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The Aboriginal Newspaper of British Columbia & Yukon
Published
June 11, 1998
Dancing at Canada House. Kwagiutl artist David Neel danced to the drums of fellow British Columbia First Nation artists Beau Dick and Dempsey Bob as Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy looks on during the gala re-opening of Canada House in London, England on May 13. Photo credit: Malcolm McColl |
Premier Clark talks to Interior Six Nations
Alliance
by Paul Barnsley
Native youth movement strikes again
by Tracey Bonneau
Masks on display
by Paul Barnsley
Co-op Radio: First Nations voices on the
air
by Paul Barnsley
Healing through art
by Zoe Hopkins
Limiting Liability - Editorial
By Paul Barnsley
News in Brief
Nuu-chah-nulth Tlu-piich games scheduled
AFN helps Port Alberni victims
Here is a full list of additional stories featured in the June, 1998 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.
Human rights inquiry scheduled
Métis hunters resist right of seizure
Students make commercials
Youth counselling B.C. youth
Lions players return visit to north
Tsimsiam man one of Top 40 Under 40
Hydro woos Aboriginal press
Fabric Land launches new line
The St. Eugene Mission resort will get a provincial casino license. On May 14, the province announced approval in principle for three projects. The St. Mary's Band's $32 million project was the only First Nation proposal among the three. Chief Sophie Pierre told Raven's Eye her band's project is expected to open on April 1, 1999. The surrounding municipalities of Cranbrook and Kimberly have supported the project.
Nuu-chah-nulth Tlu-piich games scheduledJuly 24 is when it begins this year. Fifteen different activities, from track and field to three on three basketball to swimming to ball hockey, will continue until Aug. 3 as the annual Tlu-piich games kick off their 13th year.
Promotions co-ordinator Sherri Cook said people from all over the province attend the games. She said the organizers are still looking for more entries in the various sports and activities. She can be contacted through the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council.
AFN helps Port Alberni victims
The Assembly of First Nations helped two of the plaintiffs in Canada's first civil trial on the liability of the government and churches for the actions of employees of residential schools to do a little fund-raising in early June.
AFN press releases and communications staff helped Randy Fred and Melvin Good gain exposure during their visit to Ottawa. The two victims of Arthur Plint, the former supervisor of the Port Alberni residential school who was sentenced to 11 years in jail after pleading guilty to 16 counts of indecent assault, need money to travel north to Prince Rupert for the second phase of the trial in August. The two men met with the press and spoke about their experiences in seeing the trial through to its conclusion. The men also spoke of the healing effects of the widespread grassroots support they have received since the trial began.
Tillicum Haus, the Nanaimo friendship centre, is accepting donations for trial expenses for the plaintiffs in the case.
More than 20 First Nations high school students, from Brittania Outreach Program, Brittania Secondary, Vancouver Technical Secondary's Tumanos program and the New Westminster-based Sigma program, participated in the "Economics of Staying in School Program" hosted by Junior Achievement of British Columbia on June 3, 4 and 5.
Aboriginal business volunteers met with the students and showed them the value of getting an education. BC Hydro has committed $30,000 to sponsor this program for the next three years. Keith Matthews, Hydro's Aboriginal Relations communications co-ordinator, said only 42 per cent of Aboriginal students finish high school compared to 61 per cent of the overall student population.
"Students who don't finish high school not only decrease their employment opportunities . . . they limit their ability to benefit from life-long learning," Matthews said
From a soccer tournament in Alert Bay, hosted by the 'Namgis First Nation, to a parade in downtown Vancouver, activities for June 21 - National Aboriginal Day - are expected to draw big crowds.
The Robson Square Conference Centre will be the scene of a three-day celebration of British Columbia's Aboriginal cultures. Beginning with a concert on the Friday evening (June 19) featuring Fara, Sandy Scoffield and the Clyde Roulette Band, and carrying on the next day with an Indigenous Parade from the CBC building on Hamilton St. to the Vancouver Art Gallery and cultural demonstrations of all sorts all day Saturday and Sunday, it's expected to be a busy and interesting weekend.
Premier Clark talks to Interior Six Nations Alliance
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Writer
KAMLOOPS
he Interior Six Nations Alliance has been informally recognized by Premier Glen Clark and discussions which could be seen as an alternative to the British Columbia Treaty Commission process are expected to begin almost immediately.
Clark met with leaders of the Alliance on May 27. Shuswap Nation Tribal Council chairman, Chief Arthur Manuel, attended the meeting and has been designated to speak for the Alliance. He told Raven's Eye that the meeting itself is a sign of a change in approach by the provincial government.
"The south-central Interior First Nations are not in the treaty process," he said. "The province has always ignored us on land issues, telling us to join the treaty process, first. Well, we haven't joined the process and the premier agreed to meet with us. That is significant in itself."
An official close to the premier said there has been no formal recognition of the Alliance, but the source, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified, said Clark felt he needed to be in touch with First Nations that aren't involved in the treaty process.
"The premier's idea was, if they are ready to work with the government on issues of common concern, even if they're not involved in the treaty process, ways should be found for government to work with them and vice-versa," the official said. "It's been identified that it's difficult to establish regular channels of communication outside of the treaty process, so the decision to meet was made."
Alliance chiefs met with Clark for just over two hours. The two sides came away from the Kamloops meeting agreeing to discuss the issues that were introduced by the Alliance that day.
"We proposed a couple of things," Manuel said. "First, we need to look at joint management of lands and resources. In the Delgamuukw decision, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized that Aboriginal title exists and it's a right in land. The only major restriction the court put on our title is that we must sustain the land for future generations. That clearly shows we have a legal obligation to manage the land that is imposed by the Supreme Court of Canada. So we have to reconcile Aboriginal title with Crown title in a way that will allow the economy to prosper in a way that is beneficial to British Columbians and First Nations."
Manuel said the Six Nations Alliance will also explore the idea of a tri-lateral forum for negotiations which would include the federal government as the third party. Federal Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart rejected the idea of a parallel treaty negotiation process last year, but the Shuswap Tribal Council chairman said his alliance wants to resurrect the idea during the upcoming talks with the province, and see what develops.
Manuel said he expects to come up with a process that First Nations which are currently involved in the treaty commission process will look at with a certain amount of envy.
"The Nations in our Alliance rejected the B.C. treaty process because it was established at a time when Delgamuukw was at the Court of Appeal stage. We rejected it because the First Nations had to borrow money to participate and it was still a land selection process like the old Indian reserve system, where the government put us on little patches of land and said 'We'll own the rest.' We don't believe that's right," he said.
Now that Aboriginal title has been recognized by the top court, it's time to modernize the treaty-making approach, the Alliance Nations believe.
Manuel said that Premier Clark assured the Alliance representatives that his decision to meet with them was not an indication that he has given up on the treaty process, but other actions by the provincial government this month indicate that it is re-evaluating the way it participates in the treaty process.
In late April, an "agreement" to streamline the treaty-making process and limit the total amount of land and money that could be put on the table during negotiations was announced by federal and provincial negotiators. It didn't take very long, less than two weeks, for First Nations Summit leaders to inform the other two parties in the process that it hadn't agreed to the deal.
In May, the province vetoed the re-appointment of treaty commission Chief Commissioner Alec Robertson, fueling more speculation that Premier Clark is looking for new ways to achieve certainty on land claims in the province.
Masks on display
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Writer
LONDON, England
West Coast artists are delighted to have been included in the gala re-opening of Canada House on May 13.
During a reception held to mark the restoration of the stately edifice, a diplomatic headquarters of sorts in the heart of the English capital. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine and a host of Canadian celebrities, including Bryan Adams, John Ralston Saul and Atom Egoyan attended the reception.
A collection of 18th Century and contemporary Inuit and Native masks is on display at Canada House.
"It is of historic importance that Canada has chosen to showcase Native art for such a high profile opening," said Vancouver-based artist David Neel. "Our art was suppressed for many years and then regarded as craft or curio. So, to represent our country here in England is incredible."
"My family has been involved in our traditional culture for generations and we've never been honored like this before," said Kwakwak'awakw artist Beau Dick.
Native youth movement strikes again
By Tracey Bonneau
Raven's Eye Writer
WESTBANK
Native Youth Movement protesters have again
declared themselves as the official opposition to the British Columbia Treaty
Commission process, this time by occupying the Westbank Indian Band band
office.
This latest action followed the interruption of a First Nations Summit meeting on Jan. 30 and a subsequent five-day occupation at the Vancouver-based British Columbia Treaty office. The occupation ended on April 21, with the arrests of 14 NYM protesters, who were singing and chanting "BC Is Indian Land" as they were taken into custody.
On May 25, 43 protesters from the NYM occupied the Westbank band office chanting, "Sellouts, get the Hell out!"
Thirty-three hours after the occupation began, 20 of the protesters left voluntarily. The other 23 were arrested. Nine of those arrested in Westbank were identified as having previously been arrested in the treaty office occupation in Vancouver.
Justice Ronald Holmes released the youth on two conditions: that they not return to the Westbank band office to protest, and that they agree to keep the peace. The Attorney General will be reviewing the matter to decide whether or not criminal charges should be laid. Westbank band officials allege that thousands of dollars worth of damage has been done to the office. Westbank Chief Brian Eli said he was concerned that confidential treaty negotiation files may have been tampered with.
In a press release, the Native Youth Movement claimed, "They have made many enemies, corrupt chiefs and councillors whose greatest fear is that the millions of dollars being distributed might be cut off." "I am not going to sit by and do nothing and have my grandchildren ask me what I did during the treaty process," said Rose Caldwell, the mother of one of the protesters and a participant in both the treaty office and Westbank occupations.
NYM protesters believe the treaty negotiations are genocidal. They also believe that the bands involved in the negotiations are selling off their traditional territory at the expense of future generations. The Westbank band is currently in stage four of the six stage treaty negotiation process that is expected to wrap up by the end of 1999. The chief of the neighboring Penticton Indian Band, Stewart Phillip, and his wife, band councillor Joan Phillip, met with the youth to ensure a peaceful ending to the occupation.
The youth stated that they vow to continue targeting offices of other bands involved in the treaty negotiation process.
Co-op Radio: First Nations voices on the air
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Writer
VANCOUVER
Ron Barbour spends several days each week in the downtown offices
of Co-op Radio. He works on shows for the city's Aboriginal audience. Co-op
Radio was established in 1974 to increase community participation on the
airwaves. The station staff and volunteers pride themselves on providing
exposure to alternative points of view. A Canada Council grant recently
allowed the station to upgrade Studio B with modern digital broadcasting
technology. Typical of the station's approach, there's no hurry to convert
all of the studios to the state-of-the-art digital technology because it's
more difficult for untrained volunteers to operate.
In a building adjacent to Pigeon Park in Gastown, where you have to convince a disembodied voice on the other end of the intercom that you have business in the building and aren't one of the street people trying to scam your way inside, is a radio station that serves the various communities and cultures of the city in their own languages.
Co-op Radio has something for everyone. Those who aren't necessarily part of the West Coast establishment have access to the airwaves. And the city's urban Native community is well-served by several programs.
Ron Barbour's involved in several of the shows. The Cree from Norway House, Man. who made Vancouver his home many years ago, is a journalist with 15 years of experience. He said many talented Aboriginal people volunteer at the radio station and create programming which is important to Aboriginal people living in the city.
Métis Matters, a show about Métis issues, airs every others week in rotation with Main and Hastings on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. The latter show mixes music, political satire and discussions of local politics and Native rights. Later that evening, at 11 p.m., When Spirit Whispers provides a showcase for Aboriginal talent.
Kla How Ya FM is a regular Thursday dinner-hour staple. From 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. hostess Kelly White brings the listeners up to date on the week's Native news. Two other monthly shows, Hastings Reserve - dealing with urban Native issues - and Speakers, a Salish language instructional program, also air on CFRO.
Program co-ordinator, Allan Jensen, said more than half of the station's $190,000 annual operating budget is generated through two semi-annual on-air fundraising drives. Co-op Radio is also in the midst of a year-long capital funding campaign. The target for the fundraiser is $200,000.
"Three-quarters of that is ear-marked for a new transmitter and new transmitting equipment," Jensen said. "It's going OK. We've had some large donations and some smaller ones."
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Editor
A new approach seems to be emerging in recent months as governments deal with Aboriginal issues, or any issues where elected officials have to choose between doing the right thing or giving in to fiscal pressures public opinion which tells them not to spend money.
This new approach - admit mistakes were made and then, rather than willingly making good for the damages done by those mistakes, steamroll the victims into accepting an amount of compensation that the government determines based on political and fiscal considerations - was highlighted in the extensive mainstream media coverage of the Hepatitis C compensation fiasco. The same approach is visible in Aboriginal issues.
Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart's communications staff in Vancouver disregarded the department's standard procedures for issuing public statements in early May ( a rare event, indeed) after a series of stories in the mainstream press suggested the minister was looking at a mass settlement plan for victims of sexual and physical abuse in Indian residential schools. One senior department staffer told this paper that the greatest fear, the main reason the hastily constructed press release in denial of those mainstream reports was issued, was that it wouldn't be much of a jump to equate the Hepatitis C mess with the government's reported plan for mass residential school compensation.
Although such treatment of Aboriginal people would be relatively kind when compared to past government actions, the whipping the Liberal government took for acting to limit liability rather than doing the humane, compassionate thing and compensating all tainted blood victims, has apparently left the feds feeling a bit gun-shy.
If the government has avoided looking at ways to limit compensation for residential school abuses out of fear of being ravaged in the mainstream press, that was probably a strategic error. The mainstream press might leap to the aid of regular folks who are infected with a disease through no fault of their own, but AIDS victims (a majority of whom are gay) and residential school victims (mostly Aboriginal people) certainly haven't been so lucky. The tenacity and enthusiasm of the coverage of the Hepatitis C controversy would be commendable if the same amount of tenacity and righteous indignation had been displayed when the residential school apology story broke. That didn't happen because, one suspects, the victims were Aboriginal people.
This federal government has also established a track record for floating trial balloons through the media when it is about to undertake some potentially politically dangerous new policy. We can only wonder is Minister Stewart was using that tactic when the original stories appeared. Or maybe Canadian Press and the Globe & Mail got it wrong. Both scenarios are equally possible in the confusing world of Indian Affairs.
You can smell the same approach coming out of Victoria as the province tries to change the rules on the treaty process. There has even been open talk of offering a set amount of money to settle all land claims once and for all.
Alec Robertson, recently deposed chief commissioner of the British Columbia Treaty Commission, had a long history of telling governments they weren't spending enough money on the treaty process. That caught up with him when the provincial government vetoed his re-appointment. Aboriginal Affairs Minister Dale Lovick is outspoken about his government's need to get the treaty process "streamlined." He is clearly being pressured to get results and get then soon.
And the mainstream press in British Columbia, unlike the job it undertook in championing the Hepatitis C victims, isn't exactly falling all over itself to urge the Clark government to do the right thing and pay for land that was stolen from its original inhabitants.
By Zoe Hopkins
Raven's Eye Writer
BELLA BELLA
Editor's Note: Zoe Hopkins is one of the most promising young Aboriginal journalists in British Columbia. She worked as a researcher for the CBC-TV series All My Relations, a show that viewers are hoping will be renewed for next season. This is her first submission for Raven's Eye and it's about a subject that's very dear to her heart - her mother.
Dora Hopkins, a Heiltsuk woman in Bella Bella, has begun an innovative program called Healing Through Art. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Dora began her healing journey about 13 years ago. She is committed to helping others begin their own healing process. Earlier this year, Dora applied for a grant from the R.W. Large Memorial Hospital Pharmacy Foundation in Bella Bella. She proposed to put together a healing circle where other women like herself could come to talk and learn how to make button blankets, the traditional regalia of the Heiltsuk. Dora has been making regalia for years, and has always found her sewing therapeutic.
"It gives me a sense of balance, and puts me at peace," she said.
She came up with the idea when she came across an article in a magazine about this type of program. She knew she could do a similar venture and reach out to other survivors. She is qualified to lead this group through her own experiences, and from all her constant research on the topic of healing and sexual abuse.
Dora was awarded a $1,735 grant from the hospital foundation to put together a 20-week program for four Heiltsuk women. Once a week they will get together to sew, to learn, and to talk. The women are all survivors of sexual abuse, and are looking to their culture to find some healing. Dora explained that this may just be the beginning of healing for some of the women.
"Healing is a long process. This won't be the answer, it's just a small part of it. This is about healing ourselves in a gentle way. Sexual abuse is difficult to talk about. It's difficult to hear about it. But talking will bring about the healing."
At the end of the program, the women will have made their own traditional regalia. They will also walk away with the understanding that they are not alone, and that by reaching out to others, and to their culture, they can begin to heal.
Dr. Paul Sawchuk, the Medical Director of the R.W. Large Memorial Hospital in Bella Bella, decided to support this program because of Dora's strength and the cultural aspect to the program.
"Inside the culture there is a spiritual power that people can find by rediscovering the rituals, the ceremonies, and the arts. This will help the women become themselves because it's not from the outside, it's not a philosophy or a medicine," he said.
For the future, Dora hopes to raise funds to do more workshops such as this.
"This program is just opening the doors, and I want something beyond that."
She hopes that this program model will be used in other areas as well.
"It's not only our community that's hurting, it's others as well."