The Aboriginal Newspaper of British
Columbia & Yukon
Top News - April -2002
Published April 15, 2002
 |
|||
|
Celina Hewer takes in events at the Spring Break program
held March 18 to 22 in Maple Ridge. The week was a celebration
of the rich history of the British Columbia Métis. Photo by Erin Culhane |
Hupacasath addresses Chamber of Commerce
Centre celebrates Métis culture
Ogopogo defends the IndiansThis is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the April 2002 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.
Click here for Raven's Eye subscription information.
Hupacasath addresses Chamber of CommerceDenise Ambrose, Raven's Eye Writer, Port Alberni
The Port Alberni Chamber of Commerce held its monthly meeting at the Tseshaht Long House on March 13. The luncheon served as an opportunity for the Tseshaht and Hupacasath to share their culture and ideas for economic development in Port Alberni.
Tseshaht Elder, Kathy Robinson and Ha-Ho-Payuk cultural instructor, Jessie Stevens, welcomed guests. Stevens thanked the staff, parents and students of Ha-Ho-Payuk school for the preparation of the lunch, which featured smoked and barbequed salmon.
Stevens explained that proceeds from the luncheon would go to the students' planned trip to Haida Gwai, Queen Charlotte Islands.
The students performed a welcome song after Kathy Robinson's opening prayer. The Grade 5 and 6 students then performed their popular animal kingdom dance, which was accompanied by a narration by Stevens. The performance told the story of honoring certain members of the animal kingdom and the lessons that each has for humanity.
The children, in their wolf, hummingbird, whale, serpent and various other costumes, brought the crowd to its feet with a standing ovation.
Hupacasath Chief Councillor Judy Sayers was introduced as keynote speaker. Dressed in a red and black Native design outfit, she started her speech with a metaphor; the story of the eagle that lived with chickens. In her story, the eagle scratched in the dirt with the chickens until he gained the courage to take off and soar through the sky, taking his proper place in the world.
Sayers went on to describe her nation's struggle with the government with respect to treaty, Aboriginal rights and economic development.
"Like the eagle, Hupacasath is no longer scratching in the dirt even though this government is trying to keep us in the dirt."
She explained that the settlement of treaties is important to everyone in British Columbia because, with settled treaties between First Nations and government, comes economic certainty for everyone.
"Investors fear that if they invest here, land and resources may be taken away. We can bring a lot of economic certainty here through treaty."
She expressed her fears about the possible consequences of the provincial government's action with respect to treaty and referendum on treaty issues.
"B.C. has cut funding to the BC Treaty Commission and BCTC staff has been cut as a result. The referendum, in my opinion, will signal the end of the treaty process."
Sayers says that despite setbacks in the treaty process, her nation is proceeding with economic development initiatives. Hupacasath has projects in the works in the areas of forestry, fisheries and fish processing, and tourism.
Hupacasath is developing the Victoria Quay waterfront at the site of the old City Hall. The building will feature two carved welcome figures and will serve as a place where people may learn the local history of the Alberni Valley. She said the centre would offer local products for sale from all sectors of the community.
"It would bridge the gap between Hupacasath and the people of Port Alberni."
Centre celebrates Métis culture
Erin Culhane , Raven's Eye Writer, Maple Ridge
For Sara Laslo and her five-year-old daughter Mickaella, celebrating Métis Week in Maple Ridge provided an opportunity to learn something about themselves.
"There's so much I don't know," she said.
Laslo, along with the other participants in the Spring Break program that ran from March 18 to 22, learned a great deal about her history and the Métis culture.
Three years ago Rene Inkster was asked by Linda Langford, an Aboriginal outreach worker, if she would run a program teaching local Métis about their culture. Inkster, who is an educator and author of the book the History of B.C. Métis, jumped at the opportunity.
"Because of adoption and residential school, 80 per cent of the West Coast Métis don't know of their rich cultural heritage," she said.
The program, which receives its funding through Health Canada's Community Action Plan for Children, took place at the Maple Ridge Family Education Centre for the third consecutive year.
"I am so thankful that the centre is doing this and I can't say enough about the staff. They're so open and helpful," said Inkster. "It's a great place to be."
Although Inkster brings to the program a comprehensive understanding of the Métis culture, participants don't learn only from her. They learn by doing.
After Inkster talked about tuppies, which are dog blankets, beautifully embroidered by Métis women, the group made miniature tuppies. They made paper capote coats after learning about the history of the wrap-around, belted coat. Rhythm sticks, mini-Métis flags, ribbon and hide bookmarks, beading and flat-braiding were all part of the hands-on program.
Participants engaged in traditional Métis physical activities like tug-of-war, leg wrestling and arm wrestling. And after learning about the buffalo hunt, the group staged one of its own, with some people acting as buffalo and others playing hunters.
"It's a lot of fun to learn about Métis," said Mickaella. It's no wonder there was a waiting list to get into the program.
"It's quite exciting and fast-paced and I keep everything as authentic as I can," said Inkster, adding, "I don't keep it static. We don't have a static culture and there's always something new I'm interested in."
For Roxanne Laslo (Mickaella's grandmother), it was an opportunity to embrace her heritage.
"My twin sister and I were adopted as babies by a white family. We just learned five years ago of our Métis culture," she said.
She was not alone. Many people were in the dark about their Métis heritage until recently, including Dale Haggarty, head curator of the Michif Métis Museum.
Haggarty, along with student curator Vaughan Alexander, was on hand with artifacts from the museum, including an authentic Red River cart.
"It's important to share our culture and to give people an understanding of who we are," said Haggarty. "We're also teaching our youth about it instead of them learning when they're 30 or 40."
One of the lessons learned was the importance of respect for Elders in the Métis community. And it was obvious the young ones learned it well, for when it was time to eat, they hurried to prepare plates of food for the Elders.
Elder Bob Kelly joined the group on the last day of Métis Week to award a sash to Linda Langford, recognizing her work in the Aboriginal community.
"It's really something to be awarded the sash," said Kelly. Inkster received the sash on behalf of Langford, who was unable to attend the celebration due to illness.
Frankie Rogers complemented the final day's celebration with his fiddle playing. Participants sat in awe while he made the realistic sounds of trains, dogs, birds, ambulances and frogs with a fiddle and bow.
When Rogers started playing his sweet music, a dance circle formed. As the circle grew, Bob Kelly said, "We can't sit down until everyone joins in."
Not surprisingly, everyone did. And everyone gained a greater knowledge of the Métis culture, and a desire to learn even more.
Ogopogo defends the IndiansJeff Bear, Guest Columnist
Look out Indians. Here comes the angry taxpayer for more blood. It's referendum time in British Columbia and indignation has overtaken tolerance and sensibility. It's pathetic how these days the cowboys use democracy to fight the Indians.
First Minister Gordo Cambull is upholding his promise to let the non-Aboriginals determine the future for our Aboriginal grandchildren.
Gordo's referendum has eight questions, which can be condensed as follows:
Should we let those Indians have a say in their own lives?
Before I ventured out to find the full text of B.C.'s referendum questions on the World Wide Web, I checked into some regional newspapers in an attempt to feel the pulse of the nation. And right there in plain sight was proof positive that the supernatural world was about to help out the Indians.
A foreign film crew had spent two months in the Okanagan looking for the mythical Ogopogo. They combed the valley and rolled hours, maybe even weeks, of film in search of the elusive creature. But the legendary beast would not avail himself to the celebrity-obsessed film-makers. Apparently, Ogogpogo was on the run 'cause he hadn't filed his taxes in the last 135 years. He didn't need any bad publicity right now.
But a trustworthy friend hinted that Ogopogo might talk to Meganumbe. Ogopogo is rumored to have a particular disposition to Aboriginal media. So I called in some favors and traveled to the valley for what I was told would be a clandestine meeting.
With the Mucktully survey questionnaire in my hands, I went to Kelowna and without much of a problem brought Ogopogo out of hiding to hang with Meganumbe in a downtown park.
With sardines and plankton seeping from the sides of his mouth and really bad breath that nearly knocked me off my feet he growled at me: "Lemme see those questions." After reading the eight questions he shook his head and closed his eyes. His lumps quivered and his mighty tail rose higher than the nearby elms. Suddenly a voice like Tom Jackson's rang out and stunned me.
"I urge all taxpayers to take a swim with me below the surface of Lake Okanagan. Somewhere along the way take a right turn into my memory. Once you are past the fog and the clogged arteries and you are sitting comfortably in the cerebral cortex, here's what you'll remember.
Remember our Indian mothers and fathers, perhaps even our many generations of grandparents, all of whom had to endure the racism and abuse, the cornerstone of colonialism. Think about the small pox epidemics and all the booze poured into the Indians. Remember the hanging of the Chilcotin chiefs, the Ghost dance in Wounded Knee. If you can remember all of these senseless tragedies in our collective experience then throw away your little referendum.
You'll try not to remember the railroads that crossed all of our lands. You'll push away the memories of the army, naval, and air force bases built on the edge of many Indian reserves.
You'll forget about the hydro rights-of-way that cut across our tiny few acres. Most of all there will be a memory block about the river streams and ocean life. You'll forget about the cod, the salmon, the abalone and all of the fresh water trout. The fancy new cow that replaces the buffalo, you forget about it. Never mind the rabbit meat and red potatoes.
The things you won't soon forget are the treaties. All the judges will tell you the Indians were promised many things for the loss of the land, the rivers and the air. The Canadian Constitution and your sacred Charter of Rights will also remind you of the truth.
We'll remember sitting in on all four of the First Ministers conferences, now nearly 20 years ago, when they tried unsuccessfully to define Aboriginal rights. You'll gleefully recall your great hero, Pete Trudeau, as he slammed the Cree tradition of a pipe ceremony by rising to say the Lord's prayer (I think it was for Jack Lord at Hawaii 5-0). You'll fondly remember Rene Levesque, the French guy, blowing circular ringlets of smoke from sacred tobacco. But the most memorable will be the legendary Nisga'a leader, Jimmy Gosnell.
Gosnell's famous speech will ring in your ears for decades.
'We own this country, lock, stock and barrel,' he thundered before a befuddled crowd of Canadian premiers. You'll remember that we were not objective bystanders, not in the first year of those fabled conferences anyway. We were tending to be more objective by the fourth and final conference five years later in 1987.
At that last conference Fred Flinstone look alike Bri-um Baloney would be the residing chairman of the board. At its end he cursed the Indians when he stole a line from a Chinese proverb, 'May you live in interesting times.'
More profound words, you'll remember saying at the time, were never spoken.
That day Bri-um warned that: 'There shall be a price to be paid for this failure.' That said, much has happened in the intervening 14 years.
OK, now that's it. That's all I want you to remember for now. Get out of my brain and let's end the trip down memory lane. Go back to where you once belonged or to the shorelines of other long lost memories. As for myself, I'm going back down under where it's reeeeeally dark and where you can find places that have no memory."
With that the Ogopogo slithered off into the depths of his fabled kingdom in Lake Okanagan's unknown depths. I slinked off to my car.
As I drove in the blizzard that swarmed the Coquihalla highway I was overwhelmed by the messages from the supernatural world. It's no longer our blood that will flow in the Indian wars that are about to come. No, the casualty will be benign, another dull memory of the Canadian experience, a raw sampling of democracy.
Top