The Aboriginal Newspaper of British
Columbia & Yukon
Top News - March -2002
Published March 15, 2002
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Audrey Eugene led a group of protesters in an occupation of the Shuswap Band office near Invermere on Feb. 25. See story. Photo: Stephanie Stevens |
Nations gather to protest Liberal government
Shuswap band members lock chief and council out of office
Shuswap story told in pictures in Victoria art galleryThis is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the March 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.
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Nations gather to protest Liberal governmentDavid Wiwchar, Raven's Eye Writer, Victoria
Drum beats mixed with chants as more than 20,000 British Columbians marched onto the lawns of the provincial legislature in late February.
People from unions and labor organizations, women's groups, students, and disabled people joined with Aboriginal groups, anti-poverty activists and environmentalists on Feb. 23 to protest debilitating cutbacks in programs announced by Premier Gordon Campbell and his government.
First Nations groups were asked to lead the procession from Centennial Square to the legislative grounds 10 blocks away. Carrying placards denouncing Campbell's proposed referendum on treaty principles, more than 100 First Nations protesters came from around the province to show support for the tens of thousands of protesters.
"We welcome you to our territory today and have come to support you in your protest against Gordon Campbell and his government," said Songhees Chief Gary Albany. "We hope you will join us and support us in our fight against this government, and our presentation of an eviction notice to the B.C. Liberals," he said. The Songhees Nation has filed a writ in provincial Supreme Court showing the lands where the Legislative Assembly sits is reserve lands, and according to Albany, the case should be before a judge sometime later this year.
More than a dozen Nuu-chah-nulth people came for the protest bringing anti-referendum signs and thousands of pamphlets explaining the First Nations position on the referendum.
"I'm here to support all the people of B.C. who are deeply affected by this government as many of our people and coastal communities have been," said Huu-ay-aht Chief Councilor Robert Dennis. "The Liberals have demonstrated nothing but bad faith towards the first peoples of this province. It's just like Apartheid," he said.
"I'm here speaking out against this government, and in solidarity with labor and everyone else," said Hupacasath Chief Councilor Judy Sayers. "He's (Campbell) doing whatever he wants regardless of what the people think or feel, and when this many people speak out you have to listen or things will progress further," she said.
After Songhees Elder Sammy Sam offered the opening prayer, labor and community leaders lined up behind the microphone to address the various issues the province will face as a result of the policies of the Campbell government. Though each speaker had their own agenda and constituency to represent, one common theme of the afternoon was an opposition to the proposed referendum on treaty principles.
"We're totally opposed to the referendum," said I.W.A. President Dave Haggard. "It's insane and we're asking our membership not to vote."
"Forget the referendum and the $12 million it will cost and let's settle land claims together," said B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair. "Because what the bottom line of the referendum questions is 'do you like Natives, yes or no.'"
"The Liberals have delayed treaty negotiations for over a year, and the people of B.C. and the First Nations of this province deserve better," said Kathryn Teneese of the First Nations Summit. "The only way B.C. will prosper is if there's a reconciliation through good faith negotiations," she said.
As marchers arrived at the legislature for the peaceful protest, a different scene was unfolding behind the building as more than a dozen large police vehicles full of members in riot gear and dogs wearing flak jackets were moving into positions around the building.
"We have 121 members here as part of a contingency plan," said Victoria City Police Inspector Darrell McLean. "We're here to manage the site and make sure everyone gets in and out safely," he said.
Shuswap band members lock chief and council out of office
Stephanie Stevens, Raven's Eye Writer, Invermere
Several members of the Shuswap Band near Invermere took over the band office Feb. 25 in a peaceful, but determined protest. Chief among their concerns, they said, is the financial accountability of the council.
Eleven band members went into the band office just before noon and said they were not leaving until the chief and council and a representative from the Department of Indian Affairs met with them to discuss their concerns.
Dorothy Warbrick, an employee of the band office, called Councilor Katherine Stevens at the Ktunaxa-Kinbasket Tribal Council in Cranbrook to apprise her of the situation and requested she attend. Warbrick was unable to contact Chief Paul Sam or Councilor Alice Sam because she said she "did not have their itinerary."
The police were contacted and attended the scene, reminding the protesters to remain peaceful and try to work things out.
Councilor Stevens arrived at 1 p.m. and spoke to the protesters, but was told that until the rest of the council and Indian Affairs was present, the group would not leave and preferred to air their concerns then.
"We aren't leaving until all three of you and someone from Indian Affairs are here," said Audrey Eugene, speaking on behalf of the protesters. "It's from Indian Affairs our money comes from that our band spends and we want them to hear our concerns also. We are not here for ourselves; we are here for our children and our grandchildren. We demand accountability. They haven't listened to us for 20 years: Well they are going to listen to us now."
Chief Paul Sam and Councilor Alice Sam arrived at the band office at 7:40 p.m. and were told by Eugene and the others gathered they would not negotiate until DIA arrived.
"I will give you my word I will get someone from the Department of Indian Affairs out here, but it won't be for two or three days," replied the chief. "But we will have a meeting. We need to air this out."
The protesters spoke with the chief and council until 6:30 the following morning, but still refused to leave the band office. A few hours later, they had locked and chained the door, again demanding the presence of DIA before they would sit down and discuss their issues.
Several times over the three-day demonstration, several males gathered outside the office shouting threats. Before a court injunction could reach the protesters on Feb. 27, they left the building saying they did not want to stray from the peaceful path they had started on, said Barb Coté, another spokesperson for the group.
"But this is not over," she added. "We have a lot to work out."
According Indian Affairs communications spokesperson Avril Archibald, there is no plan to send a representative in the near future.
"We are not sending anyone at this time. Our preference is to allow the parties involved to resolve this matter themselves."
"If the chief and council ask us for assistance, we would look at sending someone. What we are doing is we are encouraging the parties involved to find a mediator, whether that is an Elder, or a mediator nearby, someone of a third party that's not the department that can help them resolve this. Our view is that this is an internal matter and it's just best they work it out themselves. And part of that is just respecting the fact that you know we have a government-to-government relationship with them and it's not for us to step in and solve matters for them."
But the protesters say they will not be satisfied until a representative from DIA arrives.
Though contacted, Chief Paul Sam had no comment about the situation.
Shuswap story told in pictures in Victoria art galleryInna Dansereau, Raven's Eye Writer, Victoria
The Things We Do exhibit is on loan to Victoria's House of First Voices Aboriginal Art Gallery from Kamloops' Secwepemc Cultural Education Society until the end of April.
The exhibit presents 60 photographs, 12 of which are black-and-white, depicting traditional Shuswap life from the late 1890s to 1990s. The photographs are sorted by seasonal activities into 10 groupings.
"The first one is traditional activities. The second one is portraits of Secwepemc people and then we have a grouping of working with the land...living off the land and housing, traditional and contemporary," said Suzanne Bate, the gallery intern. "We have one (grouping) of residential schools,...fishing,...hunting, and tanning hide.
"My favorite one is called Lilly Harry Shuswap Medicine and that's a photo by Marianne Ignace. It's a color photograph, and it shows this grandmother who's sitting on the ground and she is working with something in her hands off to the left of her body, but her head's pointed to the right. She is looking off somewhere else. And she's got a big smile on her face. And I think the photo's showing her teaching somebody about traditional medicine, like plant medicine, herbology . . . .
"The woman has so much character in her face, and the photograph seems very lively. And I feel like she's just about to turn around and look at me and say 'This is how we do this, and this is how we do that'," Bate said.
"Many of the photographs have people in them that look very dynamic like they have something to say, or a story to tell, or something interesting about them."
Bate said she has another favorite photo of an "interior of a pit house...there's no people in it, and it just shows all the wood on the inside of the pit house and the wooden ladder that comes down from the top to get down inside. It's a little bit abstract."
This photo by Gerald Etienne is titled Contemporary Pit House Interior, Hat Creek Ranch.
"Some of the photographs we don't know exactly who took them, and they come from various collections," Bate said.
The House of First Voices Aboriginal Art Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The gallery is located at 31 Bastion Square in Victoria. Call (250) 361-3456 for information.
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