The Aboriginal Newspaper of British
Columbia & Yukon
Top news for April - 2001
Published April 9, 2001
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Photo Credit: Debora Lockyer |
UCC raising the level of awareness
A feast for all senses
Treaty offer heading for scrap heap
UCC raising the level of awarenessBy Thomas Langley-Smith
Raven's Eye Writer
KAMLOOPSNative participation in post-secondary training is up at the University College of the Cariboo, and so is non-Native participation in the UCC First Nations Awareness Week. Awareness events were held from March 26 to 29 and included drum and dance demonstrations, a political forum, Elders luncheon, fashion show, and arts and crafts show.
"At the risk of sounding humorous, the experience of being Native is one we are already familiar with," said Vicki Manuel, president of the UCC First Nations Students Association. "We would like to bring this experience to others. I encourage non-Aboriginals to participate, to witness and to learn from each of our traditions that are being showcased here. I've heard way too many times that people don't know about Aboriginals. This is the dead-on opportunity to find out."
Manuel is proud of the fact that UCC has some 700 First Nations students enrolled in numerous programs, representing close to 15 per cent of general campus population. This is proof positive that Aboriginal people are eager to improve their lot in life, despite a common misconception to the contrary, she said.
"These numbers are probably the highest in any educational institution in the province. Although I'm encouraged, I would like to see an increase of 50 per cent by the time I'm done."
Her dream, she said, is to have the Red Million-Man March come through educational institutions, her adaptation of the Martin Luther King's Million-Man March.
"If we take care of Aboriginals, we take care of Canadians, because the long term goals are to have our communities taken care of."
Manuel is in her second year as president of the students association and her third year of participation in awareness week, this year as coordinator.
"What keeps me coming back is providing liaisons and opportunities for the Aboriginal community, watching as they develop, grow and prosper, watching traditions being honored here.
"A couple of years ago we brought around 900 First Nation students to UCC from area high schools, carrying on the tradition that it's our responsibility to bring the next generation alongside the support of the generations that are already out here; providing them with encouragement and a happy face. The responsibility of bringing up the next generation is something I keep close to my heart because I want to see graduation statistics ultimately rise, not only here but also in the high schools, providing a future through education."
By Brian Lin
Raven's Eye Writer
VANCOUVERHerring roe, sea asparagus, breast of pheasant and roast bison loin were just some of the dishes served at the First Nations Food and Art Evening held on March 30. Guests were treated to artfully prepared delicatessen and dined in the elegant surroundings of the Longhouse at the Native Education Centre, specially adorned with artwork by First Nations artists and traditional music for the event.
"I am so full," exclaimed one guest, savoring the last bite of her elderberry bannock pudding. "But I don't have any of that heavy feeling you get from eating a full meal!"
A full meal indeed! The evening's chefs, led by Qey Sta:M Café's head chef Ben Genaille, proudly demonstrated their world-class cookery by blending traditional Native ingredients with European style-a mixture that Genaille says is more marketable-in the hope that the community will recognize First Nations cuisine as a unique component of Canadian culture.
According to Flavio Caron, executive director of the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and emcee for the evening, head chef Ben Genaille had taken his trainees to a restaurant in downtown Vancouver and spent more than $700 "to show them what five-star dining was supposed to feel like."
Genaille's ultimate goal is to take his team of First Nations chefs to the next Culinary Olympics, set to take the stage in Japan in 2002.
"We send chefs abroad to promote Canadian cuisine," Genaille said, "I want the community to think of us when they think of Canadian cuisine. I want to show that my team is at that level where we can represent Canada," added Genaille, who also teaches traditional Native cooking at the Musqueam Culinary Training Centre.
The guests certainly seemed to appreciate their efforts.
"You can tell by the fact that there's no salt and pepper on the table how much effort they've put into the food," said another guest. "They season everything, and they don't want you to mess with it." The chefs paid great attention to detail, and went as far as to spray the roast bison loin with juniper perfume. "You can't taste it, but it adds to the aroma," explained one of the servers.
Dinner was followed by a fashion show by Capilano First Nation designer Pam Baker. Baker has received a number of awards for her evening gowns adorned with intricate hand-sewn or burnt-out Aboriginal designs. She presented her award-winning gowns as well as her latest line of evening wear.
"This is my dream collection," she said, leaning over to fix a model's silk dress before sending her into the audience. Baker has recently opened her own design school and hopes to cultivate young designers to integrate Native designs into modern fashion.
"The purpose of the event is to familiarize communities with the extravagant and exotic traditional Aboriginal culture," said organizer Chris Piche. "We also want to showcase Aboriginal artists who are bringing the ancient into the present with both visual art and couture fashion."
The evening ended on a high note when Baker showed off her $5,000 cape made up of more than 40 pieces of Aboriginal design embroidery.
"I hope this is the first of many events of this kind," said emcee Flavio Caron, as he bid more than 70 guests farewell.
Treaty offer heading for scrap heap
By Paul Barnsley
Raven's Eye Writer
PORT ALBERNITwo of the largest of the 14 Nuu-chah-nulth communities have already rejected the proposed agreement-in-principle (AIP) put forward recently under the British Columbia Treaty Commission process.
The people of Ahousaht voted 74 per cent against the AIP. Tseshaht voted 92 per cent against. Those communities represent about one-third of the total Nuu-chah-nulth population.
As of April 4, six First Nations have voted in favor of the agreement. Three tribal council members-Hesquiaht, Nuchahtlaht and Ehahtteshat- have not yet participated in the ratification vote that was to have been held on or before March 31, just three weeks after the agreement-in-principle was initialed. Those bands say the March 31 deadline was too soon.
One band, Tla-o-qui-aht, has not yet voted because of a death in the community. Two other bands are negotiating separately with Canada and the province and are not included in this process.
The agreement that was put to the people includes $243 million and 550 square km of land. Newspaper reports in the province have dwelled on how much is in the offer, but many Nuu-chah-nulth people are looking at how small a percentage of their unceded territory and resource are included.
Treaty-making has accelerated in the province right now. The Opposition Liberals, expected to defeat the NDP government when a provincial election is called in the near future, have already said they will hold a referendum on the entire treaty process, if elected. Premier Ujjal Dosanjh has turned that threat into a lever to fast-track treaty negotiations while desperately appealing to the electorate, saying only his party will respect the rights of minorities.
The Ehattesaht First Nation, an isolated community near Nootka Island that is a six-hour drive from Victoria and only accessible after a final 45-minute trek along a logging road, walked away from the negotiations.
Dawn Amos was the chief of that community from 1998 until October of 2000. She was also the treaty negotiator before quitting to attend the University of Victoria. She said she returned to her community to warn the people what would happen if they ratified the treaty offer.
"Speaking as the former negotiator for our tribe, we undertook an analysis of the agreement-in-principle almost two years ago," she said. "At that point, we already had some concerns with the language and in our analysis there were five areas that were brought to the tribal council with respect to jurisdiction, governance, fiscal relations, certainty and taxation."
After she left council, Amos said, the new council did not follow up on those objections.
"As soon as my council left, those issues left the table. It wasn't until the eleventh hour, the day before the initialing, that I went back into the community and shared what we had done and it totally refreshed everybody's memory. Regardless of my status (as an ex-chief living away from the community), I was still a band member, so I went to my first community meeting in seven months and just put out exactly what I said to you. People aren't even supportive of the process. They feel like it's failed them entirely," she said.
Amos claims the treaty offer is small for the more urban communities in the tribal council and miniscule for the smaller, more remote communities.
"For Ehattesaht, and I even believe it's for Nuu-chah-nulth, from some of the research that I've done since the offer has come out, it's zero-point-one per cent. I'm not kidding," she said. "And for Ehattesaht, it's point-zero-zero-one per cent in addition to the already existing reserves. At that point we only have 1.5 per cent of our traditional territory as reserves. So they didn't really make a big offer. It's not even five per cent. If you combine land and cash it makes five per cent. The smaller tribes are paying."
Amos knew she would be criticized for speaking against the offer, but she felt she had no choice.
"I was afraid what would happen if I didn't say anything," she said. "I've been totally criticized by my own people and I've received numerous emails basically scolding me or saying, 'This is the best deal we're going to get.'"
One powerful figure on the tribal council, co-chair Richard Watts, has also walked away, saying he'd vote against the deal.
"Right in the paper, he said he'll be voting no. I think that'll have a big influence," Amos said.
Another community that reached the agreement-in-principle phase of the treaty process also backed out when it came time to finalize things. After their negotiators reached what looked like an acceptable deal to them, the Sechelt people, whose traditional territory is the Sunshine Coast, north of Vancouver, decided that the insistence that they extinguish their tax-free status in exchange for a small percentage of their traditional lands and resources, was unacceptable.
Amos believes that will be a pattern that will be repeated over and over again.
"Well, I know for our community that people are running scared and it's the people who make a living off this process. Those people are running around trying to get us back at the Nuu-chah-nulth table right now. It's only them. It's not the real grassroots, average people," she said. "There's a lot of people who have gotten rich from this process and that's why I left. I quit as our negotiator before I actually quit as our chief just because I didn't feel I could be the one who is responsible to sell this thing to our people and take money to do it."
Tribal council spokesman Archie Little defended the deal and the ratification process.
"We understand that support for the agreement is not unanimous, but we understand also that it may never be so, and we respect the opinions of those who do not support the direction in which we are going," he said. "We firmly believe the agreement provides opportunities for our communities and gives us a proper basis for our proper place in British Columbia and Canada."
A source with the British Columbia Treaty Commission (BCTC) confirmed things "didn't look good" for the proposed treaty. Brian Mitchell, of BCTC communications, said a meeting must be held to formally recognize that the AIP has been officially rejected, but nothing has yet been scheduled.
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