The Aboriginal Newspaper of British Columbia & Yukon Top News - January - 2004 Published January 19, 2004 Achievement foundation announces award winners Road rerouted around ancient site Jules resigns as AFN chief of staff This is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the January 2004 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. Achievement foundation announces award winners Raven's Eye Staff, Toronto Two British Columbians are among the 14 recipients of this year's National Aboriginal Achievement Award. Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band received an award in the Community Development category and artist Susan Point was awarded the Arts and Culture prize. Louis has been chief of his nation since 1985. He has consistently prioritized economic development to raise the standard of living of his people and take care of the band's health, educational and social needs. Thanks in large measure to Louis' leadership, the band has become a virtual corporate entity that has started up eight profitable business ventures, resuting in almost no unemployment and a decreasing reliance on social assistance by members. Osoyoos owns a golf course, construction and forestry companies, convenience store, a residential and agricultural leasing company, a large resort campground and RV Park with marina, a 120-room hotel and gas bar, and it has become very well known nationally in recent years for its vineyard. Profits from the businesses help support the community's medication fund, adult in-home care program, patient travel fund, education fund and their recreation complex. Hand-in-hand with his razor-sharp business acumen, Louis has fostered his concern and his community's concern for the environment. The band maintains 890 acres entirely for water, fish and wildlife protection. Louis takes an active role on many boards and has received numerous citations for his entrepreneurial and community spirit. Point, who lives in Vancouver, is a self-taught artist who began to create large public works in various media in 1990. Her public pieces-made of stained glass steel, glass, bronze, concrete, wood, terra cotta and forton castings--brought her almost instant recognition by those who appreciate fine art. The scale and merit of Point's works have led to collaborative efforts with various developers, architects and theatre people. Point's unique pieces have raised the bar for Coast Salish art worldwide. This artist has explored almost every kind of style and media, producing works in precious metals, serigraphs, wood block prints and acrylic paints, in traditional to contemporary mode. Her pieces are on view in the Vancouver International Airport, as well as in numerous public and private buildings. Point is also the recipient of an honourary doctorate in fine arts from the University of Victoria and of a YMCA Woman of Distinction Award for arts and culture. Louis and Point will receive their awards at a gala evening to be held in Calgary at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on April 4. The awards show will subsequently appear on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. This is the eleventh year for the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards program, which is run by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation founded in 1985 by Kahnawake Mohawk John Kim Bell, a symphony conductor. The non-profit foundation was set up to provide scholarships to Aboriginal youth and establish career fairs. So far, $16 million in scholarships has been granted to students. Top Road rerouted around ancient site Tom Barnes, Raven's Eye Writer, Maple Ridge Evidence of an old Katzie First Nation village has forced TransLink, the provincial Crown corporation that manages transportation in the Lower Mainland, to reroute a section of a road it is building to service a new bridge across the Fraser River. Archeologists stumbled on the site located near 203 Street in Maple Ridge while conducting an environmental impact assessment. The Fraser River Crossing (FRC) bridge, expected to be completed in 2007, will be built near the Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge border, and will impinge on Katzie First Nation land. The Abernethy Connector is a new road being built at the same time, to provide alternate access to the bridge. That means three kilometres of asphalt will one day cut a swath through mostly Maple Ridge agricultural land. The archeological survey, which has since been submitted to the provincial environmental assessment office for approval before TransLink can put the $600 million FRC project out to tender, states the site is considered to have "high scientific potential to provide information related to the study of Aboriginal lifestyle in a village setting." According to the report, "(Field) tests yielded a considerable variety of information in the form of raw materials, tool types, ornamentation ... indicating that an archeological investigation of the site would provide a considerable amount and range of information on Aboriginal habitation." TransLink and the Katzie First Nation were tight-lipped about releasing the exact location of the site, to prevent any treasure hunters from pilfering artifacts having historical and cultural value to the First Nation. Fred Cummings, project director for the FRC project, said the revised alignment for the Abernethy Connector road will see the road shift to the south as it crosses 203 Street. Once past 203rd and clear of the archeological find, the two-lane road will revert back to its originally planned course. Cummings added that in order to avoid the Aboriginal site, two privately owned properties not initially affected by the Abernethy Connector now will be affected. Katzie spokeswoman Debbie Miller said the First Nation is pleased that TransLink has decided to avoid the site. "We warned them that wherever they went they would likely run into (historical) sites," Miller said. "It's heritage. It's not just our heritage, but heritage that could be an asset to all of B.C." Miller said TransLink is doing a decent job of mitigating the effects that the FRC project is having on Katzie traditional lands, but months of foot-dragging by the District of Maple Ridge over approval of the Abernethy portion has left the band short of time to conduct its own land use and occupancy studies. Maple Ridge politicians originally voted not to give TransLink the needed approval to build the Abernethy Connector. However, through a motion floated by Coun. Craig Speirs, the matter was again brought before council and passed just hours before a TransLink-imposed deadline in early October. Miller said the First Nation lost more than two months' worth of workdays to perform their own surveys, and time is tight if they want to finish their studies by the March deadline. "The Abernethy Connector did not go well, and even now with their timeliness to get everything done we are expected to get a large amount of work done without the human resources that TransLink has," she said. Top Jules resigns as AFN chief of staff Paul Barnsley, Raven's Eye Writer, Ottawa Just a few months after he was appointed chief of staff of the Assembly of First Nations, Manny Jules resigned. He was conspicuously absent from the chiefs' meeting on Dec. 9, the opening day of the Confederacy of Nations in Ottawa. It turned out there was very good reason for his absence. "The First Nation Fiscal and Statistical Management act is good for my community and many others. I will continue to strongly endorse it and support its passage through parliament. I realize my position is in conflict with the stated position of the assembly. I therefore feel it is necessary that I offer my resignation as chief of staff of the AFN effective immediately," Jules wrote in a letter he delivered to the executive during their meeting Dec. 8. He explained the recent developments to the chiefs on Dec. 10. "Up until recently I was the chief of staff for National Chief Phil Fontaine," he told the delegates. He said representatives of the Chiefs of Ontario asked what his position was on Bill C-19 [the financial institutions' legislation] after the AFN meeting in Squamish in October. The chiefs in assembly had directed the national chief and executive to not speak in support of the legislation.Manny Jules had worked for many years to push the legislation forward and the bill's political opponents wanted to be sure that the AFN's chief of staff was not disobeying that directive. Jules admitted that put him in a tough situation. "So, when I'm asked if I support Bill C-19, I found I could not do that within the Assembly of First Nations given the direction that was given to the national chief at Squamish. I want to let every one of you know exactly where I stand," he said. "I left the position of chief of staff so that I can carry on my work, which is to advocate national institutions for First Nations, for communities that want to make this change ourselves." He said he consented to take the AFN job in the first place because it was clear to him that institutions would have to be created in order to carry out the national chief's Getting Results Agenda. "There was a notion that institutions would have to be built in order for us to do that. After the Squamish meeting it was very clear that the chiefs in assembly, particularly those who've opposed the legislative format right from the beginning, were going to be continually active in that process. So I toughed it out as long as I could and I reached the conclusion that the Assembly of First Nations was not the best place for me to do the kind of work that I feel I've been put in this world to do," said Jules. Ironically, the job he held before joining Fontaine's staff had just been filled days before he made the decision to resign. He had been the founder and leader of the Indian Taxation Advisory Board. Newly-elected Siksika First Nation (Alberta) Chief Strater Crowfoot had just been appointed to fill that position. "I'm no longer chair or CEO of ITAB," he said. Asked what he would do next, he said "I will go back and advocate for C-19. I've dedicated 15 years of my life to see that piece of legislation move forward and I want to see it through to fruition." His successor as chief of the Kamloops Indian Band, Bonnie Leonard, has announced her intention to run as a federal Liberal candidate in the next election. Jules said he has no such ambitions. "I'm not looking to government, for a place in the Liberal government to carry on this work. I'm looking to work with the First Nations institutions to see Bill C-19 through," he said. Jules was asked if he would do that lobbying as a private citizen, as John Q Public. "There has been an agreement from the institutions that I be their spokesman. So it's a little bit more than John Q," he said. Top