B.C. chiefs set up blockade to stop unauthorized logging

Page 2

Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en chiefs have set up a barricade on B.C. Rail lines that

cut through their traditional territories to stop any equipment or supplies directed to the Minaret Creek area northwest of Prince Geroge, B.C.

The Gitksan Chiefs have issued notices to the Ministry of Forests and Rustad Brothers Company Ltd. to stop all unauthorized logging activities in the area.

The company plans to construct a loading area, camp facilities and airstrip clearing before winter and to exercise its cutting option after the Ministry of Forests granted the company a Special Use Permit.

"There is a barrier set up on the tracks...there will be no train traffic until late November or early December. The quarrel is not with us, the quarrel is with the province over title. We are caught in the middle. We are encouraging everyone to get it resolved," said Barrie Wall, B.C. Rail spokesman.

The blockade is the latest development in an on-going battle for recognition of ownership and jurisdiction over 58,000 square kilometres of land in northwestern B.C. The Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en hereditary Chiefs claim they and their ancestors have occupied and possessed these lands from time immemorial. This dispute is known in the courts as the Delgamuukw case.

There have been many attempts by the Chiefs to negotiate with the provincial government.

"We have put forward agreements respecting management of forest use for our territories as a way to deal with forest-related issues while we sort out what rights the province has on our territories," said Gordon Sebastian, main Speaker for the Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en hereditary Chiefs.

"We see no political will on the part of the provincial government to take our legal rights seriously. What you see in the Minaret Creek area is another example of the province's attitude about our constitutional rights," he said.

The five B.C. Court of Appeal judges who heard the Delgamuukw case strongly urge the province and the Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en to negotiate rather than litigate a solution to the land claims issues.

But, in the last three months, there has been no action.

"We think they just wanted to stall our court case with endless discussions," said Sebastian.

On Oct. 25, the Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en Nations filed in Ottawa, at the Supreme Court of Canada, an application for leave to appeal the B.C. Court of Appeal decision in the Delgamuukw case.

There are approximately 7,500 Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en people in the Skeena and Bulkey River area. Hazelton is about 1,255 kilometres from Vancouver.