The Aboriginal Newspaper of British Columbia & Yukon Top News - November - 2002 Published November 12, 2002 Nelson Leon of Agassiz emceed the opening ceremonies at the Dreamcatcher youth conference held Oct. 18 to 20 in Edmonton at Grant MacEwan College. He opened the conference with a drum song for the standing-room-only crowd of young people who came together from across Canada. Photo by Debora Steel Seabird Island celebrates win over utility company in court First Nations meet royal visitors in city of Victoria Contractor supports increase in Native employment options This is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the November 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. Seabird Island celebrates win over utility company in court Joan Taillon, Raven's Eye Writer, Seabird Island First Nation Page 2 Last month the Seabird Island band announced the Federal Court of Appeal had reversed a lower court decision that they had no taxable interest in land taken from them for a highway right-of-way in the 1950s. They were in court because Telus (formerly BC Tel) began running fibre optic cables on poles through the reserve in 1997, on what was claimed by Telus to be land belonging to the Lougheed Highway. In the same year, according to Seabird Island's finance manager, Don Davis, the band starting assessing tax to Telus, in accordance with bylaws the band had passed five years before. Telus appealed to the Seabird Island Board of Review, claiming the land was no longer part of the reserve. BC Tel lost the case. That decision was subsequently reversed at the Federal Court Trial Division, Davis said, as the trial judge found "that no, the highway's right-of-way was not in the reserve, therefore any interests on that right-of-way would not be in the reserve." Davis explained, "When the provincial government took a right-of-way for a highway, the province took over responsibility to assess any interests on the highway. So the issue was one of jurisdiction: was the land in the reserve or not, therefore, did the taxation bylaws apply or not." He said that when the land was taken by the province, "whatever the rules were at that time, they were followed, as far as the right-of-way being created. The issue was, if there was any other interests that happened to be sharing this right-of-way, who had the right to tax those interests? "So, essentially the province, even though we had implemented our taxation bylaws, continued to assess any interests that happened to be within that highway right-of-way, and the Telus fibre optic lines were one of those interests." While an appeal was pending with the Federal Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada came down with a decision in the case Osoyoos Indian Band v Town of Oliver. That decision essentially set a precedent that brought the law down on the side of the Seabird Island Indians. In the Seabird Island case, a majority of the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the trial decision could not stand "in the light of the Supreme Court's decision" in Osoyoos. The two cases were very similar, which meant Aboriginal interest in Seabird's 20-acre-long right of way used by BC Tel had not been extinguished. Davis said their jurisdictional victory means "the (Seabird band's) bylaws do apply, because there is still a residual interest in the reserve for the right-of-way. It wasn't absolutely surrendered." In court, he said, the whole issue revolved around the Order in Council that created the right-of-way, and whether or not that Order in Council had the effect of an absolute transfer of interest to the province. The Seabird Island band has a right to tax. It assessed $6,000 a year against the utility company, which has been paid. Telus has now "taken steps to have themselves removed from the roles," said Davis. Clem Seymour, a band councillor, said in a prepared statement, "We are delighted with this victory; this is further recognition of our jurisdiction and it will create greater certainty for everybody." Telus has abandoned further avenues of appeal, said Davis. Top First Nations meet royal visitors in city of Victoria David Wiwchar, Raven's Eye Writer, Victoria Page 2 As First Nations singers and dancers performed a welcoming paddle dance, and the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds blasted over the domes of the Legislature, Queen Elizabeth II mingled with Vancouver Island residents, talking at length with First Nations children and artisans. From the moment the Queen and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh arrived on Vancouver Island until the moment they left, First Nations people played a pivotal role in celebrating the Queen's golden jubilee. When her plane touched down at the Victoria military airbase she was greeted by First Nations children from the Songhees, Paquachin and Esquimalt First Nations of the Victoria area. When she attended the Sunday service at Christ Church Cathedral, many First Nations people joined the hundreds of onlookers. And at a special luncheon at the historic Empress Hotel, many First Nation chiefs and leaders shared a meal with the royal party. "I wasn't really enthusiastic about the invitation because of our history and historical relationship with the monarchy, but when I thought about it I realized there's been indications over the past few years that the monarchy is actually concerned about First Nations people," said Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Central Region co-chair Nelson Keitlah. "We talk about 'the honor of the Crown' quite a bit in treaty negotiations, so it was interesting to see the person behind that phrase, and to think of the history shared between her family and our people," he said. Keitlah, along with Northern Region co-chair Archie Little and Hupacasath Chief Councillor Judith Sayers, were among a dozen Vancouver Island First Nation representatives invited to the luncheon. "I was hoping to get a chance to speak to her about the honor of the Crown, but royal protocols prevent that," said Little, adding that he was able to broach the topic with Queen Elizabeth's personal physician and Prince Phillip's personal secretary who were seated with the Nuu-chah-nulth delegation. "They were really down to earth people, and they were very interested in First Nations issues," he said. "It was a privilege to be invited and be part of the pomp and circumstance, and it was really interesting to see how people are willing to spend hours waiting to catch a glimpse of her," said Sayers. "Our chiefs are our royalty and their bloodlines go back even further than the Queen's, and I can't help but think that if people knew our histories and understood our bloodlines we'd be in a much better situation as B.C. First Nations," she said. After the luncheon, the Queen and Prince Phillip were driven over to the legislature where more than 20,000 people cheered their arrival and joined a celebration of the Queen's 50-year reign. As the Queen and Prince Phillip descended the granite steps of the legislature, a group of more than 30 Coast Salish singers and dancers performed a welcoming paddle dance which the royal party stopped to watch before being presented with a carved talking stick by Cowichan Elder Simon Charlie. "She's a nice person," said the 82-year-old Charlie after meeting with the Queen and presenting her with a symbol of his family's history. "She asked me about all the animals on the stick and what they meant," he said before explaining the role of the thunderbird, killer whale, wolf and salmon designs on the talking stick he spent five weeks carving. The singers and dancers from the Cowichan, Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations were equally impressed with Her Royal Highness. "It was so awesome," said George Thomas of Esquimalt. "It was a real honor to share our culture with them," he said. "We did this back in 1994 when she came to open the Commonwealth Games in Victoria," said Ray Peter of Cowichan. "It's always an honor and a pleasure to perform before a royal audience, but this time was extra special because she and Phillip actually stopped and talked to us," he said. The Tsinqua singers and dancers, led by Ray Peter, George Thomas and Songhees' Lila Dick, started practising two weeks before the event once they agreed on the version of the song they would perform. "It was challenging, but definitely worth it," said Peter. "There were no politics involved, just happiness and celebration." Top Contractor supports increase in Native employment options Karen Tallen, Raven's Eye Writer, Williams Lake Loretta Hurst loves her job in the forest industry. "Every day there is something I really enjoy. Either the sun coming up in the morning in my rearview mirror, or coming home at night I see the moon coming over the ridge. Or I see an animal." Hurst had a goal when she began working in forestry in 1992. She wanted to help other people to obtain solid employment in the industry too, and today that is becoming a reality. Her idea was to "start my own business, work to a level where I was a sound business, and from there I could start hiring people. That was my goal, and I'm just about there." It's only been two years that Hurst has gone independent, but she has three employees. She aims to "keep putting out quality work so that we continue to have work come to us without searching. Right now we are really lucky that we are working as much as we are because there are a lot of contractors with no work." Competition is steep. Hurst says the biggest contractors in the area are "DWB, Chiltech, Prifor." But she estimates there are another 80 in the area. "Every one of those contractors have about three or four people employed," Hurst said. Hurst was raised on the Tl'Esqox reserve in Riske Creek, known to local people as the "Toosey" reserve. She began her career working on archeological surveys for her band. Her work habits were noticed, and soon Hurst found additional work with silviculture survey and supervision contractors. She became a certified silviculture technician, having learned to summarize forestry block reports and to make treatment recommendations. She began to contract independently for Riverside Forest Products in 2000. Ruth McArthur, district forester at Riverside, said, " Loretta is a key part of the cutting team. She is contract manager for the Williams Lake District cutting program. We rely on her high level of technical expertise." In 2000, Hurst began her own company, Rafter Three Contracting, which employs three people in addition to Hurst on a seasonal full-time basis. One woman works in the office preparing contracts and block summaries and finalizing contract reports prior to invoicing the mill; another works part-time in the bush with Hurst and part of the time is "loaned out" to Riverside mill; and one man who is being trained to do fieldwork checks cutting quality and surveys new blocks. A typical season runs April to December. Hurst works up to 14 hours a day, six days a week, supervising Riverside's 13 cutting crews. Much of her work time is spent in the bush surveying harvested blocks and checking quality. "I've seen a couple of grizzlies and a lot of black bears. I've seen cougar tracks in the snow. I totally respect that we are going out into their territory." Her biggest challenge is communicating with contractors. "Most contractors don't have answering machines or fax machines. Ultimately I am responsible for anybody out there. I represent Riverside. I have to know where the guys are and what they are doing all the time." Her official title as silviculture technician also involves an aspect of social work. "You're dealing with different crews and many personalities. You're building self-esteem in people. You're building confidence. You're teaching them how to do their jobs better. It's an all around role." As a working mother with two teenage daughters, Hurst appreciates the support she receives at home. Hurst says her husband Jack "does a lot. He took over mothering and fathering the girls. That was a decision we had to make. One of us had to go out and pull in money and the other had to stay home and look after the kids and animals. He was better for looking after the animals. He's always been a good father." Although busy, Hurst still takes time for a little recreation. "I love to rodeo. I'll work 24 hours a day to go to a rodeo on the weekend. I do fieldwork and take my paperwork to the rodeo with me. I'll pull it out on my back bumper and do it." Hurst credits her success to her grandparents, whom she refers to as mom and dad. "Mom taught me to work hard and never give up. Dad taught me to love nature and the forest. That's where I really got my start. They raised me to be the person that I am." Hurst hopes the company will grow. "We're financially sound but we haven't grown leaps and bounds. We all make our living and that's just about it. I'd still like to take in more people and teach them how to do the work." Top