gets
to be over 36 per cent, gender stops being an issue," she
said.
Having worked in the Speaker's office in the British Columbia
legislature, Silver has seen the difference women can make in
government.
"Even though there's that conflict that happens in the house,
outside of the house, on committees, on boards, on working groups,
women across parties just got together and got things done,"
she said.
The opening reception on Jan. 25 is open to the public at no
charge.
There are bursaries available to overcome barriers women may
encounter in attending the school.
Silver defined barrier as being "anything that would prevent
a woman who wants to be involved from being involved."
To register or for more information, call Vaune Adams at (604)
291-5069.
Trans-Canada project includes traditional knowledge
By Troy Hunter
Raven's Eye Writer
NANAIMO
Connie Larochelle, a Haisla from Kitamaat Village, has just
launched a new Environmental Youth Team to do work on the Trans-Canada
Trail near Nanaimo.
Larochelle's portion of the project work on the trail is funded
through Human Resources Development Canada, BC Trails and BC
E-Teams.
The Trans-Canada Trail stretches more than 16,000 kilometres
across the nation, the world's longest recreational trail.
"Were not just building a trail, we are teaching work skills,
ethics and safety," said Larochelle, who works with people
aged 16 to 30. "We've built fences, trails, collected bugs
and wild seeds, removed garbage from the various areas and made
herbariums. We do first-aid drills every week. The youth get
their first-aid tickets, but they also have the experience of
going through drills dealing with a variety of situations, such
as blood poisoning or nails through the foot and broken bones,"
said Larochelle about projects from past E-team seasons.
"I also incorporate other factors from my personal background,
such as traditional plant use, current and past land conflicts,
barriers facing First Nations' people, such as voting and reserve
lands not available for mortgaging."
Other things she teaches her crews, which have included both
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, include current issues
affecting First Nations communities, giving a broader perspective
to the often naive and misinformed youth who have been educated
by television and other forms of mass media.
Larochelle is employed through Katim Enterprises, an organization
based out of the Okanagan.
"They have been very supportive in incorporating First Nations
content in the youth training," she said. "They might
not be aware of First Nations' protocol, but they have been open
to its inclusion."
The Haisla woman is a mother of two children and shares her traditional
knowledge freely with the E-Team crews. She teaches the youth
everything about her job so that they can acquire the leadership
skills to take over.
All positions are posted at local Human Resources Canada centres
and the Youth Options BC web site. Youth Options BC gives young
British Columbians education, skills training and work experience.
Programs provide young people with assistance starting their
own business, tuition credits for community service work, and
help looking for their first jobs.
For more information on the E-Teams or other Youth Options BC
programs, call 1-877-BC-YOUTH or visit the Youth Options Web
site at http://www.youth.gov.bc.ca
on the Internet.
Graduates
gain employment at university
By Yvonne Irene Gladue
Raven's Eye Writer
PRINCE GEORGE
Jolain Foster and Chris Thomas are still at the going to the
University of Northern British Columbia even after graduating,
only now as full-time employees.
Foster, 25, graduated from the university with a bachelor of
Commerce degree (majoring in accounting) in December 2000. Born
in Hazelton, B.C, she is a member of the Gitxsan First Nation.
Foster, who attended the Prince George Secondary School, graduated
with honors in 1993.
"In December of 2000, I was offered employment with the
university here as a First Nations liaison officer and academic
advisor," said Foster. "Although I was pursuing a career
in accounting, this was a way for me to expand my experience
in public relations and administration," she said.
Foster credits her parents for setting an example for her to
continue in school.
"My dad passed away when I was very young, but before he
died it was always known that we were going to university. He
always used to talk about education first and everything was
second," said Foster. "It is pretty much why I strive
so high in my goals. I always knew that I was supposed to do
something in my life. He always stressed that, and after he died
that was pretty much what I went on," she said.
Thomas, 32, is from the Lake Babine First Nation in Burns Lake
and graduated from the university in April 2000 with a degree
in Political Science and a certificate in First Nations Public
Administration.
Going back to school was a challenge for Thomas. He is the father
of two boys, and while attending school he worked at a couple
of part-time jobs to make ends meet.
"I decided to go back to school when I was 26. It was a
challenge at times but my wife was great. She really encouraged
me," said Thomas. "Doing five courses and working part-time
was at times trying," he said.
Thomas credits his parents for instilling the importance of education.
"My parents were my mentors and also a professor, Greg Poelzer.
They encouraged me a great deal and taught me the importance
of an education," said Thomas. "While growing up we
moved around a bit.
"My dad is a pipeline engineer, so I was able to see a fair
amount of Canada and I got to stay in a few places overseas,"
he said.
Thomas is employed at the university in the Telecommunications
Services department.
"It is going great. I know I have a degree in political
Science but I have an affinity for computers. It is a great place
to work," said Thomas. "The work environment is terrific.
Both the hardware and the software of the computers are state
of the art. If someone has a problem with their computer, I can
either help them over the phone or go over and help them,"
he explained.
"Chris is a wonderful, wonderful person. He is so helpful.
Even as a student he was helping out with the computers,"
said Donna Hebert, secretary First Nations Centre. "Jolain
is really mature for her age. She knows what she wants. I have
a lot of respect for both of them. They are definitely both role
models for the students," she said.
The University of Northern British Columbia is located in Prince
George. It was officially opened in 1994. The first year the
university had approximately 1,400 students enrolled. Today,
it is attended by more than 3,000 students.
A First Nations Centre located on campus provides all types of
counseling services. It also has funding available to employ
tutors for students.