Ottawa Report

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The largest Indian band in Canada is the Six Nations Band in southern Ontario-at last count it had more than 11,000 members. The smallest band in the country is the New Westminster Band of British Columbia. It has just two (2) members. It so happens that I come from the Six Nations and that makes me a very small frog in a very big pond. Perhaps for that reason, I have always been fascinated by a band with just two members.

I first learned about the New Westminster Band 15 years ago when I read a government document listing the bands and their populations. There at the bottom of the list was the New Westminster Band and the number two. I was working in Vancouver at the time, and I asked a lot of people about the New Westminster Indians but no one seemed to know who they were or where they were. I checked the government maps for the area and couldn't find any reserves belonging to the New Westminster Band.

I got the feeling that the New Westminster Band was more legend than reality. For the past 15 years, the band has been a nagging curiosity for me and the source of a lot of unanswered questions.

On the silly side, for instance, I want to know if the two members have trouble holding a band meeting. I also want to know which one of them is the chief. And I want to know what happens if the election for band chief ends up in a tie.

On the serious side, I want to know just who those two people are. I wan to know how the band ended up with just two members. And I want to know if the and is going to die when they do.

So the other day I finally began a serious search for the New Westminster Indian Band. I started by checking the government record. The New Westminster band list has just two names-George Joseph and Dorothy Joseph.

Dorothy was born on February 6, 1912. IF she's still alive, she's 75 years old. George was born exactly 14 years later on February 6, 1926. If he's still alive, he's 61. According to the records, both George and Dorothy are single and living off-reserve.

I then called the Vancouver office of the Department of Indian Affairs. An official there said the Department hasn't heard from the Josephs' since the end of World War Two. The official also said that George and Dorothy might be brother and sister; that they might be related to some members of the nearby Musqueam Indian Band and that they might be living across the boarder in Washington State.

The only hard information I learned was that the band doesn't have a reserve anymore. The Department's land office in Ottawa told me later that the band's reserve was a 27 acre island in the middle of the Fraser River, just downstream from the City of New Westminster. It's called Poplar Island and it's still undeveloped and covered with bush. Government records show that Ottawa sold Poplar Island to the City of New Westminster for $16,260. The records also say that the government will "use the proceeds for the benefit of the Indians." The deal was signed on July 3, 1945; just about the same time, coincidently, that George and Dorothy Joseph were last heard from.

I called a middle-aged acquaintance of mine in the Musqueam Indian Band next. He didn't know anyone in the band who was related to the New Westminster people. He said he knew about the Josephs-vaguely-and he thought they were still alive.

By this time I was running out of leads so I took a chance and phoned directory assitance in Seattle, Washington. There was no George Joseph listed but they did have a number for a Dorothy E. Joseph. I dialed the number. A woman's voice-an old woman's voice-answered the phone.

"Hello," she said. I asked if she was Dorothy Joseph. In a voice that sounded 75 years old, she said "Yes."

I took a deep breath and asked if she was a member of the New Westminster Band from British Columbia. I was excited. Instantly, she said, "No," she wasn't.

I hid my disappointment, apologized and said good-bye. I decided at that point to stop looking for George and Dorothy Josph because my search seems to have produced more questions than answers. For example, are the New Westminster Indians still alive? Did they agree to the sale of Poplar Island? What happened to the $16,260? And does the band have, as I'm told, a legitimate claim against the government for compensation?

I want to know the answers to these questions, not just to satisfy my curiosity, because the answers could mean millions to two old Indians. I hope that you-George and Dorothy-somehow get this message. I do want to hear from you because I think we might have a lot to talk about.