Nesika: The Voice of B.C. Indians -- March/April 1976

Transcription (Hover to view)


“published by
the

B.C. Association of Non Status Indians



March/April 1976





NESI

A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE LAND CLAIMS MOVEMENT

U.B.C.1.C. ASSEMBLY
May 15-18 in Courtenay











QUESTION: _ the chiefs answer those ques- THE AGENDA
Will the chiefs in assembly _tions at their upcoming assem-
accept the principle that all the bly, to be held this. year in DAY1
people that they have aiccady Courtenay from Saturday the The Chiefs’ Council adopted a
as having 15th to Tuesday the 18th of general plan for the conference

al rights - those people of at
iene 1/4 B.C. Indian ancestry -
also have the right to be
represented in the Union and
also have a voice in determin-

ing a land claims negotiating.
_ position?

if the answer to that question
is ““yes’’, then,
QUESTION:

Will the chiefs take what
many are saying is the next
logical step and restructure the
UBCIC to become a “‘people’s
organization’’; or will they
attempt to re-form the Union so
that the chiefs will somehow be
truly representative of all the
people of 1/4 B. c. Indian
anceesy

May. Site of the conference will
be the Comox Valley Sports
Centre on Headquarters Way
in Courtenay.

The idea is that this is to be a
*‘neople's assembly”’, and as a
result, everyone is invited, and
will be welcome to attend. This
includes ‘‘non-status’’ people,
the press, and the general
public.

Some areas apparently plan to
be there in strength, including
a large number from the West
Coast, and reportedly, 60
schoolchildren from the Nimp-
kish Band.

Hotel, motel, and camping
space is limited in Courtenay,
but additional information on

agenda which could still be
changed by the chiefs in
assembly. General plans for
the first day include certain
housekeeping measures - adop-
tion of an agenda, selection of a
chairman, adoption of the
minutes, etc. The important
items scheduled for the first
day are the constitutional
changes which were submitted
by Simon Lucas, the Chiefs’
Council member from the West
Coast District. The changes, if
adopted, would cause radical
changes in the orgnization.

On Saturday evening, the
West Coast- District will be
sponsoring a banquet and a
dance, with other groups doing



conference arrangements is the same on other evenings.

a Ao ele

phone number in Sardis, ,
858-7181. ; _

finding Chiefs, and the land

claims movement, lies in how continued on page 3

a



Hunt?

Room 104-1099 W. 8th,

please return to:
Vancouver, B.C,
732-6122

If undeliverable,
BCANSI











~- | Who is Digby

The Federal Government has
appointed a senior civil servant
to be solely responsible for
handling their side of land
claims negotiations in the

’ Yukon, the Northwest Territor-

les, and British Columbia. The
man they appointed is Digby
Hunt, the Assistant Deputy
Minister responsible for North-
ern Development in. the De-
partment of Indian Affairs and
Northern Development. With
respect to future negotiations
In this province, we doubt that
the government could have
made a dumber, less sympath-

_ etic appointment.

Hunt's background and exper-
lence is’ almost solely in the
field of geology and oil,
including time spent working
for Brascan in Brazil. Hunt's
background in the oil industry
got him appointed to the Board
of Directors of Panarctic Oils
Limited, which is 45 percent
owned by the Government of
Canada, and is deeply involved
in exploring for oil and gas in
the middle of the Inuit land
claim. He is also a Board
member of .the Northern
Canada Power Commission,
which is responsible for build-
ing dams and supplying hydro
power in the north.

It should be understood that in
the Territories a direct conflict



of interest exists in DIAND.
The Department is responsible
for protecting the rights of the
native people in the north, and
at the same time, is trying to
‘develop’ the north; with
dams, pipelines, instant towns,
pollution, social upheaval; all

of which is allowed tohappen-on _

Indian land.

The ‘““‘normal*’ amount of

conflict of interest in DIAND is *

compounded in Hunt's case by
his involvement with develop-
ment companies in the north
and his duties as a land claims
negotiator.

With so many different
responsibilities, Hunt must

_ have a hard time making up his

mind in the morning as to who
he will be that day.

When he enters negotiations,
will he be the fearless protector
of and tristee of Indian rights?
Or will he be the promoter- of
economic development in the
north? Or will he be a Board
member trying to put a pipeline
through the Mackenzie Valley
for a profit-making corpor-
ation?

Well, we're pretty sure whose
side he won’t be on. His
background isn’t the only
reason we're suspicious, since
he has stated in a speech to the
Canadian Mining Association
that a pipeline could be built

down the Mackenzie Valley
before naive land claims are
settled.

Since Hunt's knowledge is
limited to the north and
economic development issues,
it is not surprising that he
would be grossly ignorant of
the Indian situation in B.C. For
example, there are reports that
he didn’t know, until recently,
the number of Indian bands in
the province (188).

It.would also be logical to
assume that with no direct
knowlege of B.C., and current-
ly in the midst of negotiations
in the Yukon, that he sees the
future settlement in B.C.
simply as an extension of the
agreement reached in the
Yukon. There are reports, in
fact, which indicate that this is
his attitude - that the dollars
and acreage simly have to be
multiplied-by some number to
arrive at a settlement in this
province, despite the special
involvement of Indian people in
the forestry and commercial
fishing industries.

These two industries, plus the

wide differences in the tribal
groupings make the Indian
situation in B.C. unique, and
make Digby Hunt uniquely
unfit to handle the negotiations
in this province.

NESIKA CORNER

Many people have
complained that the Janu-
ary/February issue of NE-
SIKA didn't have enough
pictures. We must agree
and by way of cxplanation
blame the lack of pictures
on two things: 1. tthe loss
of our camera, and 2. the
severe space limitations in
the last issue which forced
us to cul Out two stories and
seven pictures from the
issue,

You, faithful reader, can
help improve the situation
by sending us photographs
of just about anything
Indian. Please identify
what is in the picture,
though, and include where
It was taken, when, and by
whom.

We are trying to build a
file of pictures of our many
native leaders from all
levels and all areas, and
would especially welcome
photos of them. We can
even use pictures printed in
newspapers, so if your local
paper has printed some
eye-catching Indian photos,
send them along.

We are asking your
support not only because it

will save us money - the
35.30 is our cost for taking,
developing, and printing
just one picture - but also to
improve the paper's ap-
pearance AND to get more
reader involvement in the
paper's production,

If you are not on the
mailing list, send us your
name and address to
reccive your own copy.
Send us the mames and
addresses of others who
would be interested in
receiving this paper. If you
currently receive more than
one copy, make sure the
cxtras are distributed to
others. When you're thro-
ugh with your copy, pass it
on, it Increases the reader-
ship without increasing our
cost. -

This issuc was produced
with volunteer labour by
people who are concerned
about the land
movement, and you are
invited to help them:Dora,
Shirley. Pauline. Kitty.
Tony, Gilbert, Wayne, and
Brian. Thanks also to the
WESTERN VOICE.

LETTERS

Moses Jimmy is not

feeling well. He has spent.
most of the last 18 years |

behind bars and in his own
words says that “‘old age
creeping up. I’m 60 years
young now. What I do like
you to get me, so as I can
‘keep up, the Indian popula-
tion in B.C., the number of
reserves, also Indian popu-
lations of Canada, as | am
about finishing writing an
article on Indian way of life,

and have it published so]

now everybody can read
|

How about it readers? Can |

someone send him that
information? Let's not for-
get our brothers and sisters
in prison. His address is:
Box 2500, Abbotsford, B.C.





claims |



NESIKA:

I'm talking about your
decision to focus solely on
the land claims issue. Now,
the land claims topic is of
crucial importance to the
native Indians not only

| within this province but

across the country. Fine,
But, and [| hope I am not
making you angry with my
next words, the function of
any newspaper or newslet-

ter is just that, the
publication of news which
will interest the readers of
that paper. Not just news
but all news.

A paper has a responsibili-
tv towards its readers to
carry valuable information
from all sectors of the
reader's community, in this
case, all of British Colum-
bia. Land Claims Settle-
ment is a big part of what
interests at the present
moment, but it is mot the
only interest of our peoples.
Many readers, | am certain,
would like your paper to
expand its format to include
other issues which may be
just as crucial to those
readers as the land claims
issue. What can possibly be
of that much importance,
you may ask? Well, to
mention just a few, what
about education, both with-
in the public school systems
and post-secondary institu-
tions; what about the many
local and regional organiza-
tions who may wish to
present programmes and
/or issues which will affect
the lives of many Indian
people; what about even
the government who may
(incredible as it may seem
to some) actually have
something important to say
to us? This is what

comprises news, the many
-sided and very complex
happenings which Indians
wish to hear about but may
not be able to read about
anywhere else but in your
paper, should you have
been carrying such mater-
ials.

l am not being facetious
here (I can't help using
some big words and hope
you will bear with me), that
the Union of B.C. Indian
Chiefs and the B.C. Assoc-
iation of Non-Status Indians
should decide to focus their
efforts on land claims is one
thin, that the only province
-wide native newsletter
should do the same is an
entirely different matter.
You are not BCANSI nor
are you the UBCIC, you
may be an offshoot of one

‘or both of these larger

organizations but that yo
organizations but that gives
you, as a paper, no might to
decide what is newsworthy
and what is not newswor-
thy. Let the reader decide
that for himself or herself.
As it now stands, you are
censoring some news in
favour of other news, and
news which only you have
decided upon as being of
prime concern.

Gerry Williams

Victoria

a
LAND CLAIMS BOOKS FOR SALE - SUPPORT THE NESIKA

Copies of the books shown
here can be purchased by
writing BCANSI (Please
add 25 cents for postage).
Profits will go to making
NESIKA independent.

NESIKA is offering for
sale a land claims informa-
tion booklet which was put
together by the local church
support group. It ts an
excellent source of back-
ground information about
the land claims issue, and
sells for $2.00, which
includes. postage. It is 120
pages long and although
some of the mimeographed
pages are a little faint, the
material is well worth the
eye-strain for those who
want to know more about
land claims.

Some of the material
-covered in the booklet:

A Speech by Chief Seattle

Joseph Trutch and the

AS LONG AS THIS LAND
SHALL LAST

by Rene Fumoleau. OMI,
415 page paperback, 35.95

An Oblate missionary has
produced one of the most
carefully documented stor-
ies of the life of the Indian
People of the Mackenzie
Valley in the Northwest
Territories. Fr. Rene Fumo-
leau started out to prepare
a ““modest paper’’ on the
significance of two Indian
treaties signed in 1899 and
1920.

Fumoleau spent many
hours interviewing old peo-
ple who remembered the
early treaty parties, and
became the star witness
before Mr. Justice William
Morrow in a caveat action
asking the courts to desig-
nate the 450,000 square
miles as having “prior
Interest’’ for the natives.
Morrow ruled they did, and

it was the evidence of Rene
Fumoleau which helped
convince the Judge that the
natives of the NWT had
aboriginal rights predating
the spurious treaties.

It became the basis for a
precedent-setting court de-
cision and provides a
chilling lesson in the
chicanery and insensitivity
of the white government of
that day which employed
any method to obtain
signatures on a document
which no native - and few
whites - could comprehend.

But this is no dry legal
treatise. It reads more like
a tale of a forgotten people
and land who have sudden-
ly become headline news.

Thoughtful, unbiased,
clear, it is a major work for
those who would care to
understand the just aspira-
tions of the natives of
northern Canada.

- from a toronto star review



Indian Land Policy

The Nishga Petition of 1913
Our Homes are Bleeding -
excerpts from this book on

the cut-off lands.

The White and Bob Case -
the Supreme Court decision

N.1.B. Statement on Abor-
iginal Title

The Supreme Court Nishga
Decision by Doug Saunders

Federal Policy Statement
on Aboriginal Claims, 1973

East Fraser Land Claims

INDIAN CLAIMS
CANADA

IN

by the Indian Claims
Commission

278 page bilingual paper-
back, $2.00

The Research Resource
Centre of the Indian Claims
Commission has published
a bibliography (index) of its
holdings - documents,
books, articles, legal cases,
maps, and manuscripts as
they relate to Indian claims
in Canada. Included are
their holdings on Atlantic
Canada, Quebec, Ontario,



Action Proposal

2 NESIKA

March/April 76

the Metis on the Prairies,
Treaties 1 to 7, Northern
Canada, B.C. (9 pages).
Also included are compara-
tive holdings for the USA,
Central and South America,
Australia, New Zealand,
and Scandinavia. The chap-
ter on B.C. lists the
published and unpublished
documents the Claims
Commission holds regard-
ing B.C. Indian land
claims.

Also included is a 30 page
essay which provides an
overview of ‘both the
nature of Indian claims in
this country and of at-
tempts which have been
made to deal with them.*’



THIS LAND IS NOT FOR
SALE

by Hugh
McCullum
210 page paperback, $3.95

and Karmel

Four contemporary land
claims are discussed in
detail - the Yukon, North-
ern Manitoba, Northwest
B.C.. and the Northwest
Territories.

An entire chapter is
devoted to an examination
of two recent land settle-
ments - Alaska and James
Bay - and an explanation of
why native groups across
Canada insist that the
earlier agreements not be
used as precedents for
further settlements.

The political situation
changes rapidly, making.

|much of the information in

the book out of date as soon
as it appears. But the
discussion of the individual
land claims, the principles
on which they are based,
the type of settlement the

Native people want, and
their sentiments toward the
land, are timeless.

This Land is a well-writ-
icn, no-nonsense presenta-
tion of the case for
contemporary northern
land claims. The authors’
bias is clear - their
sympathy is with the native
people. The federal povern-
ment and the multi-national
corporations are consistent-
ly presented as villains in a
polarized struggle for con-
trol of the land. Both
government and corpora-
tions have had plenty of
opportunity in the past -
and enormous budgets - to
present their side of the
story in an equally one-sid-
ed fashion. But such a
treatment has been lacking
for some time. After all the
ol company promotional
material, the book is a
needed change.

-from a C.A.S.N_P. Bulletin

review



Please enter my subscription to NESIKA

Return to: BCANSI,
1099 W. 8th,
Vancouver, B.C.

{I enclose a donation of

Name:





Address:













CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Future of Union at Stake |



DAY 2 and DAY 3

The Chiefs’ Council hopes
to. have these two days
spent in smaller workshop
sessions. The workshop
titles so far include:

_ Negotiating Process and
Political Strategy
Fishing Rights
Hunting Rights
Land Use
Economic Development
Timber Resources

Two or three other
workshops may also be
held.

DAY 4 |
Resolutions and elections

_are scheduled for the last dance. The

NOTE: Because of the
length of discussion over
the constitutional changes,
the Chiefs’ Council advises
of the possibility of the
conference lasting. an extra
day and being extended to
Wednesday May 19th.

RECENT HISTORY
OF THE UBCIC

The highlight of the
Union's special ‘think tank’
land claims meeting held in
Terrace last April, was a
resolution stating that all
people of at least 1/4 B.C.
Indian ancestry have abor-
iginal rights and a right to
participate in the recogni-
tion of aboriginal title. The
famous Chilliwack assem-
bly three weeks later
reaffirmed the Terrace de-
cision and made the resolu-

* ition of the land claim the

sole mandate of the Union
once again. The chiefs also
voted to reject all govern-
ment funding for the
UBCIC.

The Kamloops asembly,
called to resolve the dispute
over the rejection of funds
reconfirmed the UBCIC's
sole mandate as land claims
and upheld the Chilliwack
rejection motion. That as-
sembly also accepted a
proposal, in principle, for
land claims action that was
presented by the East
Fraser District. The East
Fraser proposal again stat-
ed that all people of 1/4
B.C. Indian ancestry have

aboriginal rights. The maj-
or focus of their proposal
was that the UBCIC seek
recognition of aboriginal
title, rather than negotiate
a surrender or extinguish-
ment of aboriginal rights. A
proposal was also tabled at

the Kamloops assembly to

restructure the UBCIC.
POST-KAMLOOPS

‘The promise of unity and
greater co-operation within
the Chiefs’ Council and
Executive after the Kam-
loops assembly did not
come true. The Council met
three times with usually
better-than-average atten-



trative matters, such as the
322,000 -bill owing to~the
Victoria Indian Cultural
Centre, but mostly it was
about the plans for the
assembly.

The $22,000 bill -was
mostly for videotaping the
Terrace and Chilliwack
conferences. The Centre is
keeping the Union's Land
Claims Library and the
master copies of the video-
tapes, although the Union
may borrow some of the
material.

It was in the discussons
about the assembly that the
basic differences within the
council and executive be-
came clear, and the strong
personality clashes only
added to the often-times
heated debates.

In discussions on the
constitutional changes, one
faction was strongly’ in
favour of the Union becom-
ing a “‘people’s organiza-
tion’’, while the other side
was just as strongly in
favour of a “‘people’s or-
ganization"’, but rather a
‘“people’s organization led
by chiefs”’.

EVALUATION
OF THE UBCIC

The Union is actually only
the 192 chiefs representing
the 188 Indian bands in the
province. The chiefs in each
of the 15 districts elect a
district ‘representative to
the Chiefs’ Council, and the
Indians in each of the
bands elect the chief.

discussions.

a “ee

Supposedly, then, the Un-
ion represnts all status
Indians. ;
However, The Department
of Indian Affairs makes the
rules of who can vote in
band elections, and “‘off--
reserve’’ status Indians
can't vote. DIA figures for
1974 show that over 30
percent of status Indians
are “‘off-reserve’’, and
depending on how the rules
are interpreted, possibly up
to 30 percent of the status
Indians in the province are
not represented in the
Union, ,

The Chilliwack and
Kamloops assemblies have
said the Union’s-only duty
is to resolve the Indian

claim to B.C. However, the *

Union has not defined just
how it will do that. The role
of the Union and the role of
the individual band have
not yet been defined.

For example, what powers

and responsibilities do the-

bands give to the Union,
and what do they keep for
themselves?

Another question: What
is the relationship between,
say, the Council of the
Haida Nation, and the
Union, when the Skidegate
and-Masset band members
are represented in both
organizations?

ee sa ie een

; d|





: i! sy 2

\
COURTENAY,





PROPOSED CHANGES

There are three major
sections in the constitution-
al changes proposed by
Simon Lucas:

1. The name of the Union

would be changed to the
Union of Native Indian
Tribes.

2. Membership in the
Union would be open to: a)
persons who have been
members of B.C. Indian
bands all their lives, b)
persons who were members
of B.C. Indian bands
continuously until they lost
their status by marriage or
enfranchisement, - c) - per=
sons who are at least 1/4
British Columbia Indian by
descent.

_The membership section is
the same as the East Fraser
proposal.

3. All members of the
Union will be eligible- to
vote in Executive elections,
and all -members of an
Indian Nation or Tribal
group (replacing the Dist-
ricts) will be eligible to vote

‘for a member on the Chiefs’

Council. The West Coast
District (Nootka Nation?)
has already implemented
this section.

Those who support these
changes say that the
purposes of the new Union
would be:

1. To negotiate the princip-

les of settlement (recognit-
ion not extinguishment of
aboriginal title, blood quan-

_tum, hunting, fishing, trap-

ping, timber rights)
2. To mobilize the unorgan-

‘ized tribal groups

3. To support the organized
tribal groups (the Haida
and Nishga).

4. Co-ordination and com-
munication.

5. To provide visible people
support (financial, moral)
for the leadership and land
claim actions. .

6. To build non-Indian
support.

For. the purposes of the
assemblies, there has been
some discussion on modify-
ing the voting at the annual
meeting 'so that each Nation
or Tribal group would-be
allowed | representative for
every 50 or 100 members of
that Nation.

Those who are in favour of
the restructuring say that
the changes won't take any
power. away from the
chiefs, but only give all the
people entitled to partici-

‘pate in the recognition of

aboriginal title the right to
be represented in the
organization which will be
negotiating the principles
of a land claims settlement.

COMOX VALLEY SPORTS CENTRE - SITE OF THE CONFERENCE

cee es es pe ee



March/April 76

Native People Speak Out on Land Claims

Donna Tyndall



Donna Tyndall, President
of the Courtenay/Comox
BCANSI Local, received a
standing ovation from the
75 people attending the
March 4th hearing into the
Esquimalt and Nanaimo
Railway. The following are
excerpts from her brief:

Indian people have
occupied Vancouver Island
since time immemorial and
are therefore, its rightful
owners. This land was
taken illegally - not by
conquest, not by sale, and
certainly not by mutual
agrecment. Small areas of
the southern Island were
ceded by the Indians as a
result of treaties. How-
ever, since then, the treaty
rights which the Indians
received, supposedly . for
perpetuity, such as the
right to hunt and fish at any
time, have been cancelled.
We feel that, therefore, the
treaties themselves are
cancelled.

In this brief, we reiterate
our claim to the land, not
only the E & N “‘gift
package’, but all the land
in B. C.

Indians did not believe
that land could be owned by
men. Land was a gift from
the Great Spirit. A gift to
be used to provide life's
essentials and then to be
left, just as it was found for
the next generation.

Crazy Horse, the great
warrior chief, said, “‘One

Nick Prince

docs not sell the earth upon
which the people walk.”
Many other Indian leaders
stated that the earth was
our Mother and one does
not divide up his Mother's
body, and then buy and sell
the pieces.

Don't you wish that you
could have known such
beautiful, naive children?
They believed that no man
was preat unless he was
also kind; no man was rich
unless he gave away more
than he got. It is,
therefore, easy to under-
stand why, when beggars
came to their land, the
Indians felt such compas-
sion. They not only fed and
clothed these poor stran-
gers, but they invited them
to share their land!
Imagine the Indians’ be-
wilderment when these
newcomers then told them
that they, the newcomers,
now owned all the land.
And their idea of sharing
was for the Indians to stay
within small rural ghettos
while the newcomers began
to spoil the country that the
Great Spirit had made
beautiful and clean.

I respect all the words of
Oombly, my grandfather,
but I am a product of 200
years of white domination
in my fathers’ land. I was
not brought up in the slow
gentle Yesterday of my
people. Along with our
land, you people took away

Nick Prince, well known
character in the native
people's movement and
Chicf of the Necoslie Band
at Fort St. James, wrote
this article for the February
issue of STELLA’T’EN;:

Alexander Mackenzie was
given the credit for being
*he first white man to reach
the Pacific Ocean by land in
1793. He discovered
nothing the Indians didn't
know. In fact, the Beaver,
Sekanis, and the Carrier
Indians didn't know what to
make of the poor demented
man, imagine wanting so
much to see the big water!
The Indians felt sorry for
the poor guy so they
showed him the way and
brought him back, so what
else is new? All this was
happening on Indian land.
Permission had to be
acquired to go through
intertribal boundaries -
such was the law of the
land.

I guess old Alex told his
cohorts that there was furs
and game and the stupid
natives only used what they
needed for food and cloth-
ing and to make tools
necessary to make life
easier in the harsh land. So

old Alex went further and
said, “‘Look, these natives
are as innocent as can be,
they have not learned our
ways of greed, malice,
intoxication or thievery,
let’s take all this stuff away
from them and become rich
and famous. And by gosh,
that’s exactly what they
did."" ALL OF THIS IS
HAPPENING ON INDIAN
LAND!

Simon Fraser came along,
he very generously gave
snuff to some of the old
Indian ladies at Nakazlie.
He found the natives here
were still innocent as can
be. They knew not the
ways of the white strangers
who came among them.
They gave him and his
cohorts hospitality and as
was their custom, they
shared what they had with
them until they went away
again. Old Si was pretty
cagey. When he got home,
wherever that was, he got
in touch with his old friend
and partner, George Simp-
son. He said, “Hey,
Georgie, have you got one
of them there windbags
that makes music or will
you do?"" Georgie hap-
pened to know the guy who
owned one so they began



4 NESIKA

March/April 76

=

our religion, our language,
our culture, all the things
that made our ancestors
such pushovers for the
early robber barons on
Vancouver Island. You
forced us to learn your
ways, you mocked ours.

We have to use your
language, ours was beaten
from us. We have to live by
your laws. We have been
forced to become like you.
So now we claim our land.
By Aboriginal Right, all
this land is ours. As the

indigenous people, the

original owners of this
Island, we are now deman-
ding just settlement for our
stolen land. We are
realistic people. We do not
expect people to leave land
where they are now living,
even though this too would
have a precedent in our
experience. What we are
insisting upon is what Is

rightfully ours; what every.

decent, right-thinking per-
son knows that we deserve.
We want to be compensa-
ted for that which has been
stolen and destroyed; the
land and all its resources.

We must be consulted now
on disposition of all the
lands which remain, They
are ours first.

We accuse the govern-
ment of stealing our land,
of making a gift of it to
cold-blooded men with cash
registers for hearts. We
accuse these men, and later
the machine called the
CPR, of illegal transactions
in selling land to which they

planning. They said these
people are peaceful and
innocent of our ways - let’s
scare the hell out of them
and take them for every-
thing we can. And by
George, that is exactly what

happened! ALL THIS IS
STILL HAPPENING ON

Then along came Douglas
(James, I think). He was a
fatherly sort, all smiles and
white teeth. He said to Si
and Georgie, you boys done
a good job there. I see
these Indians like our
booze, our snuff, our
tobacco and you have
outdone yourselves in cre-
ating distrust and preed.
He gave them a holiday.
He took over where they
left off and had a real ball.
He made sure that the
Indians were ripped off
right and left. More furs,
more salmon, more work,
more of everything was
demanded and while the
poor innocent Indian was
providing for everything,
Old Douglas was hastily
writing letters to some
people back east and
England and told them he
had discovered some land
and named it New Caledo-
nia. IMAGINE! DOING
THIS TO INDIAN LAND!
The Indians still trusted
him. Then who comes
along but the BLACKRO-

had no legal or moral right.
The CPR has made untold
millions of dollars on the
sale of this land. Has this
company no social cons-
clence whatever? Haven't
they ever considered that it
is about time the real
owners of the land were
reimbursed? One certainty
in this situation is that
before anything else is
done with these lands, the
Indians will be consulted,
and we will be paid. We
are standing up now. We
are demanding our rights.

You know the E & N
experience strikes many
well-known chords among
Indian people. A powerful,
unfeeling group takes over
vast areas of land and
promises to build and
operate a railway on Van-
couver Island. This pro-
mise is, at best, only
partially kept. The railway
reaches as far as Courte-
nay. As the years pass, this
service is cut back and cut
back more. Now the CPR
wants to pull out entirely
although they used our land
to bring so many millions of
dollars to their coffers.

It’s galling, isn'tit, to give
up great land masses and
the land’s riches for a
promise that is never kept.
To quote the eloquent
Crazy Horse once more --
“One does not go to a
mountaintop for water, nor
to a white man for the
truth.”

We would like to see the E
& N Railway extended to

BES. They were surprised
that these pagans -had a
belief in the Great Spirit .
They believed in what they
had, there was no religion.
The blackrobes said, “‘the-
se people have a sort of
religion and they are
teaching their children and
do you know what? They
have proof in their religion -
it’s all around them. Let's
change all that,”’ and, by
God, that is exactly what
they did!

Time passed and old
Douglas moved on to
another piece of Indian land
on a very large island by
the big water. He knocked
a few more heads and took
more land from the poor
innocent Indian, what a guy

he must have been.
Anyways, he retired, |
guess or died. His

followers such as Thomas
Robert McInnis sent letters
to people in places that old
Douglas had been and very
generously gave away the
land to the white strangers
who came to beg and eat at
our expense.

My father told me this
happened a long time ago
and he or my forefathérs
have no knowledge of the
Indian having given up his
land. They did not sign any
papers or even fight the
Indian for the land.

Can someone bring proof

the northernmost end of the
Island. Many Indian
people in that area are
among the poorest in
Canada, and, thanks to
exorbitant freight rates,
they pay some of Canada's
highest food and clothing
prices. These people are
forced to travel often. The
dearth of health services
and adequate schools, for-
ces them to travel for
medical reasons, or just to
see their children whom
they are forced to send
away to school.

1 have heard ‘it argued
here that the north island
has little future for indus-
trial and population expan-
sion. I can not help but say
a fervent prayer of thanks.
But there are still PEOPLE
living there and they have a
right to recelve proper care
and services.

I've heard southern
Ontario spoken of as almost
a hopeful model for our
Island. Please God, never
let this happen! I lived in
southern Ontario for five
years and it is a nightmare
of people and cars and
concrete.

I don't believe that
services should be provided
only because of hope for
industry and expansion,
but because there are
people there. And they
own this Island. You owe
them! Everyone owes
them! Most of all, the CPR
owes them!

that this land was sold or
given up by the Indian to be
distributed by some igno-
rant white man? And
having no proof, do you
believe that this land still
belongs to us?

This is the answer to all
the legal garbage about
who owns the land. Tell
your children about the true
history of our land claims if
you dare!

lf Nick had been aware of
some of the carly writings
of one of British Columbia
Premiers, he no doubt
would have included them
in his history. We are
including this sample from
the writings of Amor de
Cosmos, who was Premier
of the province from 1872 to
1874, and who wrote this
section as part of an
editorial in the Victoria
Colonist in 1861:

**Shall we allow a few red
vagrants to prevent forever
industrious settlers from
settling an unoccupied la-
nd? Not at all... Locate
reservations for them on
which to carn their own
living and if they trespass
on white settlers punish
them severely. A_ few
lessons would soon enable
them to form a _ correct
estimate of their own
inferiority and settle the
Indian title too.""

Northern Survey Underway



The second half of the
demographic survey of
non-registered Indians is
now underway. The
survey, funded by Canada
Manpower, is being admi-
nistered by Jim Lanigan, a
past Vice-President and
now a Director of BCANSI.
Manpower is using the
survey to determine the
number, location, and em-
ployment status of non-sta-
tus Indians in six areas
within the province.

Lanigan hopes that an
unofficial survey that will
be conducted at the same
time will be the basis for a
registration program listing
all non-status Indians who
would be eligible to parti-
cipate in the future recog-
nition of Aboriginal Title.

The first half of the survey
has already been completed
in the southern part of the

province, and the survey
now moves to the north.
Fight workers are now
interviewing native people
in Prince Rupert, Prince
George, and Dawson Cre-
ek. Interviews began April
12th, and will be completed
May 21st.

Lanigan hopes that the
northern half of the survey
will reach 5,000 native
people, and points out that
the results of both surveys
will be kept confidential.
The information contained
in the unofficial survey on
tribal origins will not be
given to. Manpower, but
will remain the property of

Lanigan. He has stated
that he will pive this
information to BCANSI and

or the UBCIC to help begin
a registration program for
non-status Indians to be
used in any eventual land



claims settlement.
SURVEY STAFF

Prince Rupert -

Dudoward, 733 Sth Ave.

624-5196; Darryl Flamm- |

ing, 1008 6th Ave.

624-3802.
Prince George Lena
Johnson, 1467 Milburn

Ave. 562-7427; Barbara
Lazaruik, #18 Fraser Bridge
Trailer Court, 562-7796:
Noreen Gilpin, #47 - 3730
Lansdowne Rd. 362-3254;
Virginia George, 2314 Red-
wood St. 564-6250.
Dawson Creek -
Sinclair,
782-3502; Herb Mineault,
Pouce Coupe, 786-5526.

Jim Lanigan can be contac-
ted at Canada Manpower in

Robert

Vancouver, phone 666-6346

Karen |

709-97th.. Ave. |



ISLAND LOCALS TO
FORM REGIONAL

COUNCIL

Six of the eight BCANSI
Locals on Vancouver Island
met April 10th in Qualicum,
and approved in principle
the establishment of a
regional council of BCANSI
Locals. The Locals voted to
meet again on May 22-23,
probably in Qualicum, .to
adopt a constitution and
élect officers.

The regional council

reportedly will nae two




rage greater activity on the
local level, and more
involvement with area re-
serves in the area of land
claims, and [2] act as a
lobbyist for the Locals with
the government on behalf
of Local projects.
Spokesman Alfie
McDames indicates that
the regional council’s for-
mal position on land claims
will probably be determi-
ned at the May meeting,
and that the region will

munnes t not be eperating.

The organizational work to
date has been funded by a
$4,000 grant from the First

Citizens’ Fund, and the
eight Locals - Victoria,
Duncan, Nanaimo/Lady-

smith, Port Alberm, Com-
ox/Courtenay, Powell River
Campbell River, and Alert
Bay - expect to be funded
by Secretary of State to
‘operate a central office.

Those wahting more
information can contact

Alfie McDenies at 746-7890



BCANSI News

ASSEMBLY DATES
JUNE 17th to 20th

The BCANSI Board of
Directors have selected
June 17th to 20th as the
dates for the upcoming
Annual Assembly of the

| Association. They made the
| decision at their last meet-

ing on April\L0th and 11th.
The theme of the assembly
will be ““BCANSI's Finest
Hour"’.

_ Board Member Art
Smitheram was chosen to
co-ordinate the conference
arrangements in co-opera-
tion with Spokesman Bill
Lightbown. The Board did
not decide on a location for
the assembly, -but pave
Smitheram and Lightbown
the responsibility of finding
the least expensive loca-
tion. They most likely will
be investigating possible
sites in Vancouver and
Prince George.

A final decision on the
assembly location will likely
be made at the next Board
meeting which is scheduled
to take place May 15th and
16th in Courtenay, where
the Board will be observers

with the Locals.

at the UBCIC’S conference.
Since the cost of the
assembly is still unknown,
the Board did not discuss
how it will be funded.
Board Member Dan Smith
did state, though, that in
his travels through the
province over. the next
month, he will be encourag-

‘ing the Locals to raise their

own funds so they can send
their delegates to the
assenibly.

Spokesman Bill Lightbown
received strong criticism
from a few Board Members
after making a report on his
activities for the previous
two months. He indicated
that most of his speaking
engagements had been -in
“Vancouver but did include a
trip to Masset and
Courtenay. Although no
motion was made, it was
the general consensus of
the Board that Lightbown
should be spending less

- time in the office and more

time travelling and meeting

Come to the Berger Hearing!

Justice Tom Berger

“The Mackenzie’ Valley
Pipeline Inquiry is a study
whose magnitude is with-
out precedent in the history

of our country. I take no
narrow view of my terms of
reference. We have got to
do it right"’.

Those were Mr. Justice
Tom Berger's words des-
cribing the Mackenzie Val-
ley Pipeline Inquiry.

In March, 1974, the
Government of Canada
appointed Mr. Justice Ber-
ger of the B.C. Supreme
Court to conduct an inquiry
into the social, environ-
mental, and economic im-
pact of the proposed
Mackenzie Valley natural
gas pipeline. He is to
consider the impact of the



construction, operation,
and eventual abandonment
of the proposed pipeline in
the Yukon and the North-
west Territories.

He ruled that the inquiry
would hold two kinds of
hearings. The formal
hearings would involve
“testimony and cross-exa-
mination of expert witnes-
ses from all parties’’.. The
community hearings would
be more informal and allow
the people who live in the
various Mackenzie Delta,
Mackenzie Valley and Yu-
kon communities to inform
the commission of their
views on the pipeline. The
CEC has co-operated in
broadcasting summaries of
the formal hearings, in
English and six native
languages, to the commu-

nities
THE VANCOUVER

HEARING

The Berger Hearing will

take place in Vancouver '

from the evening of the
10th of May, through to
May 12th, and will be held
in the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Oral and written briefs to
the Commission are wel-
come, but advance notice
must be given to the
Commission if a brief is to
be presented.

We can show support for
our northern brothers and
sisters by our presence at

the hearing. In fact,

one thing the Sra
tives of the northern native
organizations asked for
when they were in Vancou-
ver recently, was for the
native people in this area to
support the Inuit and Dene
by attending the Berger
Hearing, hopefully in large
numbers, and supporting
their struggle for a just
settlement of their land
claim before a pipeline is
built. That, is certainly, is
the least we can do.. For
more information about the
Vancouver hearing, contact
Mike Lewis at 681-8365.

The following is part of a
statement made by ‘Phillip
Blake to the Berger Inquiry
and is an eloquent example
of what some of the
northern native people are
saying about the pipeline:

In many parts of the
world, people are starving.
It is said that two-thirds of
the people of the world go
to bed hungry each night.
We Indian people are

_sometimes accused of not

being willing to share our
resources. But what of this
absurd scheme that Arctic

- Gas has dreamed up?

What does it offer to those
who are starving? Does it
promise to use our resour-

ces and our land to help
those who are poor? It
suggests exactly the oppo-
site.

It suggests that we give up
our land and our resources
to the richest nation in the
world. Not the poorest.

We are threatened with
genocide only so that the
rich and the powerful can
become more rich and more
powerful.

Mr. Berger, I suggest that
in any man’s view, that is
immoral. If our Indian

nation is being destroyed se



that poor people of the
world might get a chance to
share this world’s riches,
then as Indian people, I am
sure that we would serious-
ly consider giving up our
resources.

But do you really expect us
to give up our life, our
lands, so that those few
people who are the richest
and most powerful in the
world today can maintain
and defend their own
immoral position of privi-
lege?

That is not our way.”

, Make li Scappy” si



March/ April 76

” JESIKA 5

fli i Hit a a ili



gg

Fa die taiiatcleen letra ite tinteg pL ettattel is | (RT a Hee
fi int aE ch a i Sal
See a ee iL En
‘ aa Heh fi ek ane
ea TA ahi si Pi EMS ED gE eT
FFE RT na A eats in uf a tH sy i , ti re
He mae i fl lee Hy tae ibe : ae i F 5 |
ein beaten i i gik itl it ne i ' ie s
Pe a de i vai ili etite ft rf o]
i cult aula His: i i ft ve i Ht Hi if Hi = =
t E. ah ite ‘elt ah i hidhal chee tli pei il Uh | - im
i ‘ ply re Hh ana 8 ye =
“| uhh | ia Hay a ot oy
f | laa nit fam a Het eae Hf D> Bi
= deesee Ab; Fea i pli = i."
SBE nH AZ
—
O F
mi :
ws

SaMOLMYAL LSAMHLAON AHL
“er ee meg RLTET
ort Sean Cen aes pee Eee
ar ay see pad
jooilbek sevens ee
Ur
: ahi
a
A
=
ee oa |
(ect Eke
a toee



ct
| pte















ait
Pa ghd.
sie Be na
FP ae Lend a
evant aeuaere uualtante al ESTE
ian ee Eile ‘tall il aa )
rel criti tpisti relic a eHtuhie up nt i
apuat “hi HL et tH jie ati a Hi lai!
mi i Ah ita te fall (i tear ett fies
He He bike birt. a i ea Lal in i ili Hi ¢
pee geal ick
a il He ee Hh i ae
\ i iti 4 it Tiley I
wea t i I feel iene eee es | [isle i





- What's the Latest?

STALO

The current stand-off
between the Stalo Nation
and the Federal Govern-
ment over the return of the
Coqualeetza Complex may
yet result in a head-on
confrontation.

At issue is tithe to 58 1/2
acres of land and buildings
in Sardis which the Stalo
people are insisting be
returned to them as a sign
of good faith by the federal
government that it will
negotiate the rest of the
Stalo claim in the Fraser
Valley.

A confrontation could
arise when the federal
government tries to collect
four months back rent
which the Coqualeetza Ed-
ucation Training Centre
owes to the Department of
Public Works (and which it
refuses to pay) for the
buildings it rents on the
Coqualeetza property. Or,
it could happen when the
Indian people take future,
and as-yet unnamed, action
to enforce their claim.



The Stalo people have held
three demonstrations at-
tracting nation-wide public-
ity in Vancouver and Sardis
in recent months, seeking a
return of their property. All
of them to date have been
peaceful, but their patience
appears to be wearing thin.

The current stand-off
stems from a meeting on
March 18th attended by the
Cogualeetza Board, the
Land Claims Task Force of
the East Fraser District,
and was to have included
DIA Minister Judd Buchan-

HAIDA

ee ee ea

Funding from the
Depariment of Indian Af-
fairs has enabled the
Council of the Haida Nation
to establish an office in
Masset on
Charlotte Islands.

Ata meeting on April 4th,
Christine Carty was elected
the full-time Secretary
- Treasurer of the Council of
the Haida Nation.

President Godfrey Kelly
was given a mandate at that
meeting to establish study
groups and workshops, and
to begin an investigation
into the amount and value
of all the resources taken
out of the Islands since the
first white contact.

Attending that meeting
was Lavina Lightbown,
head of the Vancouver
branch of the Haida Nation.
The Vancouver branch has
voted to raise their own
land claims funds, and in
addition to regular mect-
ings are holding dances and
raffles to raise money.

The CHN also has a
branch established in
Prince Rupert. The leader

the Queen ]

an or a high powered
official. Instead, Buchanan
sent a low-level bureaucrat
with no authority, back-
pround, or knowledge of
the dispute. His response,
and Buchanan's response,
was that the government
was not prepared to deal
with the Coqualeetza claim
apart from the general land
claim; it had to be a
package deal. Coqualeetza
spokesperson Mary Lou
Andrew states that this
attitude only shows that the
government doesn’t seri-
ously intend to negotiate
land claims despite its
public statements to the
contrary.

As a result, the Stalo
people telexed Buchanan
stating he “mishandled”
their claim, and gave him
another opportunity to
make good.

The Coqualeetza Board
had been saving the rent
owing for January and
February on the 6 buildings
its rents from the Depart-
ment of Public Works and
at the meeting on the 18th,
voted to turn it over to the
East Fraser District for land
claims, instead of paying it
to DPW. The rent is 3837
per month and hasn't been
paid for the last four
months now. The only
reaction from DPW so far is
to notify Coqualeetza that
its rent is “in arrears’.

As for the Stalo people's
next move, Mary Louw
Andrew says that the
Coqualeetza Board has
given the East Fraser
District three different op-
tions as future courses of
action to take. It is hoped

gg gg gg agg

Very litthe ‘‘official™
information can be obtain-
ed now that talks between
the Nishgas and the federal
and provincial governments
have begun,

However, it is understood
that the three parties have
met twice since their
historic January 12th meet-
ing in New Aiyansh. An
educated guess would be
that the first thing that
would be discussed would
| be the negotiation process
itself - how the settlement
will be reached. Once that
is agreed on, the parties
may be setting a target date
for them to reach an
agreement in principle.

When questioned on this
recently, Nishga Tribal
Council President Jameés
Gosnell refused commen‘
stating that the province,
the federal government,
and the Nishgas had agreed
that no press releases
would be made unless all
three parties agreed to
make a statement. He
emphasi:2-1 the point by
stating th:-t he would make
no statet.2nt until after he





of that branch is Oliver [first conferced with the rest
Adams. of the Tribus Council.
8 NESIKA ‘March/April 76 |

that the District will meet to
decide on future action
sometime before the Chiefs
Assembly in Courtenay.

A hint of things to come
may be seen in
Department of National
Defense’s actions. They
rent the main buildings at
the Complex in Sardis, and
recently phoned to warn
Coqualeetza that they
wouldn't tolerate a sit-in or
occupation of their premis-
es. DND wouldn't say
where they got that idea,
and Mary Lou Andrew
wouldn't confirm or deny
the possibility. Warning
signs around the DND
buildings have suddenly
sprung up threatening tres-
passers with huge fines and
jailterms,

The Annual meeting of the
Coqualeetza society Is to be
held May 8th, and may hold
the key to future action
since elections to the Board
will be held at that time.
Mary Lou Andrew has
worked for the past year
with no salary for Coquale-
etza, and has indicated she
will be stepping down from
her present position to
devote time to her family of
nine children. She will be
missed.

The East Fraser District
recently selected Ed Kelly

seek government funds,
but to raise their own, to
meet the salary ot tne
representative so that land
claims activities can be
co-ordinated among the

the |



district's 24 bands.

B.C. IS
INDIAN
LAND

NICOLA

The Lower Nicola Indian
Band's court case against
the provincial government,



originally scheduled for

March Ist, has been
postponed until May 17th.
The B.C. Government
wanted the Federal Govy-
ernment joined as its
partner in the trial, and the
delay was allowed to give
the Federal Government
time to prepare its case.

The dispute centres
around Order-In-Council
1036, which was passed in
1938, and whether the
provincial government has
the right to take Indian
reserve land and use it for
“the public good"’. Order
-In-Council 1036 suppos-
edly gives the province the
right to take up to 1/20th (5
percent) of any reserve for
public use - highways,
railways, hydro transmis-
sion lines, pipelines.

The province is seeking to
widen a highway which
crosses two of the Band's
reserves west of Merritt.
Ten years of negotiations
have proved fruitless as the
government has refused to
compensate the Band, cit-
ing the authority of Order

- - | -in-Council 1036.
of Tzeachten as the interim] ao SCT

district representative. The]
district also voted not to]

The case has province
-wide implications, since it
has never been challenged

| in court before. The Band

will be arguing that the
British North America Act
clearly sets aside Indians
and lands reserved for
Indians as federal respons-
ibility and that a provincial
law can't over-rule the
federal charter. The Band
is seeking a court declara-
tion of trespass against the
government, and for dam-
age resulting- from the
road's encroachment on
farmlands and residential
property.

MUSQUEAM





SLAVE

a ae a ee oe

The Slave Indian Band
hopes that its dispute with
the provincial government
over royalties owing to the
Band for natural gas being
pumped off the reserve,
will be resolved at a
three-party meeting April
23rd in Victoria. Scheduled
to attend the mecting are
Chief Harry Dickie, provin-
cial Indian Affairs Minister
Allan Williams, and federal
Indian Affairs Minister
Judd Buchanan,

The meeting is a result of
Chief Dickie’s trip to
Ottawa April 13th to seek a
-esolution of the dispute,

the three party talks. The
Band is saying the province
is at fault since mineral
rights are still held by the
province and they should
have been turned over to
the federal government and
held in trust for the Indians
when the reserve was
established in 1961.



Since then, natural gas -s

wi.cre Buchanan agreed to*

being pumped off the
reserve at the rate of 35
million a year. The Band is
asking that it receive a
standard royalty for the
disappearing resource. The
province 1s reluctant to do
s0 since a 3 percent royalty
would cost them $150,000 a
year. Chief Dickie seems
confident and says that “tt
looks like the Band is going
to get something.”

The present round of
negotiations resulted from
the Band's initial threat to
blockade the road leading
to the gas wells and shut
down production of 1/4 of
B.C.'s natural gas supply if
the government didn’t ne-
gotiate mineral rights and
royalties for the Band.
When asked if the Band
would block the road if it
wasn't successful at the
meeting or -he 23rd, Chief
Dickie sc. that “‘on the
advice Sf our lawyer, there
is a pessibihty of going to
correct and getting an injunc-
on to stop production,
rather than block the
road.”



The Musqueam Indian
Band, which is suing the
federal povernment be-

}cause they say that DIA

“reneged on its duties as a
trustee"’, 1s waiting for the
Federal Court in Vancouver
to set a trial date.

The federal Department of
Justice is expected to file a
statement of defense with
the court by mid-April. A
trial date could then be set,
with it probably being
scheduled for sometime in
the fall.

The Band is asking the
court to declare that the
federal government acted
in breach of trust when DIA

|arranged a lease of 162

acres of reserve land to the
Shaugnessy Golf and Coun-
try Club in 1958. They say
the government failed to
exercise the proper man-
agement required of a
trustee and that this has

| resulted in a loss of revenue

to the Band. They are also
secking compensation for

| this loss of revenue.

Chief Delbert Guerin has
stated that their suit
against the government has
not strained their relation-
ship with DIA, although the
Department has postponed
a statement on Its respons-
ibilities as a trustee to the
Sechelt/ Musqueam/Cowi-
chan Alliance.

TOOSEY

In early March, the Toosey
Indian Band laid claim to
100.000 acres of land held
by the Department of
National Defense and warn-
ed the armed forces to keep
off the land. The Toosey
Band is seeking federal



7 recognition of their owner-

ship of the land in a dispute
connected with the funding
of the Fish Lake Cultural
Education Centre.

The Caribou Tribal
Council quickly announced
their support of the Tooscy
claim, stating that they
recognized the military
training area west of
Williams Lake as being **a
small portion of the Chilcot-
in Land Claim.”

In April, the DND avoided
a confrontation by announc-
ing that a training exercise,
which was to have taken
place in May, would not
take place in the disputed
area after all, but would be
moved to Kelowna.

The Fish Lake Centre,

which is on the land
claimed by the Toosey
Band, has been denied

funding by the DLA for the

| past year.

Toosey Chief Ray Hance
travelled to Ottawa in
mid-April to post the lan
‘off limits’ to the military
and to seek funding for the
Fish Lake Centre.

. Since



Mercury Poisoning Coming toB.C.?

Indians across Canada are
beginning to feel that when
white people speak of this
land as stretching from
“‘sea to shining sea’, they
are really referring to the
mercury content in our
rivers, lakes, and oceans.

From Howe Sound on the
Pacific to the Bay of
Chaleur on the Atlantic,
Canadian fresh waters and
oceans have been polluted
by no less than 14 different
elements, including a
proven killer - mercury.

The awareness of mercury
poisoning in Canada comes
not from our medical
people or the government,
b ut from the other side of
the- world in the fishing
village of Minamata,
Japan. It was there - hence
the term Minamata Disease
- that Japanse doctors first
discovered the incurable
disease of the human brain
that is caused by eating
mercury-contaminated fish.
1932, when the
Chisso Chemical factory
started dumping mercury.
into Minamata Bay, over
10,000 people in the area
have been affected. Of
these, only 800 have been
“officially’’ recognized as
victims of the disease, and
120 have died. Dr. Masa-
zumi Harada, a Japanese
expert, has stated that in
his opinion, ‘‘Minamata
disease has begun in
Canada.”

Mercury poisoning attacks
the central nervous system
and produces loss of
co-ordination and speech,
paralysis, internal dis-
orders, retardation, tunnel
vision, and finally, a slow

and agonizing death. There-

is no known cure.

ONTARIO

Before the Dryden
Chemical Company began
dumping 20 pounds of
mercury per day into the
English-Wabigoon River
system near Kenora in
1962, the Indian people on
the White Dog and Grassy
Narrows reserves were
widely employed in the
commercial and sport fish-
_ing industries. When high
mercury levels in the fish
forced the Ontario govern-
ment to close down com-
mercial fishing in March
1970, the economic base of
the communities was lost
and the welfare rolls
jumped to include more
than 80< of the people. At
that same time, a govern-
ment minister stated that
all industries had stopped
dumping mercury into the

rivers as a result of
government pressure
(untrue).

June 70 - Four people out
of 21 tested show mercury
levels of 30 - 100 p.p.b.
Also in 1970, the govern-
ment began compensating
“licensed” fishermen for



Tom Keesick, former chief at Grassy Narrows, visits with a mercury posoning victim

dring a visit of Ontario Indians to Japan in 1975. The girl, 18 years ol

Minamata, and got it from her mother who had it.

their loss of income, and
provided loans for resort
owners to stay in business.
No aid is given to Indians
fishing for food or as guides
who have lost their jobs as
the result of several resort
closings.

March 72 - Some native
people show mercury levels
of 200 - 300 p.p.b.

April 73 - A government
study group recommends
closing down all fishing in
mercury-polluted waters;
providing another source of
food for the Indians; and

another economic base for

the Indian people.

The government refuses to
close all fishing, refuses to
provide another source of
food.

June 73 - For the first
time, the Ontario govern-
ment warns the Indians
that some fish “‘may be
harmful if eaten’’.

April 75 - Another letter
from the Ontario govern-
ment is sent to the Indians
telling them to eat the fish,
but to eat smaller amounts.

May 75 - The Ontario
Government finally orders
Dryden Chemical Company
to stop using mercury in its
operations by November.

July 75 - the Japanese
Minamata experts confirm
the presence of Minamata
disease in Ontario. They
are called a “bunch of
travelling troubadors”’ by a
government minister.

Sept 75 - Work begins on
providing -Indian people
with another source of
mercury-free fish.

At present, Dr. Harada
has tested 89 people picked
at random from the White
Dog and Grassy Narrows
reserves; 30 were found to
have at least on symptom of
mercury poisoning, and 7
were found to have multiple
symptoms.

Not everyone is sympa-
thetic about the situation
though, as proved by the
Dryden Observer, a local
newspaper. It stated that it

‘wanted to know how many

of the “‘so-called mercury
poisoning symptoms were
actually the result of
drinking ‘bad alcohol"’,

home brew or shoe polish.
Apparently this comment
included children and non
-drinkers as well. They

went on to ask their
readers: ““What, for exam-
ple, is the relationship
between the Indians at

MERCURY. Et TELL AM Th) LE
HS SEAT BELT. CT OUT Se Ri,
AND GET PLENTY OF EERCE



Ontario Health Minister Dr. Miller, in a talk last year,
could not understand Indian complaints about mercury
poisoning when he said smoking, car accidents, and lack
of exercise were killing more people than mercury was.

was born with
- photo by Koichi Enishi

Grassy Narrows and a
Communist organization?"
The Observer hinted that

the publicity was Commun- *

ist-inspired and therefore
should not be believed.

QUEBEC

Aug 75 - Blood levels of
over 600 p.p.b. are found in
Cree people in northwest-
ern Quebec.

April 76 - Dr. Andre
Barbeau announced the
results on 47 native people.
He stated that 10 of them
definitely had Minamata
and 16 others probably had
it as well.

Federal Health. Minister
Marc Lalonde said there is
no cause for panic since the
Indians are being tested
regularly, and that the
mercury poisoning victims
were only “‘isolated cases’’.

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Nobody seems to give a
damn about what happens

to mercury poisoning vic-

tims in Ontario, Quebec, or
Japan, partly because they
are so far away. Well,
mercury pollution is a lot
closer to home than that;
and where mercury pollu-
tion exists, mercury poison-
ing and lack of government
action are not far behind.
Three areas in B.C. have
been identified as being
mercury-polluted: Howe
Sound south of Squamish,
Okanagan Lake, and Pinchi
Lake. The pollution in
Pinchi Lake raises fears of
possible mercury poisoning
in the native people who
fish in that lake. Tests run
by the Department of
National Health and Wel-
fare resulted in warnings to
the Carrier people of the
Stuart-Trembleur Band
going back to 1970 that fish
from Pinchi Lake ‘“‘should



not be eaten.”

While the testing goes on,
the people in the villages of
Tachie, Pinchi, and Necos-
lie are becoming fearful of
the results, and the lack of
information is increasing
the fear and confusion.

Dr. Pyper of the Prince
George office of DNHW
refused to talk about the
situation. Personnel in the
Vancouver office were “‘out
of town"’, but Dr. H. Brian
Brett of the Ottawa office
finally agreed to talk about
the tests.

‘The Department took
blood samples of the head
of every household at
Pinchi and Tachie, roughly
20-60 people. The tests
showed that ‘3 or 4”
people had mercury counts
of 20 parts per billion.

DNHW considers more
than 100 p.p.b. as
‘“unsafe’’. Canada has also
set 500 p.p.b. as the unsafe
level for mercury in fish,
but the United Nations has
set just 50 p.p.b. as the
unsafe mercury level for
fish. Japanese experts have
given up using the blood
samples as being unreli-
able.

It was later decided that
everyone at Tachie, Pinchi,
and including nearby
Necoslie, should be tested
for mercury levels. A hair
sample of each of the
approximately 800 people
was taken and the results
are being studied in
Ottawa. Dr. Brett said the
results should be available
in 3 - 4 weeks.

Dr. Brett states that the
mercury definitely comes
from a mercury mine that
operated for some years on
the shore of Pinchi Lake but
which is now shut down.

Local reaction to possible
mercury poisoning varies.
Members of the Stuart
-Trembleur Band are
worried about the tests and
are frustrated over the lack
of information. The mayor
of Fort St. James has a
solution, though. Neil Hoy
has stated that an educa-
tion project is needed to
break local residents of
their life-long habit of
eating fish and replace it in
their diet with something
else.

Like maybe pizza and
potato chips?

Little is known about
Minamata disease in
Canada and no matter what
the test results from Pinchi
Lake are, we suggest that
even one part per billion is
too high, and will be no
excuse for the government
to relax its efforts.

Those wanting additional
information on the subject
can contact the Mercury
Pollution Action Group, 412
East Cordova St., Vancou-
ver, B.C., phone 253-1815.



March/ April 76

NESIKA a:

Andy Paull.

Paull.

[1]

[4]

PART I - THE EARLY
YEARS

Andrew Paull was born on
February 6, 1892, at Potla-
ich Creek near the present
town of Squamish. His
parents, Dan and Theresa
Paull, brought him back to
the Mission Reserve in
North Vancouver in a
dugout canoe when he was
one month old. His family,
though not perhaps in the
very highest ranks, were
nevertheless, one of the
prestige families on the
Mission Reserve where
Paull was raised.

As his family were active
members of the Catholic
Church which had a strong
hold on the reserve at that
time, it is not surprising
that one of their children
was among the first to enter
the Church-run school on
the reserve. Only about a
quarter of the applicants
were admitted when the
school opened in 1899, and
Andy Paull was among
them.

The special positions
which members of Paull's
family played in the religi-
ous and social life of the
community were known to
Paull and influenced his
thinking and his career.
His attachment to the
Church in particular was
lifelong. As a boy, Paull
served as an altar boy at the
St. Paul's Mission Church
and it is sald that he
considered the priesthood
as a vocation while a
youngster.

Paull’s formal education
lasted six years, the full
course provided at that
time, and was all received
at the mission school. After
his schooling, Paull went
across Burrard Inlet to the
law offices of Hugh 5t.
Quentin Cayley. The usual
date given for this event is
1907, when Paull was
fifteen years old. However,
this date leaves a two year

INTRODUCTION

In many ways, the history of the land claims
movement for 40 years in this province was the history
of Andy Paull, and the reverse is probably equally true.
With this issue of NESIKA, we are printing the first
part of a two part investigation into the life and times of

All the information and conclusions contained in the
article have been condensed from an unpublished 400
page doctoral thesis written by E. Palmer Patterson in |
1962, and is printed with the permission of the author.
We have supplemented Patterson's extensive research
| with an interview with Andrew's wife, Mrs. Josephine

We hope to accomplish four objectives with this
§ lengthy article so that we can give our readers:
a brief look into the history of the Indian
organizations of the times and their efforts to achieve a
recognition of aboriginal title.

[2] some knowledge of Andy Paull’s involvement and
participation in the land claims movement.

(3) an understanding of Andy Paull, of who he was
and why he acted in the manner he did.
and lastly, perhaps a deeper understanding of
what is happening today, and possibly, a preater
understanding and compassion for those involved in the
land claims movement today.

of

stories
Paull’s special instruction
in Squamish affairs at the

indicated by

feet of the chiefs. It was
said that he was taken into
their confidence and “‘inst-
ructed in their policy."" He
himself later testified that
he “‘was groomed in his

younger days to be” a
successor to Chicf Joe
Capilano. It has been

suggested that at the turn
of the century the old chicfs
did not want to face the
white men themselves, but
realized that times and
circumstances were chang-
ing. They saw that they
would need someone with
skill in the white man’s
laws in order to deal
effectively with white men,
and that Paull was probably
pushed by the Squamish
leaders to become their
spokesman.

The time Paull spent in
Cayley's law office can be
called an apprenticeship
since it served as a training
ground for much of his later
activity. His particular
field of specialty was the
law as it pertained to
Indians, and it was said of
him that “he has read
every Privy Council deci-
sion effecting Indians and
is today recognized as an
authority on such subje-
cts."

In 1906, a Squamish
delegation led by Chief Joe
Capilano went to England
to present a petition to
King Edward VII. Their
petition claimed that: first,
Indian title had never been
properly extinguished; sec-
ond, whites had settled on
their lands against the
Indians’ wishes; third, all
appeals to the Canadian
Government had failed;
and fourth, the Indians not
only had no vote, but were
not consulted by the Indian
Agents on matters which
gravely concerned them.

Paull later referred to this
trip as ‘the beginning of





gap between the time he enquiries into the land
finished school and the question.”’

time he entered Cayley’s

office. The best way to PARTI: THESQUAMISH
account for this gap is BAND

10 NESIKA March/ April 76

In 1911, when Paull was
nincteen years old, he
began acting as Secretary
when the various chiefs
from the different Squam-
ish reserves met together.
Two years later, he was
also acting as secretary to
Chief Harry of the Mission
Reserve.

The amalgamation of all
the Squamish peoples into
one band came to be a
controversial topic, since
not everyone recognized
the advantage of speaking
with one voice. As
secretary to Chief Harry
and acting secretary for
larger meetings of Squam-
ish leaders, Paull was in a
position to push for amalg-
amation. Even if he was
not the moving spirit
behind it, his office as
secretary gave him a
unique place in helping to
bring about the union. His
position gave him experi-
ence in dealing with both
the government and with
his own people, and in 1920

he went to Ottawa as. the

Squamish representative
and spokesman seeking a
union of Squamish funds.
Finally, an 1923, the
seventeen Squamish bands
were united into one
-

=

in larger questions of
Indian affairs, especially
the Allied Tribes of British
Columbia and the land
question, he brought consi-
derable prestige to the
office of secretary.

In his role as secretary,
Paull clearly encouraged
the Squamish people, and
other Indians as well, to
seek counsel and aid
outside the Indian Affairs
Branch. This advice, based
on his general distrust of
Indian Office’s .ability to
handle affairs in the best
interest of the Indians,
annoyed the Indian Office
since Paull’s suspicions
were generally proved true.
In 1934 Paull ceased to be
secretary of the Squamish
Band Council, and there
are differing reasons for his
replacement. Even though
he never served on the
Band Council, he was
accused of trying to domi-
nate it, and of trying to
push out Indians who were
part-white, of opportunism,
and of exploiting differen-
ces for his own purposes.
Several vague references to
financial matters open the
field to speculation. Paull’s
enemies accused him on
other occasions of misap-
propriation of funds. He



Andy Paull at left, about 1902 when he was 10 years
old; his nickname as a boy was ‘‘Prince’’. His brother
Denny is at the right.

Squamish band. After the
amalgamation, all the pro-
perties, interests, and trust
accounts were treated as
belonging to one band. The
establishment of the new
Squamish Band Council
included the position of a
secretary to handle corres-

‘pondence and keep reco-

rds. Andrew Paull filled
this office from 1923 to
1934, and because of his
character and involvement

had a certain competence in
public affairs and he did not
hold any regular job for
most of his life. His income
was derived largely from
gifts to carry on his work,
and from money earned as
an “Indian lawyer’’. It is
possible, therefore, that he
felt himself justified in
taking some renumeration
from the Council for his
work. It is possible that it
was some misunderstand-

The Life and Time:

ing growing out of such
action which led to his
leaving the secretaryship in
1934.

It is easy to believe that
Paull did take a great deal
unto himself. With his
sense of mission as an
Indian spokesman and his
relatively wide knowledge
and experience in Indian
affairs, it would not be
surprising if he didn’t think
he was the indispensable
man. A younger genera-
tion had by the mid-30's
begun to emerge in public
affairs, and many of these
younger men were no doubt
jealous of Paull’s preten-
sions. Some of them were
part-white and were sensi-
tive to anything which
might hint that they were
therefore less Indian and
less deserving of a role in
the Band's affairs. Paull
took great pride in stating
he was “‘full-blooded’’, and
it is still remembered that
he was thought to be
prejudiced against ‘‘half-

breeds”, so these feclings

no doubt were a factor in
his removal.

The differences between
Paull and the Band eventu-
ally healed over and in 1948
a study showed that he was
ranked second only to Louis
Miranda in the esteem of
his fellow Squamish peo-
ple.

PART III - THE ALLIED
TRIBES

A total of 26 tribal groups
were represented when
Indians from the North
Coast, the Interior, and
Vancouver Island came
together and united into the
Allied Tribes of British
Columbia in 1922. The
organization was formally
organized at the upper
levels, but there was little
or no organization at the
local level. The work of the
delegates consisted of rais-
ing money and of interpret-
ing the work of the
organization to their com-
munities. They were
successful in raising *‘con-
siderable sums"’ over seve-
ral years and obviously
were successful in interpre-
ting the work of the
organization. At the top,
the Executive Committee
worked closely with lawyers
and white friends, planning
tactics and drawing up
various petitions and briefs
to be presented to govern-
ment.

It was at this time that
Paull was appointed Recor-
ding Secretary of the Allied
Tribes, and later to becoine
Secretary. Despite his
relatively young age (30),
Paull’s wide experience as
interpreter and secretary
made him the logical
choice. Paull and Reverend
Peter Kelly of Massett
consistently held high posi-
tions, such as Chairman or

of Andy Paull — Part 1



Secretary, from the time
they became active in the
Organization, and proved to
be the most effective
witnesses when the Allied
Tribes made their historic
presentation to the Special
Committee of the Senate
and the House of Commons
in 1927.

The Allied Tribes had for
ten years been unsuccess-
ful in secking a rejection of
the 1913-1916 Royal Land
Commission and a recogni-
tion of aboriginal title. In
addition to the larger
question of the land title,.
other matters of concern
were included in their
various petitions to govern-
ment, namely, their educa-
tional and welfare needs.
Actual negotiations over
the ‘and tithe fell apart
when the government refu-
sed to consider the amount
of money involved (about
2% million dollars). The
stage was now set for the
Allied Tribes presentation
to the 1927 Special Com-
mittee.

Not only were Paull and
Kelly the most effective
witnesses, but they were
well-received and congra-
tulated on their presenta-
tion by the Committee.
Paull was 35 years old at
the time and was Secretary
of the Squamish Band
Council as well as the
Allied Tribes. His testimo-
ny seems to have dealt
more with the history of the
Indian situation than with
specific claims and he had
facts at his fingertips and
knew about laws and
preeedents affecting Indian
affairs. Of the two men, it
is sald that Kelly had more
of a long range point of
view. while Paull was the
more dynamic of the two.

Despite these elements,
they seem to have been
dominated by their counsel,
the Reverend Arthur O'Me-
ara, a white man who had
been actively involved in
Indian political affairs for
over ten years. lt is
reasonable to suppose that
O'Meara was the chief
architect of the policy of the
Allied Tribes and that Kelly
and Paull, though officially
representing the Allied
Tribes, were not the prime
movers in that organiza-
tion's protest, nor the
planners of the method in
which the protest was
presented. However, it
must be stressed that they
did play an important role
in organizing the case since
by 1927 they were both
experienced in Indian af-
fairs and were closely
acquainted with the histo-
ry. problems. and claims of
British Columbia Indians.
Their willingness to consi-
der another approach other
than that involving the
Privy Council strengthens
the view that they were not
fully informed by O'Meara,

and that they were, in fact,
misled by O’Meara’s fana-
tical adherence to a single
approach.

Ultimately though, the
Committee unanimously re-
jected the land claims of the
Alhed Tribes, and expres-
sed regret that the land title
issue had created agitation
among the Indians. Their
remarks that whites were

PART IV - HIS OUTSIDE
ACTIVITIES

No understanding of
Andrew Paull would be
complete without an un-
derstanding of the many
and varied aspects of his
life which were not a part of
his political activities. His
life. through his varied
expericnces and abilities,



ANDREW PAULL

deceiving the Indians and
leading them to ‘‘expect
benefits from claims more
or less fictitious’ were
clearly directed toward
O'Meara.

Although the Committee

recommended that the In-
dians be given a yearly
grant of $100,000, certainly
the major effort of the
petition had failed. The
Committee reported thal a
dispute stretching over fifty
years had been “finally”
resolved, and the **Indians
had brought their claims
before the public in a way
never achieved before,
resulting in additional pro-
vision for their welfare.”

But they did not get
satisfaction on their land
tithe claim, they felt frus-
trated and cheated, and
Paull and others, apparent-
ly abandoned the land
question in bitterness.

The 1927 investigation
represents a high point in
Paull’s career: it was a
culmination of his growing
public life. He achieved
national recognition in Ot-
tlawa, and had been espe-
cially noticed by the Com-
mittee. This made a great
impression on him and his
friends. His success in this
respect came to form a part
of the legend surrounding
him as a spokesman for his
people who was recognized
by Ottawa.

touched upon many of the
affairs. problems, and ne-
eds of Indians of the Pacific
Northwest.

The marriage of Andrew
Paull and Josephine Joseph
was atranged through the
chiefs, and took place in
1914 when he was 22 and
she was 16. Their marriage
produced seven children:
one son and six daughters.
The surviving children are:
Percy Paull. Yvonne Joseph
Audrey Rivers, and Helen
George.

Paull’s frequent trips from
home were difficult for his
family. While he travelled
widely throughout Canada,
thetr lives centered around
the Mission Reserve where
Mrs Paull was born and
raised. Her endurance
under the strain of such a
life is a credit to her
patience and strength.

His home became a
frequent refuge for Indians
who had come into the city
and had gotten into trouble.
Sometimes they were sim-
ply deposited on his door-
step and he would have to
make arrangements with
the Indian Office in Van-
couver for their return
home. Newly released
prisoners were frequently
among his overnight gue-
sts,

At the time of his
marriage. Paull was work-
ing as a longshoreman and
was active in union affairs,
although his commission
from the Canadian gove-
ronment to investigate land

claims and his travels for
the organizations introdu-
ced him to other sources of
income. For most of his life
he held no particular job.
His income came from his
services in aiding Indians
with legal difficulties, from
his part-time work for the
newspapers, his sports
enterprises, and from mo-
ney raised to pursue
concerns of the Indians
from time to time. His
detractors said that he did
not workand thathe preyed
on Indians in distress by
accepting a fee for some
service he had rendered
them. Undoubtedly he felt
he deserved payment or a
“lawyer's fee" for his
efforts.

All in all, it must have
been a very frugal exis-
tence for the Paull family,
and yet he was still
generous with what he had.

Andrew Paull was a
familiar name on the sports
pages in the 1930's, since
he was a freelance sports
reporter for the Vancouver
Province, and at one time
or another was active as
player, manager, or pro-
moter of baseball, lacrosse,
boxing. and canoe-racing.

He used his acting
abilities in a series of radio
roles on historical subjects,
and had bit parts in a
couple of motion pictures.

Paull was also a talented
musician. playing the saxo-
phone, trombone, and cla-
rinet, and an organizer and
leader of a band and
orchestra. His groups
plaved for Indian get-toge-
thers among the Squamish,
including giving concerts as
a means of fund-raising.

During the 1920's Paull
had begun two different
careers in outside activities
which he was to pursue
until the time of his death.
One of these was as a writer
of letters of protest. His
correspondence shows that
he wrote to everyone from
the Minister of Indian
Affairs down to the local
Indian Agent and the local
newspapers. His letters
















affairs.

receiving visitors.

great man”’,



March/April 76

AN INTERVIEW WITH MRS. PAULL

NESIKA visited with Mrs. Josephine Paull, Andy's
wife, recently. At 78 ycars of age, Mrs. Paull remains a
bright and alert follower of the Squamish Band‘s
She ts a resident of the rest home on the
Mission Reserve in- North Vancouver and enjoys

Our short visit enabled us to share
winking sense of humour as well as the tales she told of
long ago. She was at her best when describing the life
of the Squamish people at the turn of the century.

Of her life with Andy. she would only say.*He was a
since the hardships she endured in
supporting him were too painful for her to recall. Other
relatives tell us that she picked berries. made baskets.
and sold them to get decent clothing for Andy to wear
when he met with government. Without her help and
support. Andy would not have been able to accomplish
all of his good deeds or be the great man that he was. If
his efforts on behalf of Indian people are to be
recognized and applauded. then so too should hers.

We salute vou Mrs. Paull and owe you our thanks.

were formal and heavy-ha-
nded by modern standards
and were filled with fine
phrases that today would
be considered pompous or
unnatural. Throughout his
life he was engaged in
sniping at the Indian
administration. His letters
in this aftea varied from
requests for personal aid to
repair his home, to pleas
for new schools, expanded
school facilities. investiga-
tions of reported abuses by
Indian Agents, and tirades
against officials for alleged
apathy.

His second outside career
was acting as a courtworker
and lawyer for Indians in
conflict with the law. Paull
would defend any Indian
who asked for his help in
the Vancouver police cou-
ris. He was said to have
been a familiar sight
outside the police courts
waiting for a trial in which
he was engaged as counsel.

Most people only knew
Paull by what they read
about him in the newspa-
pers. A typical description
of him as carried in the
Vancouver News-Herald st-
aled that “*the Indian about
whom the most fabulous
tales are told among the
redskin bands of Canada
today is not Tecumseh, or
even Pontiac. He is a
wise-cracking, politically
canny Squamish tribesman
named Andy Paull." To
some of his journalist
friends he always remained
the lovable rascal and the
colourful character. He
was also the talented
promoter of Indian sports
and the engaging fighter
for Indian rights. It would
be a mistake. nevertheless,
to think of Paull as the
half-sophisticated Indian
plaything of the sports
pages or of the front page.
His purposes were being
served. since if he had not
already been known by
newspapermen, he would
not have been able to turn
their attentions to his own
usc, as he later did. in
establishing his reputation
on a national level.

TO BE CONCLUDED IN
THE NEXT ISSUE OF
NESIKA



her open and

NESIRA 11

DIA FUNDING: Now You See It, Now You Don't

There is a possibility that
the dispute over funding
the cultural education cen-
tres at Coqualeetza and
Fish Lake may be dragged
into the general land claims
arena, and unfortunately,
there is little knowledge or
understanding of the cul-
tural education centres
program as administered
by DIA. The Aboriginal
Institute of Canada has
closely followed the cultural
education centre program
and has blasted the Cana-
dian Government, and DIA
in particular, for the pro-
gram’s failure. Some ex-
cerpts from their report:

1. When the idea of
cultural education centres
was presented to DJA, they
were opposed to the pro-
gram. The Education
Branch of the Department
felt that they were making
exceptional headway with
their integrated school pro-
pram.

In January of 1974, the
cultural education program
became the responsibility
of the Education Branch of
DIA.

2. Officials of DIA waged
a constant campaign to

abort the program. They
boycotted interdepartment-
al meetings, reversed their
decisions agreed upon at
previous meetings, and
constantly tried to revise
program criteria in order to
forestall final agreement on
the program. Only through
the persistant efforts of
staff in the Secretary of
State were the programs
finalized for presentation to
Cabinet. After Cabinet
approved the program the
battleground shifted to
Treasury Board.

3. The Minister of DIA,
Mr. Chretien, was a mem-
ber of Treasury Board and
as such was able to block
effective implementation of
the program and under-
mine the development of
the Indian Association of
Alberta's Education Cen-
tre.

In March 1972, DIA was
able to reduce the budget of
the Alberta Centre from
$711,000 to $200,000, and
directly undercut the lead-
ership of the Alberta
association's president,
Harold Cardinal, and the
viability of the association
itself.

‘ program

The Alberta Indian
Education Centre never
really became operational
in its fullest sense and
closed in 1974 because of
frustration and lack of
funding.

4. -In 1970, DIA obtained
the authority to veto any
which involved
Indians designed by any
other federal department.
This effectively blocked
alternative sources of fund-
ing and reasserted DIA‘'s
control over Indians and
increased frustration
among Indians and other
departments which could
launch imaginative pro-
grams for Indians.

5. The Department of
Secretary of State was not
able to develop cultural
education programs for

non-registered Indians and

Metis. Consequently, the
20 per cent of the program
funding they controlled
was put into the Canadian
Revenue Fund and could
not be claimed by existing
centres.

6. All funds not spent
during the fiscal year were

- control

and could not be claimed by
other centres.

7. When DIA assumed
over the cultural
education program they
rationalized the distribution
of funds by dividing their
portion of the funding on a
per capita basis for the
Indian-Inuit population.
Thus, financial limits were
established in each pro-
vince. Furthermore, each
Band was allocated its per
capita share of the funds to
either transfer to a cultural
education centre of their
choice or to establish tts
own centre.

These actions had the
consequences of limiting
the growth of any centre in
any province to a fixed
funding livel.

Further, personnel from
DIA actively encouraged
the development of many
very small centres with
limited funding available
for each new centre.

Finally, these actions
forced administrators of
cultural education centres
to spend an inordinate
amount of time obtaining

also put into the general -and retaining support of the

Canadian Revenue Fund

various Band Councils. The

Paraguay Leader Jailed, Tortured



Prof. Miguel Chase-Sardi,
the friendly and popular
leader of the Paraguay
delegation to the Indigen-

CUT-OFFS:

Who has to make the next
move in the resolution of
the cut-off lands dispute?
Philip Joc, Chairman of the
23 band Cut-off Lands
Committee, says that its
DIA Minister Judd Buchan-
an’s move.

Although Buchanan has
apparently indicated his
willingness to take part in a
settlement, he has not
formally notified the bands
or the province of his
intentions to do so. Philip
Joe hopes that such a
statement will come after a
meeting of Buchanan and
nrovincial Indian Affairs
Minister Alian Williams on
April 23rd.

After the Social Credit
Government came to pow-
er, Williams suspended the
three-person Negotiating
Commission which had

ous People’s Conference in
Port Alberni, has been
jailed and tortured by the
Paraguayan Government as

a result of his efforts on
behalf of his fellow Para-
guayan Indians.

At the Port Alberni
conference, Chase-Sardi
told of the chilling facts of
life for Paraguayan Indians;
of church and government
-supported Indian slavery,
of Indian children being
sold for $10 or a pair of
shoes, of 70 Indian trappers
being killed in the past year
for their furs. The Paraguay
Government has been a
military dictatorship for the
past 20 years.

On December Ist, shortly
after his return from the
conference, Chase-Sardi
was arrested and tortured.
Although there are uncon-
firmed reports that he has
been killed by his jailers, it

What’s Happening?

been established by the
NDP to arrive at a
settlement. The reason was
to allow the federal govern-
ment to become involved
since it wasn’t happy about
the role it had been given
by the province in the
settlement of the dispute.
“At a meeting in early
March, though, Philip Joe
was told by Allan Williams
that the three-person Com-
mission was permanently
disbanded (Adam _ Eneas,
Judge Ross Collver, and
John Squire). William's
reason was that the Com-
Mission was just an expen-
sive duplication of effort
and that he would rather
deal directly with the
individual bands. Williams
stated at the mecting, and
later confirmed in a letter,
“that negotiations will be

carried out on the basis that
cut-off lands are Indian
lands"’. He also later stated
in the legislature that the
government will not dictate
a settlement, but will
resolve the matter by
peaceful negotiations.

In the meeting Williams
indicated there would be
“no problem” in returning
13 parcels of land totaling
16,828 acres, or roughly
1/2 of all cut-off lands, to
eight bands (Songhees,
Quatsino, Nahwitti, Upper
Similkameen. Port Simp-
son, Nazko, Ohiaht, Ulkat-
cho). He also stated that
title to the remaining
acreage which is now held
by private individuals or
other government agencies
would have to be negotiat-
ed with cach band.

appears that he is still
being held in a maximum
-security prison. He has
been denied access to legal
help and medical attention
for the injuries he received
from his torture.
Chase-Sardi's interpreter
at the conference and his
assistant in Paraguay, Mar-
ilyn Rehnfeldt, was arrest-
ed at the same time, and
tortured until her release
five days later, and ts now
under house arrest.
Chase-Sardi was instru-
mental in organizing the
Marandu Project. which ts
designed to promote full
legal rights for Paraguayan
Indians. The project has
been successful in gaining
equal pay for Indian factory
workers. The police scized

r



THEY ARE OUR PEOPLE

If you see a fed man,
drunk in the gutter,
help him stand
proud and true i
He is my brother,
he is your brother.

lf you see a red woman,
who has lost her way,
Help her that,
she may live in peace
She is my sister she is your sister.

If you see our child,
overcome by oppression,
Take their hand,
and give them strength,
They are my children,
they are your children.

With each new pain of the red people
feel the pain of my people

_ of your people,

For they are our people.

from the Bear Facts Newsletter

constant threat of the loss
of financial support ham-
pered the continuity of the
centres and pitted one
group of Indians against
other Indians for the
limited funds.

§. The amounts granted to
cultural education centres
increased each year. How-
ever, so did the number of
centres receiving grants.
Thus, the average grant for
each centre actually de-
creased. Further, the totals
hide the fact that two or
three centres received over
one third of the total
approved budget.

9. The original cultural
education program, an-
nounced with much fanfare
in 1971 for 42 million
dollars, only resulted in the
expenditure of 15 million
dollars over five years.
Once again, native people
in Canada suffered because
of arrogance on the part of
DIA officials, departmental
rivalry, and lack of financial
support for a worthwhile
program. Worse, the failure

of the program will be
attributed to the Indian
people. '

the files and documents in
the Marandu office, and tt
is clear that the Indian
people mentioned in the
papers are in danger of
retaliation by the police.

Miguel Chase-Sardi is a
human being with a com-
mitment to his people that
can't be broken by jail or
torture. He needs our
support. Interested people
cat protest his imprison-
ment and the lack of legal
and medical aid for Chase
-Sardi by writing: General
Alfredo Stroessner, Palacio
de Gobierno, Asuncion,
Paraguay, South America.’
The Paraguay Government
has no ambassador in
Canada, but they do have
one in the U.S. The address
is: Dr. Miguel Solano
Lopez, Paraguay Embassy,
2400 Masachusetts Ave.,
N.W.. Washington, D.C.,
USA, 20008.