The Aboriginal Newspaper of British Columbia & Yukon Top News - October -2002 Published October 14 2002 Hilda Mason of LJ's Catering in Victoria provided the Pacific Peoples Partnership's Pacific Networking Conference with a real West Coast traditional dinner. Photo by Troy Hunter Pacific Peoples gathering looks at governance Nanaimo woman recognized for community building Agreement signed: Natives take back child care This is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the October 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. Pacific Peoples gathering looks at governance Troy Hunter, Raven's Eye Writer, Victoria Page 3 Indigenous activists from across Canada and the South Pacific met at the University of Victoria Sept. 19 and 20, where they shared their perspectives on Indigenous governance and resource management at the annual Pacific Peoples Partnership Conference. The two day conference began with Tom Sampson of the Sencoten Tribes providing an eloquent speech and heartfelt welcome. Sampson said, "The Creator told my ancestors, 'Here is the land that you will know, here is the land that you will use, here is the land that you will respect, and here is the language that goes with it.'" Sampson continued, "They took our longhouses down, they took away our language when we welcomed the newcomers to the land, and what we got in return were little reservations, incarceration, sickness, disease and punishment because we were Indian. "Is it necessary to have more and do we need to continue to devastate the land until there is nothing left?" asked Sampson. "The people who manage these resources don't understand because they don't have a relationship with the land, and to them, timber is nothing more than two-by-fours." The conference was packed with very important Indigenous delegates. The keynote plenary panel consisted of Sir Hugh Kawharu, Chief Leah George of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, and Lopeti Senituli of the Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement. Their topic was Re-Imagining Local Governance. There were presentations from seven Pacific delegates from Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Cook Islands and Tonga. Many Canadian First Nations were also represented. Also present were representatives from various agencies and government departments including David Kilgour, Conservative MP and Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific. The conference explored and evaluated specific governance models-some failed, others experimental, some traditional, others modern-employed by Indigenous peoples in partnerships with the state, private sector or non-governmental organizations. Within these topics the changing roles of women and the dynamic efforts of Indigenous youth were discussed. The conference examined the role of international aid and environmental organizations in promoting sustainability and Indigenous governance. First Nations people in Canada and Indigenous peoples of the Pacific have a shared history of both struggle and innovation in their efforts to evolve governance models that further their control over local resources and their livelihoods. Further information about the Pacific Peoples Partnership is on the Internet at www.sppf.org. Top Nanaimo woman recognized for community building Goody Niosi, Raven's Eye Writer, Nanaimo Page 6 Grace Elliott-Nielsen has talked with visionaries, world leaders, drug addicts, movie stars, displaced people, and kings. She is at home in a longhouse or a palace. When she received the Order of British Columbia, the province's highest honor, Elliott-Nielsen was called a visionary and was cited for developing programs to meet the needs of the Aboriginal community and for starting the first Aboriginal health centre in the province. She was also one of the founding members of the Aboriginal components of the Building Better Babies program in Nanaimo. That program has now spread to 32 urban centres in British Columbia and 623 across Canada. Elliott-Nielsen never expected fame or recognition. She has devoted her life to others because she believes the earth can be a better place, that all things are connected, and that all things are important. Each person can only do a small piece to effect change, she said. Her life, she added, has been about working on her small section of a giant patchwork quilt. She learned much of her philosophy of life from her father, Norman Elliot. "Some things that happened were good, some were not," he told her. "But if people work hard enough they can bring back the spirit of the good things and learn from the bad experiences." Elliott-Nielsen kept his words in her heart even when the children at her school in Ladysmith called her a "dirty Indian" and beat her. "I felt fear but I don't ever remember hating any of them," she said. "I decided that no children should suffer what I was suffering-no matter who those children were-and I would do what I could so that they didn't have to." Elliott-Nielsen trained to be a nurse and then a counsellor. She worked with youths and was often given the toughest cases-but no matter how difficult the people she worked with, she treated them all with respect. In 1973, Elliott-Nielsen was asked to help out the Tillicum Haus Native Friendship Centre, which had been created to serve youths who had come from reserves to the city for an education. When she attended a meeting she discovered that Tillicum Haus was in deep financial trouble and on the verge of shutting down. She became president and went to work rebuilding the centre, keeping in mind her father's advice. Within two years Tillicum Haus was named the best Native friendship centre in British Columbia. In 1979, Elliott-Nielsen became the centre's social worker and began to attend meetings of the provincial association of Native friendship centres, which operated under the auspices of the Ministry of Children and Families. She was instrumental in bringing the centres under Aboriginal governance. In 1980, she became executive director of Tillicum Haus and helped create the Building Better Babies program, which welcomed all families from the community. "The Native friendship centre was never limited to Natives," Elliott-Nielsen said. "I saw that a lot of people were falling through the gaps and those people's needs were not being addressed by social services. We had pregnant women coming in who weren't well and couldn't see a doctor. The need was there." The board agreed with her vision and developed a mission statement that promises justice and equality for all Aboriginal people and to meet the needs of all people in the community. Elliott-Nielsen's influence began to be felt all across the province wherever Native health was at stake. In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev invited her to attend the annual State of the World Conference in San Francisco, of which he was one of the chairmen. The invitation recognized her contribution to the field of holistic health. In 2000, Elliott-Nielsen received the Order of British Columbia. The certificate hangs on her wall next to her honorary doctorate of laws from Malaspina University College and the 125th Commemorative Award from the Governor General of Canada for outstanding contribution to the country. When Elliott-Nielsen started school, she was afraid to talk to anyone. Now she is comfortable with heads of state. When she came to Nanaimo there were no Native treatment centres. Today her community is growing strong and healthy and Tillicum Haus is a shining example to the rest of the world. Top Agreement signed: Natives take back child care Goody Niosi, Raven's Eye Writer, Vancouver Page 7 An historic agreement signed Sept. 9 by Gordon Campbell, premier of British Columbia, and 13 Aboriginal organizations in the province transferred the care of First Nations children from the Ministry of Children and Families to the Aboriginal community. The signing took place at the Museum of Anthropology on the grounds of the University of British Columbia. Grace Elliott-Neilsen of Nanaimo signed as both president of the British Columbia Native friendship centres and vice-president of the provincial Aboriginal Health Council. Elliott-Nielsen presented Campbell with a hand-woven sacred blanket that is to be brought to all future meetings as a symbol that all those participating will stand by truth and ethics. Native leaders were both delighted and concerned with the agreement, which commits the provincial government to allow Native leaders to oversee Aboriginal children in care. Although children of Aboriginal ancestry make up only eight per cent of British Columbia's youth, they comprise 40 per cent of about 10,000 children in the government's care. And while that might seem to translate to 40 per cent of funding to the Ministry for Children and Families being transferred to Aboriginal organizations, that will not be the case in light of drastic funding cuts. "We're going to be looking at a smaller amount of dollars than what was provided to the ministry," Elliott-Nielsen said. "They (the government) is looking at 20 per cent of total funding and we're saying 37 per cent at the very least." The money issue is a concern. However, the benefits of transferring care of the children to Aboriginal groups is enormous, Elliott-Nielsen said. "The Aboriginal community will be administering programs to these children in ways that are culturally and traditionally appropriate. Personally I think it will be difficult, but in the long run it will benefit our people." At the signing ceremony Premier Campbell said, "We think we're on the right track but we don't want anyone to be under any illusions. This is a framework and a foundation that we can move forward with. There's a lot of work to do." Top