Periodical
UBCIC News - volume 2, number 6 (September 1979)
- Title
- UBCIC News - volume 2, number 6 (September 1979)
- Is Part Of
- 1.06-01.03 Nesika: UBCIC News
- 1.06.-01 Newsletters and bulletins sub-series
- Date
- September 1979
- volume
- 2
- issue
- 6
- Language
- english
- Identifier
- 1.06-01.03-03.08
- pages
- 44
- Table Of Contents
-
Editorial 2
Deadly Gas Leak: Blueberry Band Won't Move4
President's Message 5
Feds Announce New Indian Health Policy 7
Alert Bay: No Enquiry Yet 8
Indian Government: What Was and What Can Be10
Regulating the Roads 13
Taku River Opened to Food Fishing 14
Reserve Right to Fish? 16
Up-Date 18
The Eleventh Annual Assembly 19
Indian Government in Practice 21
Negotiating the L.S.A24
L.S.A. at the Lakes District Council 25
More Up-Dates 26
Their Act is a Mess: Judge Scolds Fisheries28
Keeping the $$$ at Home: Band Stores 30
Indian Consulting Group Formed 33
I Think: John Trudell 34
Working with the Press :. 35
Resource Kit on the Aboriginal Rights
Position Paper 36Resource Centre 37
Round Lake Treatment Centre 38
Wellpinit Indian Days 39 ,
Harmony 40
Keepers Words 43 - Contributor
- George Manuel
- Archie Pootlass
- Joyce Joe
- Laura Williams
- Jeannette Bonneau
- John Trudell
- Dino Butler
- Paul Beauregarde
- Violet Birdstone
- Dinah Schooner
- Julie Newman
- Robert Manuel
- Angela Matilpi
- Rosalee Tizya
- John Warren
- Darryl Watts
- Louise Mandell
- Leslie Pinder
- Val Dudoward
- Annabel Crop Eared Wolf Gene Joseph
- Bess Brown
- Penny Goldsmith
- Beth Cuthand
- Pauline Douglas
- Type
- periodical
- Transcription (Hover to view)
-
(
UBCIC NEWS
SEPTEMBER 1979 $1.00 ee
EDITORIAL
Not long ago someone asked ‘‘What can the individual
do to make Indian Government a reality? George
Manuel tells us that we can live it everyday of our per-
sonal lives. After considerable thought and people-
watching, here are some of the ways that I see Indian
Government being practised by individuals.
Planting a garden is a simple thing, and a real step
towards self-sufficiency. It requires determination and
self-discipline to keep the weeds away, the ground
watered and the vegetables picked but when you sit
down to that first meal of your very own vegetables
you are practising Indian government by relieving your
dependency on the supermarket and the cash
economy.
Paying off the bills can be a real head-ache. How
many of us are so deeply in debt that we are tied to
meaningless jobs because we have to pay for the car,
the furniture, the clothes we bought on time? Do we
really need those material things or are they merely
weighing us down and preventing us from working at
the real job of assuring our children of an Indian fu-
ture in an Indian land?
Turning off the T.V. raises loud protests from the kids
and requires parents to come up with better things to
do. Television teaches our kids about the white
middle-class; their morality, their way of life. Televi-
sion is one of the most powerful, easily accessible,
assimilationist forces in our lives. Those of us who
grew up without T.V. spent our evenings listening to
stories of our history, visiting people, playing to-
gether. If we don’t turn off the T.V., how will our sons
and daughters learn those things which gave us our
identity?
Quitting the booze is hard, especially in a small com-
munity where the bar is the center of all socializing.
The creator didn’t give alcohol to the original peoples
of North America. It is foreign to the Indian way of
life. Getting drunk causes us to lose our dignity, our
respect for the land and the people around us. I see
more and more people quitting booze and it is as much
a political act as a personal act of survival.
Going to the sweat or other Indian ceremonies, is tak-
ing responsibility for the condition of your own Indian
soul. It is a personal admission that there exists one
who is more powerful, more awesome than you. It is a
humbling act and one which purifies your mind, body
and spirit. It gives you strength, courage and hope. Be-
coming aware of your own spiritual oneness with all
creation and acting on that, is the ultimate personal act
of Indian Government.
There are many more things that we can do to assure
an Indian future for our grand-children. They are
simple things which require no funding, no approval
from the DIA, no BCR from the Band Council. Indian
government is the vehicle through which we will define
the rights and responsibilities we will act on, in order
to secure our ‘‘Indianness’’.
What our ‘‘Indianness’’ is, can be seen in the way we
live our own lives every day. Our children are watching
and learning. It’s up to us.
The Editor
\
OUR COVER: Maggie Adolph and her grandson packing salmon from their fishing grounds
on the Fraser River near Lillooet. Photograph by Hans Heinsohn.
UBCIC NEWS 2
F : a
The UBCIC NEWS is the official voice of the
' Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.
It is dedicated to building a strong foundation
for Indian Government by providing an awareness
Ry E WW , of the political and social issues affecting the
Indians of British Columbia.
Signed articles and opinions are the views of
VOLUME 2, NUMBER 6.
the individuals concerned and not necessarily
those of the UBCIC.
Editor: Beth Cuthand Assistant Editor: Pauline Douglas
Written contributions: George Manuel, Archie Pootlass, Joyce Joe, Laura Williams,
Jeannette Bonneau, John Trudell, Dino Butler, Paul Beauregarde, Violet Birdstone, Dinah
Schooner, Julie Newman, Robert Manuel, Angela Matilpi, Rosalee Tizya, John Warren,
Darryl Watts, Louise Mandell, Leslie Pinder, Val Dudoward, Annabel Crop Eared Wolf
Gene Joseph and Bess Brown,
| Photographs: UBCIC staff unless credited. Typesetting: Ailsa Rands and Penny Goldsmith
wf
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CRON oo og cn ee te is aca ee wo wales acdla See 2
Deadly Gas Leak: Blueberry Band Won’t Move... 4
Presicent’s Message oo ees a oso ok eee 5
Feds Announce New Indian Health Policy ....... 7
Adert Bay: No Enquiry Yet 20 i... ee. eas 8
Indian Government: What Was and What Can Be. 10
Preeti (NE ROAGS oi dee von a twee elie a ce cae 13
Taku River Opened to Food Fishing ............ 14
esere tent 00 FIST os eek oe ae bw Pe 16 |
Aimee rece hes Ae ln ee eer ee paces ae 18
The Eleventh Annual Assembly ................ 19
Indian Government in Practice..............0:. 21
INGROLINT ING CUO LL SSA. Ooo s cehee eis des os ke 24
L.S.A. at the Lakes District Council ............ a
PURO A eer oo keel engl ale dre Whe eae
Their Act is a Mess: Judge Scolds Fisheries....... 28
Keeping the $$$ at Home: Band Stores .......... 30
Indian Consulting Group Formed .............. 33
Think: John Tiger ers... SE eS 34 BLUEBERRY WON’T BUDGE
Working with the Press 2000 00.65 ck cwae es do
Resource Kit on the Aboriginal Rights nr GORE ir, ie i uk be So nes Wa ee ee 37
POSMION PRDEE Si owiehe ia aan Pes 36 Round Lake Treatment Centre... 5. 0.'..0.4.5%.: 38
Welroinit Iridian Days... 0545 Ger keke eee cS
PEON ong Gs baie s Ce ee hs A he eh sibs 40
I ES icin k Sates eee) wie bin at wae 43
)
UBCIC NEWS 3
Deadly Gas Leak in NE.
BAND WON’T MOVE
On September 7th, the Blueberry
River Band was granted by the
Supreme Court of British Columbia
an interim injunction against the
Kildonan and Woods gas companies
to stop all operations that were
directly affecting their reserve lands.
One week earlier, the Chief and Band
Council had been informed by their
people that they had had enough of
living in tents, of being afraid of the
pollution over their houses. The
children were sick, the elders were
sick. School was starting again and it
was impossible to get the kids to
school.
The people had been forced to flee
their community last July when a gas
leakage mushroomed a cloud of
deadly hydrogen sulphide over the
village. The people had, however,
been complaining about the chronic
leakage for over a year. They had re-
fused to return to the village until it
had been proved safe, until the smell
had cleared. National Health and
Welfare monitoring of the air in early
August showed that the gas levels re-
‘eased bv the well were still dan-
gerous, even when the well was not
fully operational.
After six weeks in the emergency
camps in the bush, the weather wet
and turning colder, murmurs and ru-
fours about relocating the village
were disturbing. Band members told
the Council they just wanted the
operations shut down.
The Council came to Vancouver to
once again review all the options they
had, to weigh the values of the
present leases against the impact of
air pollution and band health, and
they pressed for an injunction. For a
week, Chief Joe Apsassin and Coun-
cillors Sandy Yahee and Eddie
Apsassin helped the UBCIC Task
Force to prepare the evidence to sup-
port the injunction. They served
notice to the Kildonan company, sup-
ported by the NHW monitoring
reports and the reports from the
epidemiology experts flown in to
assess health damage after the leak-
age.
In July a cloud of deadly hydrogen sulphide gas from this well forced
Blueberry Band members to flee their homes.
UBCIC staff, also informed the
Provincial Government, Department
of Energy Mines and Resources, who
said they couldn’t take any action be-
cause they were waiting for the DIA
‘Village Relocation Study.’ Chief and
Council were surprised: what study?
This was the first time the Provincial
Government had seen the health re-
ports and on the strength of these,
they stated they couldn’t give permis-
sion, anyway, to the companies to re-
open the well. When the Council in-
formed the Kildonan company about
the injunction, they received the same
story: the company was waiting for
DIA Relocation Study. The Chief
and Council now became concerned.
They discussed relocating: even if
they moved their homes to other parts
of the reserve, their part of their land
would still be useless if the well were
re-opened. The gas would poison any
cattle or crops. As it is, Band mem-
bers say they can’t pick the berries
around there because even the berries
stink.
At the court hearing on Friday
September 7th, the injunction was
not contested. The company could
not fight the health issue. An interim
injunction lasts until the company
can prove that its operations are not
damaging to the health of nearby resi-
dents. By now, however, pressure on
Band members to relocate was build-
ing. Fort St. John DIA officials were
going out to the Band members, say-
ing: we’ve got all this money but it’s
for relocation; if you relocate, you'll
get all this money... .
Band members were becoming con-
fused. DIA moves to relocate them
reinforced their distrust. They re-
membered the past dealings of the
—
— 7
= Department, cause of the present law
© suit against the Department for
| 3 Breach of Trust, Fraud and Misman-
3 agement when they traded off the
% Band’s original rich reserve for a few
& parcels of land totalling less than a
& third of the original IR 172; when
Indians in British Columbia are at the crossroads of
their lives on the issue of ‘‘Indian Government’ (better
known to older Indians as ‘‘the land question’’, or
“Land Claims’’ or ‘‘Aboriginal Rights’’). Since the
beginning of time on this earth, it has only been the goal
of man to govern his own destiny within his domain or
his homeland. Many great leaders from all parts of the
world have committed themselves on many occasions to
die on their feet, rather than to live on their knees.
My message to you then, as the President of your orga-
nization the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, is ‘“‘Let’s get
up from our knees and fight for Indian Government’’.
The right to govern our lives within our families and
homes is an Aboriginal Right by our Indian Govern-
ments, that we have never surrendered to either the
Provincial or Federal Governments. Yet hundreds of
Indian girls and boys have been forcefully taken from the
bosoms of their mother and father, or their grandmother
and grandfather, and placed in white homes. This is
carried out through the Child Welfare Act. This to me is
outright genocide by the white B.C. Provincial Govern-
ment. This can only be stopped by an Indian Government
that has the will and the authority to stop the extermi-
nation of our race by kidnapping our Indian children and
placing them in white homes.
The paternalism exercised by the Federal Government
through their policies, regulations and laws, has generated
an appalling degree of suicides and incarcerations in
many penal institutions, young Indian people that are
wasting away because the white government laws are
destroying our people,
CHAIRMAN
It is the responsibility of our Indian people to bring
into existence an Indian Government that will stop this
mass genocide and assimilation and put into place Indian
programs that restore the pride and dignity of our people
as the founding people of this rich and prosperous Indian
country.
Indian Government means: (a) controlling Indian
education; (b) cutting logs when your people need houses
on your reserves; (c) expanding Indian political govern-
ment authority; (d) enlarging the Indian reserve land base
so all our people can have a piece of land to build a house
on and to plant a vegetable garden to support their
family; (e) trapping, fishing, hunting and food gathering
when your children are hungry. It is only this form of
Indian Government that traditionally belongs to us. That
can stop the Child Welfare Act from stealing our children
and systematically destroying our Indian Cultural
identity. | am prepared to die with an Indian Government
that is prepared to die on its feet, to stop the mass
assimilation of our Indian people through the White
Government Institutions. | am no longer prepared to see
the masses of my people living on their knees, because
they have been deprived of their Aboriginal Right to self-
determination.
Yours in brotherhood,
UBCIC NEWS 5
they gave away the Band’s sub-sur-
face mineral rights, and so on. Now
they were urging the Band to relocate,
which would certainly be convenient -
for the Company.
Suspicions were voiced by Band
member to our reporter: ‘‘Oil and
Government work together; the DIA
has never moved so fast’’. He shook
his head, ‘‘Never saw DIA move to
hustle engineers from Vancouver so
quick. Where is their money coming
from all of a sudden, when there was
no money to even repair our water
lines? So much confusion.,”’
There was also constant pressure
from the press to make statements on
their position on relocation. Head-
lines in Alberta papers were saying it
was the only solution. Local radio re-
ports implied this was the only alter-
native and was supported by Band
members.
On September 13th, the UBCIC |
Legal Task Force went up to Blue-
berry and met with the Band mem-
bers to review everything that had
happened and was happening.
The people voiced their various
concerns over the source of informa-
tion for the local news to broadcast
that the Band would soon announce
their decision to relocate after a meet-
ing with the UBCIC. They were dis-
turbed over the promised 25 housing
units: where was the money coming
from? Did it mean they HAD to
move? If they didn’t, would they lose
it? It was then the Band Manager pro-
duced a letter of assessment which
had been made available to the Band
approximately a year ago from the
DIA stating the Blueberry houses
were not fit to live in, and most of
them should be condemned; that, in
fact, a bulldozer should be put
through the village. It had been
strongly hinted to them that if they
didn’t move, funding would be
stopped. At this point, people won-
dered how this would affect the two
houses that had been started a little
way away from the village. Would
this be interpreted as relocating, even
though construction had started be-
fore the gas leak? How come, they
said, DIA had been putting pressure
that nobody could build anywhere
but in the village and now they sud-
denly wanted everyone to move and
build elsewhere? And where would
they live in the meantime? How
come, they asked, they should move
their whole village so the gas com-
pany could make their two million
dollars and then clear out?
The lawyers went over the legal
process of the injunction and what it
meant for all their other projects. The
documents used at the court were
shown around. Then the mood
started changing. They saw their
names on the documents, as plaintiffs
Photo: Charlene Schooner
Cynthia Mass and Trevor Davis
Afraid for the children.
Kildonan has admitted they were responsible for the accident and con-
t
, «4
UBCIC NEWS 6
tinued pollution, but they want the Band to move til they drain the well
demanding that the wells be shut
down til proven safe. They saw their
childrens’ names as wards to be pro-
tected from air pollution. Then their
own victory over the gas companies
became apparent, really clear for the
first time. The documents showed
how their directions to their Band
Council to have the pollution
stopped, was translated into legal
language which the courts used to
stop the company’s operations until
the company could prove they had
stopped all poisonous gas leakages.
They then instructed their Council
and the Task Force to draw up a letter
to the Director General of Indian Af-
fairs, with copies to go to the Press,
explaining exactly where they stood:
‘It has been and continues to be
the position of the Band that the
Band members have no intention
of moving the village site as a result
of the presence of the well sites and
battery facilities of Kildonan Oil
Ltd. It was on this basis that the
Band sought and obtained an in-
junction in the Supreme Court of
British Columbia
The Band asserted very firmly that it
“‘has no intention of bowing to
press, company or government
pressure to relocate the village. ”’
FEDS A
NNOUNCE NEW
INDIAN HEALTH POLICY —
Looks Good but
Watch Out....
Sept. 19, Federal Health Minister,
David Crombie announced a new
policy on Indian Health Care. Under
the new plan the Federal Government
will suspend the Guidelines for Un-
insured Health Benefits put in place
by the former Liberal government.
Decisions as to who will receive unin-
sured benefits such as eyeglasses and
dental care will be placed in the hands
of ‘professional medical or dental
judgement, or by other fair and com-
parable Canadian standards.’’
As for the delivery of health ser-
vices the new policy says that both the
Federal and Provincial governments
will continue to be responsible but
that the federal government will step
in to fill in gaps ‘‘in necessary diag-
nostic, treatment and rehabilitative
services.”’
On first glance, the new policy
appears to be a good one. Crombie
has pledged an additional $414
million for Indian Health Care, in-
creased Indian involvement into ‘‘the
planning, budgetting and delivery of
health programs,’’ and is committed
to continuing the consultative process
already begun with Indian organiza-
tions for a fundamental review of |
Indian Health.
On the other hand, Indians off-re-
serve will continue to pay under
provincial health plans and will have
to provide for their own glasses and
dental care but ‘‘if such services are :
denied, the Federal Government will
“‘attempt to ensure their provision.”’
The new policy while big on mother-
hood statements about recognizing
“*the intolerable conditions of pover-
ty and community decline’’ and ‘‘the
intolerably low level of health of
- Indian people’’ vows to ‘‘achieve an
increasing level of health in Indian
_ health in Indian communities, gener-
ated and maintained by the Indian
communities themselves.’’
‘bility for
| 4
7 4
National Health and Welfare was not so quick to act when it came to a
health crisis for the Blueberry Band.
To what degree Indian com-
munities will ‘“‘generate and main-
tain’’ Indian health is not clear and
who pays the bill is questionable
given the Feds commitment to main-
taining the provinces’ role.
In Victoria, B.C. Health Minister
Bob McClelland said the federal gov-
ernment should hand over responsi-
Indian health to the
provinces. ‘‘Frankly, we feel we
could do a better job,’’ he said.
The question of whether or not
health care is an Indian “‘right’’ as
opposed to a Federal ‘‘concession’’ is
not clear.
The consultative process, which is
to continue between Indians and the
Federal government is the important
-jssue.
CONSULTATION PROCESS
The UBCIC Health & Social
Development Portfolio has
concluded that in order to improve
our standard of health we must take
the initiative of becoming once again
a healthy people. The Proposed
Guidelines on Non-Insured Benefits
brought into focus that we need to
- demand a better system of delivery of
health care services.
At the Health Conference in May
we discussed the proposed guidelines,
but more important, we discussed the
existing health care programs, formu-
lated goals and objectives for the
future.
Build Indian Strength with Indian
. Control of Indian Health was the
motto adopted at the Provincial
Conference in May, 1979. This motto
is expressed throughout the Summary
Report of the Conference. This was
consultation of the People by the
People.
National Health & Welfare is now
more aware of this motto and that we
demand to be consulted when there
are policy changes that affect our
lives. The events of this past year
have proven this. The demonstrations
in Ontario,. some of the Bands
refusing to meet with Medical
Services Staff, the total rejection of
the proposed guidelines by all Indian
people across Canada.
This is the beginning of Indian
Control of Indian Health: the
practice of Indian Government. The
work has started, we are starting to
UBCIC NEWS 7
determine and control the direction
that development of our communities
should take.
We will continue the development *
of the programs we have begun: the
Indian Doctor Program, the basis of
the research work-as outlined in the
.summary report of the Health
Conference is beginning. We are
prepared to provide the Bands with
all possible assistance in their
endeavours to correct the problems
‘outlined in the report.
Some of the work has begun:
Cowichan Indian Band, Elders
Gathering, discussion on Suicide
Nishga Indian Club self-raised
$1,600 to pay for ‘‘low aid glasses”’
for Band members
Stalo Indian Housing Society
Mount Currie Indian Band
Members were successful in getting 12
mobile homes without ministerial
guarantee
(UP-DATE ee)
The Questionnaire regarding
the Services and Resources
available to the Bands for the
delivery of health care services,
has not been successful. e
We understand the distrust of |
questionnaires and the not
wanting to be studied again. The ©
Community Health Workers
themselves, at the Health
Conference in May, complained
or me large amount of time
filling out. DODyss.
Yet, if we’re going to ‘move
forward in our struggle for
Indian Government we must have
- information, we must have
knowledge. a
The information you provide
when you fill out our question-
naire enables us to develop strate-
gies and take stands on important
issues from a sound base of infor-
mation.
We are in the process of |
developing a more concise and
clear questionnaire. It will be
mailed to the Bands by the end of |
September 1979. We hope the
_ Bands and the Community
Health Workers will respond to
ALERT BAY:
NOIN QUIRY YET.
MINISTER SAYS HE
DOESN’T KN OW HOW TO
DOIT.
ae need. YY
UBCIC NEWS 8
Only after the death of a child,
demonstrations in Victoria and media
coverage from the Alert Bay area did
the federal and provincial govern-
ment do anything regarding Indian
health care there. |
Provincial Health Minister Bob
| McClelland appointed Reverend Eric
Powell, as co-ordinator to investigate
the Alert Bay medical care situation.
rhe reason for this sudden attention
‘rom the Minister was a result of the
recommendations from the Alert Bay
Medical Inquiry released on July 9,
1979 by the Nimpkish Band Council.
Following the Report by Rev. Eric
Powell, regarding the Alert Bay
| Indian health care, Provincial Health
Minister Bob McClelland, promised
to build a new 15 bed hospital
including a detox unit for alcoholics
and to provide a $25,000 a year
subsidy for a clinic for a second
doctor.
The Nimpkish Band protested that
they were totally left out of Eric
Powell’s investigation and maintain
that Powell did not approach anyone
from the Band.
The people of the Nimpkish Band
are. angry because they ‘feel that
McClelland ignored their demand for
a Public Inquiry into their health care
and the actions of Dr. Pickup in par-
ticular. The hospital problem they:
said, is not with the building but with
its management. After the Indian
people walked out of the meeting
with the Minister, he issued an invi-
tation to talk with the Nimpkish
people at their Council Hall. Aftera
half hour session with him, the Band
stressed again the need for an
Inquiry. They wanted everything
brought out into the open, including
nursing care, administration of the
hospital, and the doctor’s comments
regarding health care. Without the ©
Inquiry the Band doesn’t think any of
this will happen. McClelland still
refused an Inquiry.. The Nimpkish
Band and the surrounding Band’s
only hope of getting any kind of
Inquiry is with Mr. David Crombie,
Federal Minister of Health.
_ When Federal Health Minister
David Crombie did arrive in Alert
Bay on Sept. 12, he gave the Band a
good hearing and he promised the
Band that there wouldn’t be any more
federal money coming in_ the
Kwakuitl area, especially for a new
hospital, until all the Indian Bands
were included in the discussion. As
for the Band having power in the
decision making, he said the govern-
ment couldn’t release any capital
monies without a Band Council reso-
lution agreeing to do so. .
The Nimpkish, Band feels the
Inquiry is a step towards regaining
the self-confidence and self-respect
Photo: Victoria Daily Colonist: J. Ryan.
uae
Nimpkish Band inher lidie demonstrate outside Mariemont on occasion of Health Minister’s first visit to
Victoria. As a result he visited the Band last month to discuss the health issue at Alert Bay.
that comes from determining their
own life style. Yet the government
has omitted the crucial ingredient; the
participation of the Indian people.
Nimpkish legal advisor, Michael
Jackson, is still pressing for an
Inquiry and is going to talk again to
Crombie.
When the Nimpkish Band met with
_ the new Minister of Health, represen-
tatives from the National Indian
Brotherhood, the Union of B.C.
Indian Chiefs, Native Brotherhood of
B.C., the United Native Nations and
the Native Homemakers Association
also made their presentations to the
- Minister. In a press release issued
after this meeting the Nimpkish Band
stated: ‘“The common theme of this
meeting was to highlight the dismal
state of Indian health care, The recent
events in Alert Bay culminating with
the tragic death of Renee Smith is but
the latest event in the history of in-
competence and the denial of Indian
peoples basic right to determine and
control the process that health care is
provided to them. The Nimpkish
Band Council was pleased to hear the
Minister give his undertaking that his
plan to give the new hospital in Alert
Bay, no federal funds will flow
through the province without the
consent of the Nimpkish Band. This
recognizes the right for our people to
have control or direct control over
our health care. It will insure that this
major decision affecting health care
services for Indian people will be
made only at our initiative and only
with our full participation. However
this is not enough, the Minister has
talked of his desire to plan for the
future that can only be done upon a
full assessment of what happened in
the past and a full understanding of
how health care has come along to the
present. That resolution has taken
place in a historical context of Indian
/white relationship and that must be
taken into account if the future is to
look any different from the past.
That is why we have insisted that
there must be a full Public Inquiry
into Indian health care and the
delivery of Indian health care services
to the Alert Bay region. We are from
the view that the Minister has the
legal jurisdiction to hold such an
Inquiry and we will press with all the
means at our disposal to insist that
the Minister meets this ultimate
responsibility to Indian health care by
setting up this Inquiry.’’
In the meantime what happens to
health care until the new hospital is
built, will depend on the government.
The doctor that was supplied by the
Federal Health Services will remain at
Alert Bay, but whether he remains
there will depend again on future
communications with the
government. 6
UBCIC NEWS 9
INDIAN GOVERNMENT
WHAT WAS AND
WHAT CAN BE
When we talk of Indian Govern-
ment, we’re not talking about it in the
sense of the Federal or Provincial
governments and the way they func-
tion and the values and traditions on
which they are founded. We are
talking about creating a whole new
society based on our ‘‘Indianness’’,
our traditions and our culture. It
doesn’t mean that we go back and live
exactly as we did before.
Indian Government means that we
can excercize our responsibility, our
Indian wisdom, our knowledge, our
imagination to build and create some-
thing in this day and age that will lend
pride and dignity to our lives and our
land once again. We have to look be-
yond what is (that’s DIA’s focus) to
what can be.
I guess the most difficult thing that
confronts us in building a new Indian
society: in putting together our own
Indian laws and Indian institutions, is
our history. .
FROM OUR PAST—OUR FUTURE
oy hime
Re Clie: eee
. abe
SS arteritis
a inal
UBCIC NEWS 10
The last time that we had a viable
government in our communities was
prior to European invasion. There
were penalties, there were laws, there
was social order, that had to be con-
formed to, We had an economic sys-
tem. We had the method by which we
got our food, clothing, our shelter
needs, services from the people in the
community and other communities.
But gradually the Department of
Indian Affairs, as it became more
established in British Columbia, came
to assume a great deal of authority.
Through this assumption of control
we gradually developed an attitude of
dependancy. The Indian Agent had
such supreme power over our lives, he
could actually dictate the way the
people lived and would call upon the
Indian Act and the federal non-
Indian government to enforce his
power.
Over time our people developed an
apathy towards their own Indian gov-
by Robert Manuel
ernment because every time they
made a decision, it had to be ap-
proved by the department. We are re-
newing our interest in our own Indian
Government, but we haven’t devel-
oped to a point where everyone is
really enthusiastic about their govern-
ment and are trying to re-structure
and re-establish it as a viable force
that really represents and involves the
people in the community. That’s the
big job ahead of us.
Indian Government covers every
aspect of our lives: It involves our
sports people, our people in arts, the
people that are professional and intel-
lectuals, the people that are involved
in education, the welfare recipients. It
involves everybody.
In establishing a government, we
have the mechanism there: our Chief
and Council. We have to look at it
and look at our community and im-
prove upon it. There’s room for
everyone to work.
BUILDING NEW INSTITUTIONS
There are some specific things that
need to be done in our communities
to reinforce our Indianness, reinforce
our traditions and our culture in a
modern sense.
In my father’s age, in my grand-
father’s age, there was a very complex
training program instituted for our
children, put together by our fore-
fathers. Young people were recog-
nized by the community for their ac-
complishments as they grew, through
ceremonies. When they were born,
they received a baby name. When
they first walked they were given
something. When they killed their
first deer, caught their first fish.
Beautiful institutions existed to
train our young. people: like
swimming, summer and _ winter.
Chopping a hole in the ice and
swimming. It has a lot of signifi-
cance. It takes a lot of meditation, a
lot of working with yourself before
you finally go into the water. It does a
lot to build your confidence, and
your mind. Not long ago, young
people did that regularly.
Running, fasting, spending time in
the bush alone. The whole sense of a
sweathouse: of cleaning your system,
not only physically but purifying the
mind, the heart. The place to medi-
tate. The place to get in communica-
tion with the Creator, a place to think
of other people. It is a sacred tradi-
tution.
These institutions allowed our an-
cestors to think about a lot of things,
develop their spirit, develop their
understanding of the world, develop
an appreciation of where they be-
longed. We’ve got to recreate those
institutions and make them real parts
of our community. That’s Indian
Government. That’s using our imag-
ination. That’s looking back and
drawing from the past, bringing it in-
to today and creating whole new insti-
tutions for a new society.
WE DON’T HAVE TO ASK
PERMISSION
Doing that, doesn’t require ap-
proval from the provincial govern-
ment. It doesn’t require doing away
The Aboriginal Rights position
_ paper being presented for
approval by the coming General
- Assembly is five ‘‘articles’’:
®that we are the aboriginal
people of this land and have
absolute rights to our own form
of government
_ © that this should be entrenched
in the Canadian Constitution
© that our reserve lands have to
be expanded to provide for the
essential needs of our people
_® that resources such as wildlife,
forestry, marine and_ fresh
water and financial, have to be
. :
available to us to ensure socio-
economic self-determination
¢ and that our Indian governing
bodies must have authority to
make laws about matters that
affect them such as: air space,
bird migration, citizenship,
communications, conservation
of land, water and resources,
constitution, culture, economy,
education, fish, forests, health
welfare, justice, law, manage-
ment of the environment,
marriage, mineral resources,
social order, taxes, water and
wildlife.
/
UBCIC NEWS 11
with the Master Tuition Agreement.
It doesn’t require any funding. It
doesn’t require changes to the Indian
Act, doesn’t require changes to the
BNA Act. It just requires our people
taking the initiative and thinking
about these things and perceiving
something to put in place.
I’m not saying we have to forget
about the federal government, the
Dept. of Indian Affairs. I’m not say-
ing that we have to forget about the
BNA Act and the Indian Act. What I
am saying is that there is a heck of a
big job out there and only one part of
it is dealing with the BNA Act, the
Indian Act, the Dept. of Indian
Affairs. There are people who are
interested in that. People who want to
Struggle with that and want to go
ahead and do it. That’s not the totali-
ty of our struggle though.
There’s two sides to Indian Gov-
ernment. There’s the offensive and
the defensive. The defensive move-
AVERY SPECIAL
PLACE
If we look at any government
around the world we find there is a
very special place where govern-
ment meets to discuss the issues
and concerns of the people.
In most communities across
Canada, we find our General Band
meetings (or Legislative As-
UBCIC NEWS 12
ment involves a body of our com-
munity that struggles towards pro-
tecting the existing rights that we do
semblies) are held in community
halls. When you sit down and
think about it, our people are
sitting in this community hall to
conduct the business of Indian
government where maybe the pre-
vious night there was a big party
going. It doesn’t give a feeling of
dignity or importarfce to the ses-
sion of the people.
In our community, we are look-
ing at establishing what we’ll call a
>
eS
Pree
have, The offensive is looking at what
could be, and acting on it. There’s
room for everybody,
Legislative Assembly or Grand
Council of the Nescainlith People.
A place that will retain a sense of
dignity where all citizens come to-
gether to give direction to the
Chief and Council and other au-
thoritative bodies the people may
establish. The place we envision
would be more like a Government
House where all voting members in
good standing have a specific per-
manent place to sit.
ge REGULATING THE
i: ‘
|
by Chief Councillor Archie Pootlass
Bella Coola
Indian people are continually being
charged with traffic violations on
Indian reserves. On many occasions,
the cases are either thrown out of the
courts on a technicality or the accused
is found not guilty because the charge
is heard under the Motor Vehicle Act
rather than the Indian Act. I would
like to describe a recent incident in
Bella Coola.
The accused was charged with
failing to stop his motor vehicle at an
intersection on the reserve controlled
by a stop sign. The question that
arose in this case was whether or not
the Motor Vehicle Act applied, given
that the alleged offence occurred on
an Indian reserve. The Judge found
the accused not guilty of the offence on
the basis of a technicality. The judge
ruled that the Motor Vehicle Act
didn’t apply in this case because the
road had not been properly gazetted
as a provincial road open to the
public. (The provincial Motor Vehicle
Act only applies to public roads).
Since traffic regulations had not been
passed by the Band through the
Indian Act, the accused could not be
found guilty. Through this ruling I
understand the Judge is saying that
when an offence occurs on a reserve
then a person ought to be charged
under Indian Reserve Traffic Regu-
lations rather than the , rovincial
Motor Vehicle Act.
The outcome of the case was
received well by the accused but it did
not favour the Band as a whole.
There is a gap now that has to be
filled by a Band by-law on traffic
regulations. As a result of the case,
drivers are continuing to ignore
traffic controls and are speeding
excessively on our reserve. A year
ago, a young girl was hurt fairly
severely and she had to be hospi-
talized for several days. The accident
was believed to be caused by ‘‘with-
out due care and attention’’ as well as
speeding. Though no charges were
laid in this incident.
Council is now in the process of up-
grading and renewing our reserve
traffic regulations through the people
of our Youth Corps Project who are
studying and making suggestions to
improve our policy in this matter.
I can remember a few years back
when the Council was the law. One of
the laws we had was a curfew by-law.
The Council drafted the by-law, and
had a general meeting where it was
endorsed by the people. The Council
acted as the policing body and
enforced the by-law. Violaters met
with Council and the penalty was to
do some community work. In some
cases fines were given. We pressed for
this in the past but we have been
getting away from it. I think we have
to get back in that direction.
As the Bella Coola Indian Govern-
ment, our Band Council must put the
necessary regulations, policies and
by-laws in place to govern ourselves
not only in the area of traffic
regulations but other areas as well.
Once in place, the enforcement
should be implemented through our
own policing sytem, and finally
Indian courts should be organized
which will ultimately establish one
component Indian government: the
Indian Judicial system. 6
UBCIC NEWS 13
The Atlin Band lives next to the
town of Atlin, a small town of about
250 people in the far north of B.C.
There are other reserve lands on the
lake, the biggest natural fresh-water
lake in the province. The lake is so big
that in the middle of it, is an island
with a snow-capped mountain on it.
The Indians do food fishing in the
lake for trout, with nets. The trout
run from five pounds to thirty
pounds.
Atlin is not in the salmon drainage
system but they have other reserves
up on the Taku river which flows in
from Alaska. The main staple diet is
moose, salmon and trout.
This is not a treaty area, so the
people can only hunt on reserves ex-
cept during the hunting season. They
have to get permits to hunt and there
have been a lot of problems for them
over that. Up til the present, the Atlin
Indian Band, situated solely in B.C. is
administered by the DIA _ in
Whitehorse, because Whitehorse is
UBCIC NEWS 14
the easiest big town for them to ge.
to. This has created problems for the
Band because the problems in the
Yukon are different from the
problems in Atlin where everything in
the town is done by the B.C.
Province.
In May 1979, Chief Sylvester Jack
of the Atlin Indian Band approached
the UBCIC to help in cases where
Band members were in court locally.
The lawyer assigned to the case met
with Band members and decided to
take on two of the criminal charges,
which have since been successfully
concluded.
The laku is a great river, and the
people have deep river boats that you
can stand up in and set nets. It was
apparently quite a __ successful
summer, economically; you can make
quite a good living from commercial
fishing up there. This was the first
time that Sylvester Jack had a license
and he said the last summer was just
the most wonderful summer he had
OPENED
TO
ATLIN
BAND
FOR
FOOD
FISHING
spent. He now knows what it used to
be like, he says, and why his grand-
mother and grandfather wanted to
live out on the river. He hasn’t fished
like this since he was a child, and now
he has grown children of his own.
Chief Sylvester Jack: the happiest
Summer,
The lawyer was asked by the Chief
to meet him at his fish camp, about
an hour’s flight in a small plane from
Atlin. And there he was,
commercially fishing on the Taku
River, with a commercial fishing li-
cense, legitimately fishing for
salmon. This license only applied to
commercial fishing on the Taku
River, but there are licenses to fish
commercially on the Stikine River as
well. The lawyer, uséd to battles
about illegal selling of fish in the law
courts around the Skeena and Fraser,
was amazed: an Indian with a com-
mercial fish license on a river! There
are fifteen licenses for this river, thir-
teen going to non-Indians and two to
Indians. Chief Jack thinks at least
half of these licenses should be
Indian, given that the population is
about half and half. The license
holders are decided by the Federal
Fisheries.
Until this month, two Indians had
commercial licenses to fish here, but
no one was allowed to food fish.
The Band has now won food fishing
rights on the Taku River, seven days
a week,
Fisheries has restricted commercial
fishing on the river to seventy-two
hours per week. The Chief also ap-
plied for permission in the off-days to
do some food fishing for his family,
so they could do some canning. This
was refused. There was no food fish-
ing allowed on the river.
The Fishing Portfolio at the
UBCIC was contacted and they got in
touch with the Federal Fisheries:
**how can you allow commercial fish-
ing and not food fishing on the Taku
River?’’
After continued pressure from the
Union and the Chief, the Fisheries
issued a license for food fishing to the
Band for seven days a week.
Chief Sylvester Jack and one of his
Band Councillors will be coming
down to the UBCIC Annual
Assembly for the first time. e
UBCIC NEWS 15
On August 17th, four members of
the Fountain Indian Band and one
from Mount Currie were arrested for
fishing during a closure. On August
23rd, they appeared before the Pro-
vincial Court and were remanded to
September 6th. They asked for the re-
turn of the two fish nets and the ten
fish that had been confiscated on the
grounds of respect for the fish before
they were ruined and because the ten
fish were caught for food fish and the
nets required for further food fishing.
The request was refused.
During the next weekend, the
Fountain people continued to fish
with no further interruptions inspite
of the Fisheries closure.
On August 30th, there was a Band
meeting: the Elders and disabled still
had no fish for the winter months.
The younger men and women agreed
to fish on their behalf. The next day,
Friday at 4:00 p.m. a meeting was
held between Chief Victor Adolph
and an official of the Fisheries De-
partment. The official agreed they
would hold back the Fisheries officers
and not bother the food fishermen
and women who continued fishing.
One hour later three fisheries of-
ficers descended by helicopter and
proceeded to harass Arthur Adolph,
a member of the Fountain Indian
Band, but then agreed to await the ar-
UBCIC NEWS 16
_ women wanted to fish on Friday be-
j cause the men were being harassed
enough by Fisheries. It was agreed
" that the women would do that, and
rival of the Chief. But then the three
officers again attempted to force
Arthur aboard the helicopter. A scuf-
fle started and the three fisheries of-
ficers jumped and threw Arthur to
the ground and threatened to bash his
head to the ground if he were to
struggle. Fourteen year old Lenny
Adolph was also thrown to the
ground. The fisheries officers had
again broken their word that they
would wait for the Chief. In the
meantime another helicopter landed
and four more officers descended
upon the fish camp. The Chief then
arrived and a meeting was held.
The Band had received further in-
formation that there was an addition-
al force of 24 officers standing by be-
hind the Rod and Gun Club.
Eventually Fisheries agreed not to
take anyone as long as Arthur would
give his name and show identifica-
tion. Meanwhile sports fishermen
were still fishing on the Bridge River
_ side of the Fraser with no harassment
or attempted arrests made on them
inspite of the fact that they were tres-
passing on reserve land and had re-
ceived due notice of closure of sports
fishing from Bridge River Chief Saul
Terry.
On September 5, Wednesday at the
Thunderbird Hall, Maggie Adolph,
told Chief and Council that the
Photo: John Williams |
Maggie undertook to inform all the
women,
September 7th, Friday afternoon:
the Chief and Council and members
of the Fountain Indian Band met at
the top of the fishing grounds.
Approximately 20 women, and
children, including women from the
Mount Currie Band, representatives
of the Indian Homemakers. Society
, and the Indian press proceeded down
; to the fish camps. After several hours
of fishing, there was no longer the
threat of a fisheries raid. The fish
caught that Friday were prepared for
eating at the Fountain Lake where a
tribal festival in tribute and thanks-
giving to the salmon took place on the
weekend.
On September 13th Fisheries or-
ganized a Press conference, and
though he wasn’t invited, Chief
Victor Adolph got curious and
“dropped in’’. He was asked if he -
was prepared to sit down with the
Fisheries people throughout the win-
ter and negotiate some kind of an
agreement. He replied that the first
meeting was scheduled to take place
with the Indian Affairs Minister,
Jake Epp, on the 19th September.
“The enforcement officers can
only enforce the regulations. Any
change in policies and regulations can
only be done at the ministerial level’’.
Chief Adolph also corrected a few
Fisheries stated figures: ‘‘You quote
the Fountain Band catch which really
involves not only the Fountain Band
catch but the Shushwap Band, the
Okanagan Band, the Nicola Band:
it’s not only our Band that catches all
the Salmon your given numbers
quote. What Fountain Band catches
for its own needs would hardly be
three thousand. It’s ironic because,
after the Government has depleted
the runs on the Columbia, we have
people coming from Kootenay,
Thompson and Nicola.’’
Victor Adolph told the press they
had people from the United States,
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
fishing in the area. He added, ‘‘This
wie ete ee ts
Roger and William Adolph were arrested for fishing during closure.
=
\ jillian ae
aig o é' ; ie — neil ;
They still don’t have their nets or fish back.
Photo-story by John Williams of Mount Currie Band.
IS the last river run lett and we would
like to conserve under true meaning-
_ ful conservation, dealt with and met
by all people concerned.”’
“The commercial fishermen have
no limit, they catch all they can and
go to Hawaii, Miami, Florida and
Europe. All we are interested in is just
enough food for the winter for our
people.’’ Adolph said he was not will-
ing at this time to submit their food
requirements.
“If we were to do that then we
would be asking that they also request
how much is necessary for the com
mercial fishermen and also the sports-
fishermen who come from the
U.S.A., also the foreign fishery, the
Japanese and on the Atlantic sea-
board, the Spanish, Scandinavian
and so forth. We have got to see those
restrictions in place too before they
start restricting our food fish,”’
Adolph told the press their rela-
tionship with the Fisheries people de-
teriorated in 1976 in a case-where an
enforcement officer was over zealous
‘in exercising enforcement. He said
Fisheries officers agree this has re-
sulted but he said the real reason re-
sulted from the War Measures Act in
1944,
The International Salmon Com-
mission, along with the Fisheries
Dept., expropriated 11.3 acres of the
Fountain Indian Reserve #10 Fishing
station, under the War Measures Act.
They held it in expropriation for 25
years without development so it was
returned to the Band with an annual
compensation for the loss of land
which was set aside for the use and
benefit of the Fountain Indians. The
expropriation was not revealed to the
Band until 1968.
**All we are asking,’’ said Adolph,
“is that we exercise our rights on the
reservation that was set aside for the
use and benefit of the. Fountain
Indian Band without harassment.
‘If the ministers Fisheries and
Indian Affairs are sincere, | do be
lieve we will come to a compromise in
mutual agreement.’’
The meeting with Minister of
Indian Affairs, Jake Epp on
September 19, 1979, has been can-
celled and postponed to a later date
not mentioned. ®@
UBCIC NEWS 17
NEWS NEWS NEWS
OFF-SHORE MINERAL RESOURCES GIVEN TO
PROVINCE IN “SWEET HEART DEAL”’
Prime Minister Joe Clark announced Sept. 20, that
jurisdiction over all off-shore mineral resources found on
Canada’s west coast would be given to the B.C.
Provincial Government.
In a telex to the Prime Minister, Bill Bennett, premier
of B.C., Jake Epp, Minister of Indian Affairs and
Liberal DIA critic Warren Allmand, George Manuel,
president of the UBCIC reaction to the federal giveaway
read in part’
Given. the position of the province, Indian claims will
be totally undermined if you proceed with the handover
of off-shore resources to the province. If your govern-
ment is serious about coming to grips with Indian claims
in the shaping of a new confederation, we demand that
you involve Indian people in all negotiations concerning
ownership and jurisdiction over off-shore resources.”’
The National Indian Brotherhood meeting in Montreal
at the same time, passed a resolution in support of the
~ UBCIC
LATE F LASH: UBCIC DELEGATION MEETS WITH
PRIME MINISTER. |
Moments after Prime Minister Joe Clark arrived in
Vancouver to meet with Premier Bennett on September
21st, a UBCIC delegation was there to see him. The
guards were not too anxious for the three-person delega-
tion to even enter the hotel lobby without an appoint-
ment, but they suggested they phone the Prime Minister
and check with him whether or not he would see them.
Two minutes later they were invited to join him.
They went in person to deliver the statement on the
Indian interest in B.C. off-shore resources. They told him
of the evidence that was presented to the West Coast Oil
Ports Enquiry and the role and concerns of the Indian
people during that Enquiry. i
‘*He had a fairly lengthy discussion with us’’, reported -
Robert Manuel afterwards. ‘‘He recognized the Federal
responsibility towards Indian people and he did promise
that before any final agreement was made, there would
be further discussion on our concerns about off-shore re-
sources, through our National Indian Brotherhood and
the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. He didn’t talk about
the mechanism of those talks; but we were pleased that he
saw us and we felt he was receptive to our position.”’
Immediately afterwards, the Prime Minister met with
Premier Bennett. Next day’s headlines announced that
while the signing over off-shore rights would still go
ahead, there would be some delay while Indian interests
and environmental issues were studied.
NATIONAL ENERGY BOARD OIL PIPELINE
HEARINGS
On October 2nd, the National Energy Board will begin
hearings into the applications for transporting Alaska oil
to the mid-United States through Canada. The UBCIC
will be intervening at the hearings.
The applications in question both involved oil ports
and supertankers. The Transmountain application means
supertankers must take the oil to Washington State Port
Angeles and transfer it to the Transmountain pipeline
that passes through southeastern B.C. to link with the
major pipeline link to the States in Alberta.
The Foothills proposal means supertankers take oil
from Valdez to Skagway in Alaska, and then pipelines
will be built to parallel the proposed Alaska Highway Gas
Pipeline, through to the link in Alberta.
At the opening of the hearings, the UBCIC delegation
will be pressing for the lengthy hearings to be moved to
Vancouver. The areas to be most severely impacted are in
B.C, and most of the groups who have most to contribute
to the hearings do not have the funds to travel back and
forth to Ottawa to present their evidence.
MOWACHAHT BAND PASSES
POLLUTION BY-LAW
On August 14th, the Mowachaht Band held a public
hearing on the distress caused by the pollution from the
Tahsis Pulp Mill which leases a large proportion of Band
land. Jerry Jack reports on developments:
‘*As a result of our hearings, the Band Council has
drawn up and passed a Band by-law to control the
pollution. If DIA doesn’t put up any objection it will
become law in forty days. We’ve met with our MP, Ray
Skelly, about it too. We’re not telling Tahsis to stop
polluting generally: we’re asking them to keep it to them-
selves, away from the village site. The Company had been
getting permits to pollute in non-residential areas: the
Band by-law requires them to limit to allowable amounts
for a residential area.
‘*The penalty for each violation is $100.00 and/or 30
days in jail. Now we are looking at enforcement. Since it
is a Federal law, we’ll be able to get the RCMP to press
charges, and the company will have a chance to appeal if
they want.’’
The Band has also officially notified both B.C. Hydro
and the Department of Highways that they have no right
on Band. land. Both have phoned back admitting they
have been trespassing and asking for negotiations. The
Band is waiting for this in writing first.
UBCIC NEWS 18
Up-dates on pages 26 and 27.
THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL
ASSEMBLY
The theme of the Conference will
once again be INDIAN GOVERN-
MENT with a strong emphasis on
developing our Indianness. The plans
we have developed are designed to
draw all elements of our Indian com-
munity together. It has been con-
cluded this will be necessary if our
Indian Governments are to flourish
‘and grow. We intend, in this confer-
ence, to work toward ensuring that
the interests of all our people are ad-
dressed through creating forums
where they can actively participate.
; The Eleventh Annual Assembly of the
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs will be held
at the Italian Cultural Centre, 3075
Slocan Street, Vancouver, from October
We have, to date, identified four 15th = 18th, 1979.
basic components of people that all
need nourishment to create a healthy
human being. The four components
include our intellectual, physical,
emotional and spiritual selves. And if
we analyze our Indian communities,
we find our people, for the most part,
are fragmented along these lines. We,
for example, find the intellectual
people as a collective in specialized
areas such as political leaders, Ad-
ministration, Economics, and Educa-
tion groups. As well, we find others
who are interest primarily in the
physical well-being of people. These
include the sports, health and nutri-
tionally inclined people who are
mainly interested in promoting physi-
cal and health education. Then we
UBCIC NEWS 19
UBCIC NEWS 20
find those who function primarily ac-
cording to feelings, who express
themselves through the Theatre - Arts
or music. And finally, we have those
who are interested primarily in the
spiritual rebirth of people.
The conference as planned will at-
tempt to nourish and stimulate these
parts of our people to create an at-
mosphere of togetherness among our
' people.
The result, we hope, will be to have
our people leave for their home com-
munities revitalized with a strong
feeling of togetherness and
fulfillment.
The way in which we propose to ac-
complish this is through the creation
of eight different forums. The forums
we have planned will allow for parti-
cipation and expression for as many
segments of our Indian community as
possible. The forums that have been
planned include a spiritual forum, a
political forum, an Indian Talent ,
forum, Indian clothing fashion and
design forum, an Indian Feasting
forum and an Indian Display forum.
In 1969 the Chiefs in B.C. united to oppose the White Paper policy, the
policy statement of the Liberal government to assimilate Indian people into
the white society. Indian people all over Canada were insulted and
outraged,
In B.C., the response to that intention was a major step in pointing out
the direction that the Indian people did want to go. We did not want to
merge into white society, our villages becoming municipalities under
Provincial jurisdiction, our cultural, spiritual and political traditions
becoming so many dog-eared pages of history. The formation of the Chiefs’
organization in British Columbia was a strong assertion of our deter-
mination to keep our Indianness; and not only to retain what we had but to
actively build our political future on Indian foundations.
INDIAN
GOVERNMENT IN
PRACTICE
Winona Chelsea of Alkali Lake.
Over the last ten years, the Indian
people in B.C. have been discussing,
trying out, developing the specifics of
our political future. Out of these
meetings, experiences, knowledge
and workshops has come our Abori-
ginal Rights Position Paper that
basically is a framework by which
Indian people can continue to exist as
Indian people in Canada.
This position is based on the belief
that our Aboriginal Rights can in no
way be extinguished; they cannot be
sold or bought by any amount of
money. The position has been formed
entirely on the need for the
development and enhancement of our
rich Indian cultural heritage. Indian
self-determination, Indian
Government, is the underlying theme
of the Aboriginal Rights Position
Paper. What this means is solving our
economic, educational, social,
cultural and spiritual problems in our
way.
Talking about Indian Government,
Indian sovereignty, Indian self-
determination can seem far away at
first, just a dream, or a political
theory that only our leaders can
understand. But Indian Government
is day-to-day Band affairs, decided
on by the reserve Indian Government,
the Band Council, and carried out by
individual members of the Band, be it
the Band office staff, the Band
appointed Community Health repre-
sentative, the Band appointed home-
school co-ordinator, the Indian
Elders, the Indian food gatherers,
Indian wage earners, Indian artists,
the Indian parents, the Indian
children—everyone. It is Indian
people taking responsibility for and
control of their own affairs. Already
we are practicing Indian Government
in many different ways. In many
cases the taking of Indian control
over an area was not consciously
inspired by a political ideal so much
as by a practical solution to a
particular situation,
Section 3 of Article 5 of the
Aboriginal Rights Position Paper
calls for Indian jurisdiction over the
management of all Indian Reserve
lands.
In the 1960’s the C.P. Railways ne-
gotiated with the DIA to puta railroad
through the St. Mary’s Reserve.
Lloyd Lezard, Band Manager, tells
the story:
**There was no legal Band Council
Resolution granting an easement
across the reserve; and they stuck a
diversion works in the St. Mary’s
river that alienated about eighty acres
from the main Band land. It just
happened that in 1972 we had one of
those once-in-a-hundred year floods;
that is an engineer’s term for what
happened that year. The water broke
through their protective dikes and
started eroding the grazing land that
we had down there.
We tried all peaceful means to have
this situation put right. For years the
paperwork continued back and forth,
phone calls back and forth. Every-
body was hanging back sort of, so in
July 1978, we decided to take definite
action. We put a stop to the railroad
going through the reserve. The block-
ade was intermittant for a while, then
we decided just to sit on there for
days on end; so we did that for a
week. The blockade shut down some
of the local industries, There is coal
mining in this area and the coal
couldn’t be shipped to Vancouver for
shipment to Japan. They couldn’t do
anything because we were sitting on
the railroad and the railroad traffic
blocked up for as far as Nelson, B.C.,
about 200 miles from here; their
marshalling yards were getting chock
full. At one time we probably had
fifty per cent of the population up
there. The whole Band was involved
UBCIC NEWS 21
in this. At the end of that week, C.P.
Rail and_ their representatives,
Marathon Reality, plus the Depart-
ment of Indian Affairs, all decided to
meet with us. They knew we were
serious. That was the only way we
could get everybody together at one
table and in one room.
Serious negotiations have been
going on for a year. The only hold up ©
right now is with the Justice Depart-
ment. The others have all done their
best to conclude this to our satis-
faction. On October 4th, we are |
having a general Band meeting to §
discuss the whole issue. October 5th,
we are having a referendum on it.
That is for the Band population to
approve of what the Band Council
has done on their behalf.’’
The Doig River, Blueberry River
and Musqueam Bands are suing the ™
Department of Indian Affairs for
mismanagement of their reserve lands
by selling land without proper Band
authority, by giving away Band
mineral rights or by making lease
arrangements that were not in the
Band’s interest.
Section 11 calls for Indian Control of
Indian Fishing.
Fishing is the number one resource
for B.C. Indians and in order to
ensure the reproduction and
protection of our valuable fisheries,
they must be controlled by our Indian
Governments. In June 1978, Chiefs
Council acted on two fishing reso-
lutions from the General Assembly
that will give Indian Governments
responsibility for the regulation of
Indian fishing.
““By resuming our aboriginal
responsibility for the fish, we can
begin to work towards establishing
once again the fish management
and reproduciton practices which
allow B.C. salmon to flourish for
thousands of year. Controlling our
fisheries is a huge step towards self-
determination for B.C. Indians,
since we are ensuring our fisheries
and ourselves of a strong future.’’
This position was confirmed in the
courts a little over a year later when
Judge Diebolt told the people of
UBCIC NEWS 22
Lillooet that he found they had a
legal right to exclusive salmon fishing
on their lands under the condition
that sound conservation and manage-
ment regulations are established by
the Indian people.
Tahltan Tribal Council have already
developed by-laws which provide for
the preservation, protection and
management of fish in their waters.
Section 10 calls for Indian control of
our Wildlife Resources.
In the past year two major Land
Use and Occupancy studies have been
started for Indian lands. The study of
the Northeast is now at the stage of
going back for final corrections and
approval by each of the Bands. On
the maps you can see where each
trapper has his lines, where each
hunter goes for moose or duck, where
the women go for berries: and when
all these are on one map you have a
_ are threatening,
_ resource
The Squamish Indian Band and the
vivid picture of how much the people
are living with the land resources. The
maps of the northeast are strong
assertion of the people’s traditional
ties with the land.
The sum of all this information is to
., be used in the courts, at public
enquiries and hearings. When plans
for non-Indian projects in the area
these maps can
defend traditional areas in the courts.
Section 13 calls for Indian manage-
ment of the environment within the
boundaries of all lands, waters and
areas that have been
established under the jurisdiction of
' Indian government .
The recent actions of the
Mowachaht and the Blueberry River
people are incidents of Indian
Government in practice in this field
Section 14 calls for the Indian estab-
lishment and management of our
economy.
Chief Gordon Antoine of the Cold-
water Band talked about this as it
related to the impressive Nicola
Valley Indian Administration
“*The basis for the NVIA building
was not so much a dream of self-
control as getting people together
who wanted to co-operate. The
Upper Nicola, Coldwater, Nooaitch,
Lower Nicola and Schacken Bands
looked at other ways to administer
some of their programs that had been
administered by the DIA. This was in
1969. At that time we couldn’t afford
five Band Managers, not in terms of
cash but in terms of available skills.
What we had was a common trading
f At the Saanich Indian School
Board we do our best to push local
control as far as we can. Needless
to say DIA does its best to limit
and even destroy local control. The
major difficulty we experience in
fighting DIA and its underhanded
policies is the lack of its co-opera-
tion in communication with other
Bands throughout the province.
Full local control can only be
achieved when we can act together
and support each others efforts.
Facilitating this collective action
must be a major role of organiza-
tions such as the UBCIC.,
In spite of these obstacles, we
have managed to have a good
working relationship with the local
Public School District. DIA and
the Local Board continues to nego-
tiate monies for our education
without our involvement. How-
ever, they are being forced to re-
cognize the necessity for our parti-
cipation. We have several joint
programs which we have initiated
and which are better able to meet
our students needs than the stan-
dard curriculum.
Marie Cooper Administrator
\ Saanich Indian School Board
centre in the town of Merritt.
Also any Indians who were walking
down the streets of the town looked
like they didn’t belong. We needed a
sense of ‘I’m part of this community:
I don’t just come in to go to school
and go back out to the reserves’; or to
work at the sawmills and go back out
to the reserves. We looked at things
from that point of view, bought the
property and organized the financing
which means of course, that at first
you’re in debt, a big hammer on you
every month. So we decided to build
the place big enough to have tenants
to pay the mortgage.
It provides a few jobs, a place to
come in for lunch from school, a ‘gg
fairly solid reference library and a
small Indian library which is
probably better than the town’s. It
also provides headquarters on which
we can build on in town. It provides a
visual kind of working atmosphere
that can encourage kids to get more
Section 15 calls for the good and proper education of all our people
In the early 1970’s, Mount Currie
Band parents withdrew twenty-
one of their children from Pem-
berton, and started their own
school. There are now about 300
students there, from nursery to
Grade 12. More and more Indian
Photo: G. Shuter
MALT
y |
UL,
a
Working for the Nicola Sand and
Gravel Company.
—= Construction
=“ Computer Company.
oy
trained to
Indian
literature, learning to teach the
teachers are
teach _ there,
being
using
Indian language and _ Indian
values. The graduation ceremony
this year was a specially proud
one for the whole Band. J
qualifications—like maybe they can
do better than someone in there now.
It’s not some’ kind of nebulous
dream. We run all of our programs
out of it, though we’re trying to
decentralize now, taking it back to
the Bands.
The main thing is that we utilize
our membership in a co-operative
way between the five Bands.’’
Other
between these five Bands include a
Company and a4
co-operative ventures
Practising Indian Government
doesn’t mean waiting for Govern-
ment recognition of Aboriginal
Rights. It mean asking
approval from DIA. Indian Govern-
ment is evolving slowly through
doesn’t
-day-by-day Band decisions which
have as their foundation the belief
that we have the right to determine
our own futureinourownland. ©
UBCIC NEWS 23
NEGOTIATING THE L.S.A.
After a very long series of meetings, the UBCIC has
now drawn up an alternative draft Local Services Agree-
ment that can be used as a basis for Bands to negotiate
their own Agreement with the Department of Indian
Affairs.
NEGOTIATING WHAT EACH BAND WANTS
It is the Union’s position that the organization can only
draw up guidelines and share negotiating skills and back-
ground knowledge to help individual Bands negotiate just
what the Band wants in their Local Services Agreement
with the Department. For these purposes, the UBCIC has
formed a team of experts into a workshop team, ready to
work with Bands on the L.S.A.
Arnold Adolph: background of government and how
it operates;
Don Moses: financial aspects
administrative management and
information;
legal background;
keeping the whole thing going;
to ensure that Bands have access to
all and related material to the Mem-
orandum of Agreement; to co-
ordinate and organize the necessary
L.S.A. workshops through B.C.
John Warren:
Louise Mandell:
Rosalee Tizya:
Co-ordinator:
to accept or reject.
INDIAN GOVERNMENT IS SHARING SKILLS TO
CONTROL YOUR OWN AFFAIRS
YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU’RE
NEGOTIATING IN DETAIL
The workshops are going to be concentrating on
building up the skills and knowledge of Band people who
are dealing with program administration areas. It is felt
that unless Band members, Chief and Council under-
stand a lot of the technical background, it will be difficult
to know what we are negotiating for or against.
For example the first L.S.A. package came out from
the DIA in 1978 and contained a lot of financial
administrative requirements and procedures that the
Band should follow. Because many Bands were not
familiar with that information, they had no way of
knowing whether what they were accepting or rejecting
was good or bad.
Another example is cash flows: if the Band Manager or
staff don’t know what cash flows are, then how can Chief
and Council negotiate? Unless the Band knows what it is
they are dealing with, they may not know what they are
negotiating, and therefore may not be in the best position
UBCIC NEWS 24
The object is to assist those Bands who don’t have the
skills and knowledge of Band administrative or financial
management. It’s important to have grounding in it if
you’re going to negotiate funding, which is what the
L.S.A. is all about.
By sharing with Bands the skills and ability to nego-
tiate, their own L.S.A., that is Indian Government. If the
Band feels strongly that it could control its own affairs on
the reserve, then it should have the skills and ability to be
able to negotiate that. That’s the most important purpose
of the L.S.A. workshop team.
WORKSHOPS ON THE WORKINGS OF THE
GOVERNMENT
The workshops on government aspects, for example
are going to outline, through organizational charts, how
the government works; how the DIA fits into govern-
ment; where the L.S.A. fits in; where do Bands fit into
the whole structure; who makes the decisions and how
they get handed down.
Copies of the Financial Act will be gone over, plus an
explanation of how Treasury Board and the Department
of Finance work. The workshop will discuss how we
might be able to use this knoweldge to change how
government deals with us on issues such as the L.S.A.
and Zero-Base budgetting.
FINANCIAL WORKSHOP
The Financial Aspects workshop will introduce
planning budgets, budget projections, cash flows,
financial reporting systems and establishing financial
controls,
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT
The workshop on Administrative Management is going
to include dealing with staff, how to organize, set
priorities, filing systems, mail systems, reporting
procedures and so on.
LEGAL WORKSHOP
The Legal workshop will concentrate on the legal
implications of the L.S.A. once it is signed: what are your
rights; how to make amendments; interpretations, defi-
nitions; what are the Bands’ legal obligations once they
have signed the Agreement.
WORKING OUT WORKSHOP SCHEDULES
We’ll be having a workshop at the General Assembly in
order to go through this information with Bands; and
those Bands who are interested in workshops can set
dates and length of time they want the workshop to go,
beginning late October, and through Novemeber and
December. This will allow another three months, January
to March, to begin negotiating with the DIA and we can
have someone on staff to continue to work with the
Bands who ask for further assistance.
It is our goal in these workshops to make sure that any
member who participates in getting good professional
information on all the areas covered. The people we want
involved have to be able to discuss in detail their area of
expertise.
If we can give Bands this in-
formation and skills, they may
use it as they see fit for the
L.S.A. or whatever; it is know-
ledge that no one can take away
again, and in doing this, they’re
allowing Band Councils to have
more control or say over their
own affairs.
Perhaps they won’t want them this year, but certainly in
the future. Taking five days out of the year to learn this is
not really very much. Besides, a lot of the information is
not really that complicated. It will take two or three years
to perfect one’s negotiating skills, to fully negotiate one’s
own affairs.
The L.S.A. is just a small
part of the larger issue of
independence, so why stay in
kindergarten if you can be
Prime Minister!
| LOCAL SERVICES AGREEMENT DISCUSSED AT
| LAKES DISTRICT COUNCIL MEETING
The Lakes District Council requested the Union to
attend their meeting on September 11, to discuss the
Local Service Agreement. The Union has been negotia-
ting a draft agreement with the Department of Indian
Affairs over the last several months and a draft agree-
ment has been prepared that is generally acceptable to the
two organizations.
At the Lakes District meeting the Union staff began by
reading the letter that was sent to all Bands by George |
Manuel concerning the agreement. Inthe letter George
Manuel stated the draft was intended as a guide for
Bands in their negotiations with the department. He
stated some Bands would want to negotiate specific
additions or changes to the agreement to cover their par-
ticular situation.
The District Manager of the Department of Indian
Affairs in the Lakes District was in attendance at the
meeting. He advised that the Department deadline for
negotiations and signing of the Agreement was the end of
March 1980. He was asked by Justa Monk what would
happen if the negotiations were not completed by that
time. The District Manager replied the decision would be
made by Regional Director but he anticipated that Band
funding would not be disperses if agreements were not in
place. He added that he did not expect the change in
government in Ottawa would affect the basic require-
ments for Bands to sign Local Service Agreements.
Last year the Lakes District Council had prepared a
preliminary draft of a Local Service Agreement. The
Bands in the-area put a lot of time and effort into this
agreement. This draft was accepted in principal earlier
this year. There has been considerable discussion
concerning this draft and the agreement prepared by the
Union. The Union representatives offered to attend any
workshops that the District Council or individual Bands
might want to organize before negotiating with the
Department of Indian Affairs.
Ed John, a Stuart Trembleur Band member, addressed
the meeting and was strongly critical of the Union draft.
He said he considered the Union draft to be unacceptable
personally and he recommended to the representatives
that they continue to work on the draft that had been
developed and accepted in principal by the Lakes District
Council. After discussing the issue the representatives
decided to commission Ed John and another lawyer to
continue work on their draft and to prepare a final Local
Services Agreement for use by their Bands in negotiations
with the Department. ®
LBCIC NEWS 25
MOUNT CURRIE
The Mount Currie Band has given notice to the logging
company that has been logging on their reserve, and to
the Provincial Government, that all logging operations
on the Mount Currie Indian Reserve are illegal. They
have been so since the early 1920’s. The provincial
government had been giving logging permits before the
land was set aside as reserve land, but at that time, no
right to the logging was retained by the provincial govern-
ment. However, the-province continued to renew the
various leases.
The provincial constitutional section responded to this
notice with outrage. The company has not responded as
yet.
The Mount Currie Band also asserted this month that
the Lillooet Lake road which runs through the reserve
belongs to the Indian people, and not to the provincial
government. The. Band says that the Order-in-Council
claiming it as provincial land is not valid. The steps
necessary to getting the Order-in-Council has not been
followed: there was never a valid surrender, there was
never compensation and there was never Band approval.
A Band COuncil Resolution has been sent to the Depart-
ment of Indian Affairs instructing them to rescind the
Order-in-Council, taking away the Department of
Transport’s claim to the road.
—UP-DATE
MUSQUEAM CASE
The Musqueam case has finally come to trial. Because
the Musqueam Band is suing, the Band has the oppor-
_ tunity to present this case to the court before the case is
defended by the DIA. The first day of trial was taken up
by procedural battles concerning who could stay in the
courtroom during the trial. After argument Judge Collier
decided that any p-erson who will be a witness, either for
the Musqueam people or for the DIA must stay out of
court during the trial, until after they have given evi-
dence. Michael Kew, an anthropologist, was the first
witness called by the Band. He told the court about the
Musqueam’s Band history. The Band is calling witnesses
now to establish that the DIA refused to give the Band
adequate information to understand the lease which had
been entered into. The trial continues.
URANIUM MINING
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs now has a slide show
dealing with the impact of uranium mining on the
Navaho and Hopi Indian people of New Mexico. As
there is no uranium mining in B.C., we have to look to
the experience of Indian people in other parts of North
America to understand just what uranium mining can
mean to an Indian community. The Union has also ac-
quired information on the extent of Uranium exploration
in the province. Any Bands wishing to view the slide show
or wishing information on possible uranium exploration
in their area should contact Steven Basil or John Rogers.
The Technical Hearings begin September 25th. These
will include expert testimony on many phases of uranium
mining and exploration including the mining and milling
process, public and worker health protection, and
environmental and social impact. These hearings will
continue until March, 1980. If any Bands or individuals
have any questions they want answered or concerns ex-
pressed to these Hearings, please let us know.
The Technical Hearings will be followed by Communi-
ty Hearings in the Spring. It is hoped that many Bands
will be interested in presenting their views on uranium
mining at these hearings.
CHEHALIS INQUEST
An inquest into the death of Shirley Doreen Point who
died during initiation as an Indian dancer in January will
be held on October 10-12th. The UBCIC Legal Portfolio
will be representing the Chehalis Band.
HUNTING CASES
The Charlie Appeal is set for January 24th. The people
of Saanich are appealing the decision of the court that
there are not religious rights which exist in this country
which afford the accused the defence of religious
freedom in that case. George Charlie and Anderson Jack
hunted for deer out of season when the meat was needed
for a religious ritual burning.
UBCIC NEWS 26
—UP-DATE-
ay
-M.P. CHARGED FOR HARASSING FISHERIES
On September 13, Member of Parliament Lorne
Greenaway was charged for obstruction of justice. The
M.P. was present at the scene of the arrest of the
Fountain Band members last August and strongly protes-
ted the violent actions of the Fisheries officers. He was
served with a summons to appear in court as he was
changing planes at the Vancouver airport. |
The UBCIC telexed the Minster of Fisheries to express
their support for the actions of the M.P., telling the
Minister that the violent arresting procedures adopted by
the Fisheries officers were so shocking -that Lorne
Greenaway, an observer, felt impelled to intervene on
behalf of the Indians.
‘«,..It is reassuring to us that our M.P., acting
lawfully, attempted to defend our right to be treated with
dignity. It is most disconcerting that your officials charge
him for exercising his support. The message to us is clear:
whoever stands in the way of your officials’ arbitrary
actions will be mowed down.”’
CONFISCATED FISH
Two approaches are being tried. The first is writing to
the Fisheries officers and the prosecutors at the end of
each case, asking for fresh fish instead of the actual, by
now freezer burnt and rotten confiscated fish. The Legal
Task Force is making the case that the old fish is ruined,
and is giving Fisheries the opportunity to give back fresh
fish regardless of what they did with the original fish. In
the case of Chief Robert Peters, where they had seized a
hundred and three fish, and charges of failing to crop
nose and dorsal fins were dropped over a year later,
federal Fisheries agreed to return 103 fresh fish. By the
end of the summer, Robert Peters will have his whole
‘catch back. The same request was made in the Herman
Thomas case.
In the Edward Thompson case, the federal Fisheries
say they have done everything they should have done and
he can have what is there. Mr. Thompson says he doesn’t
want it: it is rotten.
In the case of Ralph George Fisheries response was
‘‘we gave the fish away, and-that is the end of that.”’
Ralph George has asked UBCIC Legal Task Force to sue
federal Fisheries on his behalf.
abled. This year, they say, due to the low salmon escape-
ment, only spear fishing is allowed, and they’ve been
confiscating all the nets, of those fishing ‘‘illegally’’ and
of the Elders. They must have a whole warehouse full by
now. We maintain our harvest rights and the Department
is adamant they are going to close the net fishery alto-
gether for the rest of this year. The runs are low, but we
maintain we intend to take whatever salmon we need. It is
their responsibility to see that the Indian food fishery is
met. They’ve restricted our needs drastically and we’ve
been trying to find out if they have imposed the same res-
trictions, proportionately, on the sports and commercial
fishery. The commercial fishery is the most damaging to
our runs, The proportions we take out of the river never
ever made any significant difference to the run before the
white man came. 7
We have been thinking about management by-laws,
but this would still have no effect on the commercial
fishery, which is the most damaging. That is Our main
battle at the moment.
THE COWICHAN BAND, with a membership of
1700 people, has an unemployment rate of about 66 per
cent but since the Jack decision Fisheries harassment has
stepped up.
Wes Modeste reports: “Up to now,. Fisheries has
always issued net permits to the old people and the dis-
FISHING CASES
Rod Cooper of Alkali Lake appeared at Williams Lake
Court on September 19th. This was the last fishing case
that is left over from last year, until November 7th when
the other Lillooet people who were busted last year will
appear at court. These are the people whose cases were
pending the Bradley Bob decision. There were eight
people: Clifford Kirpatrick, Frank Link, David Spinks,
Billy Sampson, Joe Reynolds, Willard Wallace, Leslie
Edmunds, Victor Adolph jnr. Now that the Bradley Bob
case has been decided, they are going to go ahead with
those charges and November 7th has been down as the
first court date to start dealing with them. Federal
Fisheries wanted to have all the cases merged with
Bradley Bob and they offered to ‘give all eight people
absolute discharges. The people want to fight the
charges: if Fisheries wants to charge people, let them
prove their case, say the accused.
Brian and Rick Nahanni of the Squamish Band asked
the UBCIC Task Force to help them get back their fish
and nets after Municipal Police confiscated them on
September 5. At the time of the raid, the boys all denied
ownership, and the nets and fish were seized. There were
five fish, two were thrown back and three were taken.
The Nahanni brothers hadn’t heard where the nets or fish
were and nobody has been charged. When questioned by
UBCIC lawyer, the municipal police agreed the net was
seized, and said they had turned it over to Fisheries. But, | _
they said, the police report didn’t mention any fish. 2 Sa Se:
UBCIC NEWS 27
THEIR ACT IS A MESS»
JUDGE SCOLDS
There has been an ongoing battle in
fishing cases.
Fisheries officers scheme to arrest
Indian fishermen. Binoculars in
hand, they have been known to watch
the highways, searching for an old
car, driven by an Indian with a
sagging rear axle. If this car is spotted
anywhere near a commercial fishing
boundary (a boundary which is
defined in the Fisheries regulations
but is not marked anywhere on the
road) the officers wait until the car
crosses this boundary.. Then they
pounce, The officer asks the driver to
get out of the car and open the trunk.
Fish are found in the trunk. The
Indians in the car are asKed by the
arresting officer: ‘‘Whose fish are
these?”’ 3
(This your lawyer spedking: You are
under no obligation to tell anything
but your name and address. Any
information given to the fisheries
officer will be held against you in
court. Don’t talk!)
Very often the Indian fisherman
talks to the officers, because -he
doesn’t believe he has done anything
wrong:
“*They belong to us.”’
‘*Where did you fish?’’
““At our fishing spot in the
Fraser.’’
**Do you have a licence to fish?”’
‘‘No. We don’t need one. We have
a right to fish.’’
““O.K. says the officer, ‘‘You are
charged with illegally transporting
and illegally possessing fish. I am
going to confiscate your car and your
fish.”’
This your lawyer again: Fisheries
does not need your car or your fish
for evidence in court. It seems from
our experience that they seize your '
fish, car and nets to harrass. Last
year we won over 30 fish cases, yet
Fisheries ruined over 500 of our fish.
When you go to court to fix a date for
your trial, ask the judge for an order
to retrieve your car and fish, Tell the
court the hardship to you in losing
your fish. You might even try to talk
Fisheries officers out of seizures. The
officers have discretion as to whether
they will seize.
UBCIC NEWS 28
FISHERIES
by Louise Mandell
and Leslie Pinder
WULF,
SCHOOMER.
PROVING ILLEGAL
TRANSPORTATION
The case goes to court. To prove
that you transported the fish, the
prosecutor must prove where the fish
were caught. If the Indian fishermen
made no statement and if Fisheries
did not see the Indian fish, Fisheries
won’t have evidence on this point and
the Indian goes free.
PROVING ILLEGAL
FISHING
To prove that the fish were illegally
possessed or illegally fished, the
prosecutor must prove that at the
time and place where fishing occurred
or where the fish were found by
Fisheries, fishing was illegal. If the
prosecutor can’t prove that point, the
Indian fisherman wins his case
because the prosecutor has not
proved the case against him,
‘ALL FISHING IS ILLEGAL
EXCEPT WHAT REGULATIONS
ALLOW” SAID FISHERIES
ey eee te aes
done in the past.
- committed myself to fight every-
presses — Indian people. |
- courage all Indian People to do
_ UBCIC I would have pleaded
guilty. If I was guilty of anything
right to fish as an Indian, up to
_ now. I think in terms of not
_ longer, and am sure they were
‘pleased to see me stand. The
stand was a fight not. only to
exercise my right to fish; but also
to be found not guilty or even
told I am guilty of being in
possession of salmon at anyplace
at anytime. This is the way it was
for my ancestors and it shall be
= ae
by Herman Thomas _ ;
The fishing case was a a long
| sedi fight. I could have given |
Fisheries officer has been going on to
the reserve and asking if anyone
wants a licence. Rod didn’t really
think about things, he didn’t think
from that you needed a license. He
thought it was all right to fish. So he
was taking the fish to his mother who
was going to cure the fish. He told his
story quite straightforwardly .
up and lost the case. I also could ©
have pleaded guilty, as I myself
FISHERIES HAVE TO CLEAN UP
THEIR ACTS
and other Indians | know have _
But I have —
thing and anything that op- —
be
| ‘the same. If it had not been for the ©
it was for not fighting for- my —
letting my ancestors down any
To make the Prosecutor’s job
easier, Fisheries passed a regulation
which said that all fishing in the
province is illegal, except fishing
allowed by Fisheries under the fishing
regulations. The prosecutors have
been proving that fish were found ina
car, then pointing to this regulation
saying fishing is all illegal; they then
sit down, having proved thier case
against the Indian fishermen.
could pull anyone in off the street
who had fish and prove that the
person was illegally in possession,
without reference to the particular
day or case in question. The judge
told Fisheries that they had to prove
illegal fishing by calling evidence by a
Fisheries officer rather than by
relying on the regulation. The Prose-
cutor realized that proving a case now |
would be much more difficult.
Judgement was reserved over lunch
hour: 1:30 Judge Barnett gave
decision. He said that Fisheries
cannot use the section of the
regulations to prove that fishing is
prohibited. The prosecutor can’t rely
on another section of the regulations
in order to prove something. They
have to prove through evidence. Now
the prosecutor is going to have to
prove cases another way.
It’s a victory in what has become a
really clenched battle in terms of what
the Crown has to prove and what the
accused has to prove. Now that.
Indian people are fighting their cases,
the Crown is having trouble proving
their own cases and defending their
regulations. If Indian people were not
fighting fishing cases, the law in this
area would pretty much go
unchallenged. &
tat Prize; Buckskin Jackel, size 42-44
2nd Prize; Plaque of Sasquatch holding and speaking
Wd Prize: Gill Certilicate, Silver Jewelry by Harold Hood
£1.00 per tieket
HERMAN THOMAS
ROD COOPER
indian Government
Fishing Portfolio
Raffie
Value $200 00
foasalmon Value $100 00
Draw held October 16, 1979.
at)! General Assembly at
3075 Slocan St
Licence No 20782
In two fishing cases this month,
UBCIC lawyers successfully argued
that the Prosecutors cannot prove
illegal fishing by using the
regulations. In the case of Herman
Thomas Judge Reid, found Herman
not guilty. We argued that to allow
Fisheries to prove illegal fishing by
relying on the regulations was against
the principles of justice. Using the
regulation as proof, the Fisheries
In the case of Rod Cooper from the
Anaham Reserve, the Judge Barnett
decided the question in our favour.
Rod Cooper of Anaham took the
stand: he told his story, that he was
fishing in Farwell Canyon, with a dip
net, that he didn’t have a license, that
he didn’t think he needed a license.
What’s been happening up there
during the last few years is that a
Support your Indian Government
fishing portfolio by selling or
buying raffle tickets. Bands inter-
ested,
Thomas at 684-0231 local 23, or
write 440 West Hastings Vancou-
ver.
please contact Herman
Thank you for your support.
UBCIC NEWS 29
KEEPING THE $$$ AT HOME
BAND STORES
The official opening for the store
was July 2nd, 1976. The original ap-
plication went to the DIA Economic
Development for the construction
and supplying of The Chehalis Store
and Gas Pumps. This was to be a ser-
vice to the 350 people in our com-
munity, because the nearest store, in
Agassiz, is more than 20 miles away.
The first application was lost by
DIA, but we kept pressuring them.
We eventually received $10,000 and
they expected us to build the store
and supply it with that, which was
pretty unreasonable. However we
were able to pull it off. We had to
pull alot of strings to get things go-
ing: we just kept after them (DIA).
We just never let them get away with
anything, that’s the main thing.
Che original application stated that
it was to create employment and to
provide a service to the Chehalis
Band Members. We sell canned
goods, frozen meat, fresh fruit and
vegetables and a small stock of
clothes for emergency needs. We also
have a self-serve gas station. The
store is used by the Band members
and also loggers, weekenders and
people travelling to the salmon
UBCIC NEWS 30
hatchery.
The store creates employment for
three ladies: Donna Point, June
Francis and Anne Philips. They work
shifts to staff the store during the
long hours they keep seven days a
week. Decisions on running the store
are made by the Band Council. It is
not making any profit right now as
we are still paying off the original
loan. Naturally any newly-established
business has growing pains and we
have had our share. One of the things
we found a problem was that some of
the wholesalers hate to go off the
main road to deliver to a store, and
we are kind of out of the way. But
we’ve been shopping around and
people come round more and more.
The ladies do go shopping in
Chilliwack once a week but they try
to keep their travelling down to a
minimum,
Once in a while though they go to
Vancouver to get clothing and maybe
rice, or something to get a better
variety.
Now the present store feels too
small and we’re talking with our
Planning Committee about more
space.
by Laura Williams —
ALKALI LAKE
BAND STORE
The Tcumellew Co-operative Asso-
ciation’s store on Alkali Lake started
as a private venture by Phyllis
Chelsea and Evelyn Ignacius who ran
the ‘‘P and E’’ out of various base-
ments. They started in 1974, but after
‘a couple of years it got all too compli-
cated and they needed more room.
There was definite demand for a
store on the reserve, though, which is
over an hour’s drive on bad roads
from Williams Lake. So the village
members got together and planned a
co-operative. Individual Band mem-
bers bought shares in the co-op at
$25.00 per share, and they got some
help from First Citizens, various on-
the-job training programs and so on.
The guys on the reserve were taught
to make blocks and they put up the
building. (The Band office has since
been added on to what was the roof).
All the shelves were built locally too.
The shareholders, all Band members,
appointed a Board of eight Directors
who meet once a month, and they ap-
pointed Dave Belleau as manager.
**I was green when I first started,’’
laughed Dave Belleau. ‘‘I thought we
were making a killing when we turned
over $4,000 in the first month. Now
we take between $16,000 to $20,000 a
month.’’
One of the main initial problems
was working capital. “‘You don’t
make a building, and call it your store
—with nothing in it! If you’re seeking
funding for something like this you
have to include your freezers, coolers,
scales, cash register and so on. That
was the first hard lesson we had to
learn.
**And at first we sponsored things,
like a hockey team. But if you don’t
pay taxes you can’t write off dona-
tions. Nobody is going to give it back
to you: you can go broke donating!’’
More recently he learned that a lot
of time had been wasted on book-
keeping methods that were too com-
plicated. A person from CESO had
looked over the system and told him
‘““You’re a storekeeper, not a book-
keeper. You want to do less books be-
cause you want to turn over more in
the store, you’re needed out there.”’
“I'd been breaking my fingers go-
ing through why I’m short 6 cents—
costing the store a day’s salary to find
6¢ when all the accounts are done in
round figures, dollars.’’
There had been a small general
store on the nearby Alkali Lake
Ranch and they sold out their inven-
tory to the co-op. This included cloth-
ing and hardware. In September
1977, the post office was also moved
to the Band. It is open twenty hours a
week and the Band can choose the
most convenient hours. The Post Of-
fice pays the store a month rent and
pays the salary of a post office man-
ager. Mail is collected on Tuesdays
and Fridays.
The store is open 11-5 on Mondays
to Fridays and for two hours on
Saturdays. You can buy most of the
basics from the store—dry goods,
dairy products, fresh produce. The
prices are competitive too, as the
fewer overheads and no income tax
makes up for the extra transportation
-
= é
i
Mabel Johnson, Lenny and Dave Belleau keep the Alkali Band store going.
costs. You can even buy everyday
articles such as seed beads, basic
clothing, hardware and runners.
‘*Fancy clothing is not profitable
though,’’ says Manager Dave
Belleau, ‘‘we’d be dumb to have to
keep up with that. We have the basics
for those who don’t care about the
latest styles’’—shirts, pants, jackets,
hats and so on.
“But it’s difficult to bring the
You can buy pretty well everything you need right here.
7
people what they need when we have
such a limited storage space,’’ and
Councillor Fred Johnson has drawn
up plans to add another 1200 square
feet to the store. The cost will be
helped by saving the frequent trips to
town to collect stock.
The co-operative store now pays
for two full-time staff, the manager,
and assistant Manager Lenny
Belleau. It also shares the salary with
Social Assistance of Mabel Johnson.
Mabel has volunteered a lot of help
with the store right from the start.
Since August, she has been employed
full time as cashier and generally
cleaning and tidying. Lenny Belleau
as the assistant manager is mostly res-
ponsible for re-ordering and re-stock-
ing the shelves. For Dave Belleau,
running the store involves getting out
the float for the till each morning,
opening up the Post Office, dusting,
repairs, checking the inventory with
Lenny once a week or sometimes
twice if there has been a run on
business. Stores have to be picked up
at least once a week from Williams
Lake and from Kamloops. He has to
deal with the wholesale outlets, credit
outlets for pop and vegetables; deal
with the debits and credits and the
bank. The co-operative started with a
very small inventory and it’s taken
three years for the store to start show-
ing a clear profit.
UBCIC NEWS 31
Mabel talked of hopes of being
able to sell fresh meat from the co-op
store. Last winter about thirty head
Arlene Johnson checking out the
axes.
of beef cattle were brought on to the
reserve and maybe when they build
up the herd....
The success of the co-operative
store has led to the formation of an
agricultural co-operative recently.
They have bought the Hereford cattle
and some tractors. They were able to
sell some surplus hay from their har-
vest this summer for winter feed.
**When you start one thing like this,’’
says Dave excitedly, “‘it opens a
whole lot of doors. You say: why
not? why not? It encourages other in-
dividuals to bring out their own ideas.
Sometimes you don’t even know what
a person has. He may be loaded with
talents and ideas but never been able :
to express himself before. We’re do-
ing this because we want to, not be-
cause we’re forced to. It’s all handled
by us, just from sheer co-operation
and the need that is there. We can
survive without depending on the
whiteman’s canned goods you
know.’’
UBCIC NEWS 32
- SHESHAHT BAND STORE
On August 16th this year, the
Sheshaht Band store burnt to the
ground: arson is suspected. The
store was situated in Port Alberni
and relations with some of the
townspeople were often strained
apparently.
The store was owned by the
Band, and operated by a commit-
tee of the Band Council, Band
Manager and an accounting firth.
The owner of a_ store from
Nanaimo acted as an advisor.
George Watts, Band Manager,
reported that they are not put off
as the store had proved a very suc-
cessful venture after its opening on
June 7th, 1978.
“The store employed twelve
people’, George Watts told us
“They were clerks, gas attendants,
a manager, assistant manager and
butcher. So it was a pretty big
store, not a little corner grocery
store. It was about 3400 square
feet, and we were doing $40,000
worth of business per month. It
started making a profit a few hours
Pt
really good start. The day-to-day
business of running a store took a
lot of our time at first. During the
last few weeks, though, everybody
was happy in their job.
‘We trained Band members on
the job, though the store manager
and the butcher were non-Indians.
The assistant manager was an
so obvious how
after it opened. We got off to a
Indian lady and we figured that af-
ter two years she would be able to
take over.
‘*In our three year plan, we had
planned to expand to include a
little Band craft store and laundro-
mat. It was designed to develop in-
to a small shopping mall.
‘‘Now we have to start over
again. The most important thing
about this store is that we took six
people who were on Social Assis-
tance off Social Assistance. It was
their lives
changed, with a feeling of self-
worth. The whole pity of the place
burning down was this whole
vacuum now. That’s why it’s so
important to start building and
getting it going again. That was the
main objective of the plan. You
have to make a profit to keep the
thing going, but the main objective
was to find some kind of secure
employment for some of our Band
members who didn’t have the op-
portunity to make it in the public
sector.
With the expanded plans we
hoped to employ about twenty
people. Then in the summer we
hope to get something going for
the tourists and for the summer
students.
‘*We’re starting over immediate-
ly and we’ve set a goal to open
again on March Ist, next year.’’
pueg jyeyays
onoud
.
.
INDIAN
CONSULTING
| An Indian Consulting group is at its planning stages in
B.C. On August 29th and 30th, a group of sixteen people
met at UBCIC office and struck an interim board of four
members: Robert Simon, Janet Hanna, Gordon Antoine
and Don Moses. ‘‘The objective’ says Robert Simon,”’ is
to form an all-Indian consulting group by using students, |
graduates and Indian people with business experience,
| and encouraging them to start by taking DIA contracts.”’
The idea of an Indian consulting group has been tossed
around for about three years and only recently something
has been done about it. Gordon Antoine, Manager of the
Western Indian Agriculture Corporation and initiator of
the Indian Consulting Group feels that using the expertise
of Indian graduates will benefit both the recent students
and the Indian people. The kinds of expertise that Bands,
Governments, Corporations and private businesses use
are non-Indian, which leaves little room for Indian]
graduates to gain experience and competence. Nor do the
non-Indian consultants understand the aspirations of
Indian Bands on a comprehensive level.
Earl Smith, short-term co-ordinator of the Indian Con-
sulting Group, says ‘‘This is a group of concerned Indian
university graduates and students who wish to form an
all-Indian consulting group based on firm business con-]
cepts and practises, and to be competitive in the con-
sulting field.’’
The group is now accepting resumes, and is encourag-
ing Indian people to participate. For more information,
contact Earl Smith or Gordon Antoine at the Union of
B.C. Indian Chiefs, 440 West Hastings, Tel: 684-0231
TASK FORCE ON
EROSION
At the last meeting of the B.C. Indian Secretariat the
issues of erosion of our lands was discussed with Depar-
tment of Indian Affairs. Several Bands were represented
at the meeting: Hope, Peters, Bonaparte, North
Thompson, The Nicola Valley bands. The representatives
discussed the problems their Bands faced in stopping the
loss of land through erosion. They stressed the need for
coordination of federal and provincial government
departments which have the expertise and funding to
solve the problem. Many Bands are losing land in B.C.
Yet only a few have been able to get work started on
projects to protect their land.
Therefore the UBCIC has agreed to arrange an initial
meeting of interested Bands and government departments
to decide what coordinated action should be taken.
The meeting will be held October 1, 1979 in the Union
boardroom. The federal departments of Indian Affairs
and Regional Economic Expansion and the provincial
Ministry of Agriculture will be represented.
All Bands who have erosion problems have been
invited to send a representative to this meeting. Repre-
sentatives were warned to be willing to participate on an
on-going basis since resolution of the problems might
require a year or more to complete. Following this inital
meeting it is hoped that the Task Force on Erosion will
become self sufficient and organize meetings itself as
needed. The Union is prepared to provide on-going
assistance if requested. @
The Hope, Peters, Bonaparte, North Thompson and Nicola Valley Bands sent reps. to last month’s
Secretariat. (full report next month).
UBCIC NEWS 33
(I THINK...
greement is with the U.S. Government and the
Corporate State that owns it. We are not from the
U.S., we are of the Earth, we are from the land, we are
the people. The U.S. is only 200 years old, the land
and our place with it is thousands of years beyond the
understanding of the U.S. Government. The reality is,
it is not a matter of asylum; it is a matter of survival.
We still experience the U.S. Corporate State
conducting genocidal war against our people, our
relations. We feel the destruction to our nations
brought by racism, alcohol, bullets, poverty, poor
health services, sterilization, court room corruption,
continued take over of our lands, attacks against our
hunting and fishing rights, our water rights, our
human rights. We see through the lie and understand
the U.S. Government is intent on completely
destroying our people’s way of living.
The attack is intensifying against the Indian people
(in reality it is intensifying against all the people)
during this time of energy crisis. Much of the resources
needed to make this generation’s technology work, is
on Indian people’s land. In order for the energy
corporations to maximize profits and get exclusive
control of these minerals, our rights as a people have
to be destroyed. For when a Government steals from
you they cannot possibly respect your rights.
When a Government violates human rights in the
name of humanity and maximized profit, then there
can be no safety for the people until that situation is
correction. The U.S. Government has launched its
racist attack against the activist community in the
name of law and order yet proclaims itself a nation of
laws. It is this generation’s 7th Cavalry and Indians.
Now the so-called law enforcement agencies are armed
against us. They are used to suppress our resistance at
the taxpayers expense. Then the Corporations step
into our land and get what they want at a minimum
cost while pretending decency.
The Treaties are laws. International laws. In order
for the U.S. Government to legalize its intrusion on
our lands and lives they violate the law of the treaties.
In a legal, moral, and technical definition, the U.S.
Government is the lawbreaker. The criminal. The U.S.
Government has been able to perpetuate this genocide
against us in two ways. First, they told us and the
world they had stopped fighting Indians and had
adopted a policy of assimilation. Under assimilation,
they created the illusion we were being taken into the
melting pot of American citizens. This process creates
the illusion of the Treaties were no longer valid
i because we were now citizens of America. The U.S.
UBCIC NEWS 34
We would like to have an understanding. Our disa-|
John Trudell and Dino Butler are members of the \
_ Leonard Peltier Defesnse Group. Trudell is National
leader for the American Indian Movement. Last month
they came to Canada to seek Political Asylum from the
United States. Because they are from the U.S. they’re
only allowed a Hearing for Refugee Status. Here is a
letter to The People by Trudell & Butler.
Congress passed citizenship on our nations in 1924.
We did not get the rights and protections that allegedly
for citizens; all we received was the label
exist
citizens, continued racist education, poverty,
suppression of our rights as human beings and as a
people. We see the way the American citizens are
treated and respected by their Government and we can
come to only one conclusion: this is not the way for
our people.
The Americans are obsessed with a need for material
values to replace their suppressed spiritual values. We
see pride, egotism, sexism, ageism, racism, uppers,
downers, competitive mistrust, poverty, a powerless
political awreness, and the irony is this is called the
pursuit of happiness. We do not want this American
way of life. This betrayal. The American Government
says the Treaties no longer apply and we must submit.
We say the Treaties are International law and the
American Government must be fair. We will not
submit. The American Government calls us criminals,
but we are not. We are human beings and we have the
Earth and our people. We make the mistakes of
arrogance and confusion at times, but we are not
criminals. We are human people and want to coming
generations to have a respectful place and way to serve
our living relations. We want to continue as a natural
part of the creation. We do not want to be clones
programmed with ruling class insecurities and
perpetual confusion. We do not want trouble; we want
the attack against the Earth and the people to stop. We
want the U.S. to honor the Treaties. We pray for the
people.
WORKING WITH THE PRESS
Does your Band have a good rela-
tionship with television, radio and
newspaper in your area? As a Band,
do you know how to secure maximum
exposure of an important issue
through the press?
Communications media make up a
powerful force in today’s world, but
many Bands do not take advantage of
this tool. Sometimes this is because a
Band has been burned in the past by
the irresponsible’ editorials _ and
policies of some small-town news-
papers. The Band is then reluctant to
respond to requests for interviews or
information from any medium, be it
newspaper, radio or television.
This is unfortunate. The incompe-
tence displayed by one communi-
cations medium does not speak for
the other media. Bands who don’t co-
operate with the press prevent the
general public from getting the side of
the story that really counts: our
opinions, our feelings, and our words
as Indian people. And nobody can
speak for us but us.
Another reason for Bands’ avoid-
ance of the press is lack of know-
ledge: how does a Band make initial
contact with local reporters and
communications media? How is a
press release written? How can it be
distributed? What should a person
know about being interviewed?
This fall, the Communications
staff of the Union will bring this
information to the Bands, at their
request, in the form of Press Work-
shops. Bands such as Blueberry have
learned how powerful a social and
political tool the press can be. Blue-
berry drew the nation’s attention to
the conditions the people have been
living with as a result of the operation
of a gas well adjacent to their reserve.
A recent gas leak which forced the
Blueberry people to evacuate their
reserve received tremendous press
interest and coverage because the
Band, through the Union,, contin-
uously issued press releases and kept
reporters informed. The Band is now
suing the oil company for nuisance
and negligence, and the public’s
attention is now focused on the issue,
waiting for more developments.
The Band’s involvement in this
pres co-ordination’ and co-operation
has put the company in the public
spotlight. And being in that bright
spotlight often forces an individual or
group or company to act in a more
responsible or positive manner. The
way all people’ receive their
information today, other than by
word-of-mouth, is through the
communications.media—print, radio
and television, When you wake up,
you learn about the weather forecast
for that afternoon by listening to the
‘radio or reading the newspaper. In
the afternoon, you plan your evening
or weekend activities by reading the
newspaper, listening to the radio, and
watching local television programs.
In the evening, you learn about events
in your area and the world by
watching the television news, reading
the afternoon paper, and listening to
radio newscasts. We, can, and should
be, a part of this system. 2
Barbara Parry, as she was then, recording the Bonaparte Band's findings and feelings on the Hat Creek
project, for showing on the local cable T. V. station in Ashcroft.
UBCIC NEWS 35
RESOURCE KIT
ABORIGINAL RIGHTS POSITION PAPER
The Indian Government Portfolio is putting together a
resource booklet that will provide basic information on
the Aboriginal Rights Position Paper. The information in
the booklet, UBCIC Resource Kit on the Aboriginal
Rights Position Paper, is intended to give everyone a
clear picture and a better understanding of our Abori-
ginal Rights position. A clear and complete under-
standing of our position will ensure that everyone plays a
meaningful part in all future discussions. The final draft
of our position that is accepted by the Assembly will have
been developed by all those who have taken on their
responsibility and participated.
The kit contains a section on definitions and explains
the concept of aboriginal rights. The Aboriginal Rights
Position Paper is dealt with in detail, particularly the
areas of jurisdiction. Historical and legal background
papers and other references material compose the final
section.
In this booklet we have tried to explain the Aboriginal
Rights Position Paper as clearly and as completely as
possible. Indian Government, constitutions and the like
arise naturally out of discussions on our position on
aboriginal rights. We have provided basic information on
these subjects.
DEFINITION AND HISTORY
OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT
When dealing with a new idea many new terms crop up
that convey many of the aspects of the new idea. To truly
understand that new idea we should become familiar with
these terms and their meanings. To this effect; we have
included a section on definitions that lists and explains all
those terms currently in use in discussions on aboriginal
rights and Indian Government.
We have traced the history of Indian aboriginal rights
and the power to govern ourselves. Given in summary
form this exploration leads up into the Aboriginal Rights
Position Paper. We explain how the position was
developed and include the five articles on which it was
formed. There are examples of how Indian Government
is already being practiced in some parts of the province.
All Band and union activities geared toward gaining local
control and resuming local responsibility are listed under
the appropriate areas of jurisdiction.
purpose well. Election procedure, powers of the
governing body, a bill of rights, a judicial system and the
like are just some of the basics to be considered when
drawing up a constitution. Regarding Band membership
we have included the Union of Chiefs’ stand on the
Minister’s proposed revisions on membership.
INDIAN AND CANADIAN GOVERNMENT
RELATIONSHIPS
There is background material on the history of Indian
Government relations and Canada’s Indian policy.
Although these materials were prepared for purposes
other than the resource booklet they have been included
here as additional reference. Your reaction to these
papers would be appreciated so they may be modified to
your needs, if so required.
HISTORY OF OUR RIGHTS
BAND CONSTITUTIONS AND MEMBERSHIP
There is specific information on Band constitutions
and Band membership. The purpose of a constitution, its
source of authority and its key elements are clearly
outlined. When drafting the basic set of rules and prin-
ciples of your government some very basic elements must
be kept in mind so that your constitution serves its
UBCIC NEWS 36
Included in the background is a detailed examination
of Indian Aboriginal Rights and the right to govern our-
selves Our Aboriginal Right to Govern Ourselves. This
paper explains how Indian aboriginal rights came about
and were recognized in the early days by Europeans. It
follows history and discusses how these rights eventually
became restricted by the British and Canadian govern-
ments. Finally it brings us up to date with a look at the
move that is being made to reassert Indian rights and
responsibilities. Also in this section we find a view on
Indian sovereignty by an Indian lawyer from the United
States. While he focuses on the American situation he
explains the idea and basis of sovereignty very well.
B.N.A. ACT EXPLAINED.
The B.N.A. Act is explained briefly and includes
sections 91 and 92 which lay out the areas of jurisdiction
and the responsibilities of the federal and provincial
governments. The Indian Act is dealt with in the same
way: a brief introduction and the inclusion of those
sections relating to the powers and status of Band
Councils. Section 81 spells out the law making authority
of Band Councils and Section 82 deals with the procedure
for putting a by-law into effect. Sections 83 through 86
are concerned with money making by-laws and Section 88
deals with the legal status of Band Councils.: These last
two are intended for use as reference material.
The purpose of the kit then is to provide basic infor-
mation on the Aboriginal Rights Position Paper so that
there is a clear understanding of our position. Such an
understanding will prepare community members and
their elected representatives to take part in discussions on
the position paper. The resource book will be available
from the Indian Government Portfolio office at
UBCIC. 2
BOOK REVIEW
The field reports of Charles Hill-Tout are brought
together for the first time in the four volume series, The
Salish People. This four volume series includes both the
Interior and Coast Salish Indians.
The tribes that are included in the studies of The Salish
People are the Thompson, Okanagan, Mainland
Halkomelem, Sechelt, South-Eastern tribes of Vancouver
Island, Squamish and the Lillooet.
This series covers many aspects of the history and
cultures of the Salish tribes. They include social orga-
nization, customs (i.e. birth, marriage, and mortuary),
clothing, linguistics, physical characteristics and many
other areas of the Salishan cultures. These subjects are
dealt with very generally and briefly.
The Salish People also contains myths of each tribe
studied. These myths are not only very interesting but
also provide much insight into the beliefs of the Indian
people of British Columbia. This series also includes
some very interesting material which is not ethnological.
They include some archaeological material, which is
thought to be the earliest records of their kind in British
Columbia and a bio-bibliography of Charles Hill-Tout.
This bio-bibliography was compiled from a manuscript
titled Professor Hill-Tout, the author is not known but it
is thought that he is a close friend of Hill-Tout’s because
of the personal details included in the work.
This series of books, which were edited by Ralph Maud
will undoubtedly prove to be invaluable to the researchers
of the Salish tribes and those interested in the life and
workings of one of the major ethnographers in British
Columbia’s history.
Maud, Ralph, ed. The Salish people: the local
contribution of Charles Hill-Tout. Vol. 1, U1, Ul, and LV.
Vancouver: Talon Books, 1978.
Price: $27.80 for series or $6.95 for each volume, and
is available in book stores.
MICROFILM
The Resource Centre has recently received thirty-four
| new microfilms from the Public Archives of Canada.
These microfilms are on: the Indian Reserve
Commission, 1876-1910, the Royal Commission on
| Indian Affairs in B.C., 1874-1920, School Branch
| Letterbooks, 1837-1897, B.C. Superintendency Inspector
of Indian Agencies Letterbook, 1910-1920, Kamloops
Agency, 1893-1919, and the Cowichan Agency, 1876-
1926.
These new microfilms shall be added to the Resource
| Centre’s present collection of approximately 1,000 micro-
films. This collection is part of the Record Group 10
series which contains documents of the Department of ©
Indian Affairs. These documents are a gold mine of
information for researchers of aboriginal rights, history
and culture. |
The Public Archives has only in the last few years
begun to copy these documents on microfilm, thus
making it available outside of Ottawa. The Resource
Centre has purchased all of the microfilms on B.C. that
the Archives has to date filmed. As the Archives micro-
films more material on B.C., i.e. Agency Files, we shall
purchase them.
The Resource Centre is the only Indian organization in
Canada and the only library in the western provinces to
have an extensive collection of R.G. 10. The Provincial
Archives has the Black Series which is a small part of.
R.G. 10.
Researchers. are welcome to come to the Resource
Centre to research these microfilms. As these documents
were available only in Ottawa and do not have thorough
finding aids they have not been researched completely.
Due to the latter reason and the high cost of microfilm
paper the Resource Centre staff cannot locate and copy
all papers on one Band. However we welcome and will
give our assistance to Band researchers who wish to do this
type of extensive research. “%
UBCIC NEWS 37
HISLORY—Round Lake Native
Alcohol Treatment Centre is an all-
Native organization, co-founded by
the Alcohol and Drug Commission
and the National Native Alcohol
Abuse Program.
The Interior Native Alcohol Abuse
Society originated from a small num-
ber of concerned individuals who put
in a tremendous amount of time and
effort to establish a Board of Direc-
tors. The very first meeting took
place in the Okanagan Valley with
only three or four- people in atten-
dance. They discussed a dream which
is now a reality. Thirteen people,
representing different regions such as
the Thompson, Okanagan and
Kootenays, make up the present
Board of Directors.
The Round Lake Native. Alcohol
Treatment Centre was officially
opened on May 25, 2979. It is de-
signed to help people of Native origin
deal with their living problems caused
by alcohol. Most of the thirteen
Native staff members at one time
faced the same living problems
caused by alcohol.
Round Lake is the first of its kind
in the Province of British Columbia
for Native people. It is non-political,
non-profitable, and non-
denominational.
ROUND LAKE
TREATMENT |
CENTRE
FACILITIES—Round Lake Native
Alcohol Treatment Centre is a 24-bed
facility and it is gradually accepting
Clients to accommodate its full capa-
city.
REFERRALS—Referrals to Round
Lake Native Treatment Centre. are
made by agencies sponsoring the fol-
lowing positions: Alcohol and Drug
Counsellors, NNAAP Counsellors,
Social Workers or any other position
that specializes in Counselling. Refer-
rals are a commitment for the well-
being of the person coming to Round
Lake, and the Referral Agencies must
UBCIC NEWS 38
realize that they are committing
themselves to do’ the follow-up after
the Client leave Round Lake Treat-
ment Centre. :
Before a Client is admitted to
Round Lake, the Referral Agency ac-
cepts certain responsibilities, such as:
1. supplying a complete History of
the client;
2. making sure the Client under-
stands and is willing to adhere to the
policies and guidelines of the Round
Lake Treatment Centre;
3. supplying transportation (return)
for the Client;
4, a commitment by a Social Services
Agency for payment of the residential
fee and comfort allowance.
INFORMATION: Anyone requiring
further information may write to:
Round Lake Native Alcohol Treat-
ment Centre
R.R. #3
Armstrong, B.C.
VOE 1B0
TELEPHONE: 546-9213
For information on the Program of
Treatment, contact Gerry Oleman,
Program Supervisor.
For information on Referrals or In-
Take, contact Paul Beauregard,
Caseworker. .
In Brotherhood,
Paul Beauregard. e
~,
WELLPINIT INDIAN DAYS
of the
by Violet Birdstone
Wellpinit, Washington, is a small:
county centrally located in the
Spokane Indian Reservation approx-
imately twenty miles west of
Spokane, Washington. :
Bob Sherwood, a Band member
and an M.C. for the War Dance
Groups gave a good history of the
Wellpinit Indian Days.
The first celebration apparently,
was on July 4th, 1914 and went on for
ten days and nights, with people
coming from neighbouring states to
share their dances and songs at a
place they called the old Race Track.
Two years later it was moved to the
present location where it has
remained for the last sixty-three years
with only the dates being changed to
the last two days in August, through
Labour Day, and on to the morning
Tuesday following.
The Spokane Indians are a well co-
ordinated and organized group when
it comes to organizing a celebration
for so many people from so many
different cultures. The events of each
day were well planned including
rides, games, and balloons for the
children and even a Teen Centre for
the easily bored, and impulsive teens.
The competitive dancers were most
colourful in every shade of blue, red,
purple and orange you can imagine,
their dancing was only surpassed by
their beauty and poise.
There were nineteeen sets of
drummers to keep the five hundred
dances in continuous rhythm. One
group I favoured most was the local
women’s set who gave the event a
very special touch for they indeed
were excellent.
There was no need to worry about
cooking meals for there were many
food stands with delicious burgers, or
Indian tacos if you preferred.
Evenings were filled with stick-
games for those who indulge and a
Teen Disco to keep those fit if you
dared.
Many people also had a chance to
sell their handcraft or to just share
the beauty of their art with some
strangers.
People came from B.C. and many
parts of the U.S. camping in tents,
trailors, winnebagos, and some
teepees for a touch of the old
tradition.
As I drove away | was somewhat
nostalgic knowing this place bustling
with activity and noise would soon be
a quiet peaceful community again
with people back to their usual
routines, until the next year, “
UBCIC NEWS 39
A story about harmony and the development of
Jactions as told to me by an old friend of my family goes
something like this (‘‘something like this’’ because it is a
translation, thereby rendering it weaker and less rich)
In the beginning, the Indian people lived peacefully,
making their lives simple, with each going his own way
and no one disturbing the harmony. There was no greed
and there was no need. Such a simple phrase, yet so full
of meaning. No one wanted more than he got and no one
suffered from having too little. This went for people and
future was mapped out before you were born. The word
ambition was unknown and un-needed. Your life was set
before you—clear and sure. Your wife or husband
became one with you when it was time, and with great
solemnity. Your children became part of the community
at a given time and again with ceremony. Their children
also, and their children and so on. There was no such
word as confusion. All questions were handled by a set
council or person designated long before the question
came up. No one needed to argue.
The group social needs were part of the life-force
system. That is, puberty rites were conducted before all
UBCIC NEWS 40
harmony
by Joyce Joe
animals. There was complete peace. The laws of nature
were close to the laws of the people. For basic needs,
there was food and a camp for housing. For social needs,
there was great ceremony and great tradition. Your
the members of the community as were marriage and
death rites.
The preparation of food was a ceremony—either to
satisfy the former self of the animal or the needs of
human ancestors—nevertheless with great solemnity and
ceremony. The weaknesses of the flesh or the mind were
also dealt with in such manner, that is, the same as with
questions—either through a designated council, family
member, or a ‘‘medicine man/woman’’. This in order,
again, to preserve harmony. In fact, there was no division
between mind and body—both were considered as one
entity—if your mind played tricks on you, then your
body suffered too.
If your body became sick, then your mind
too suffered; harmony was needed.
Again, there was a pre-set
procedure to solve every
form of disharmony.
As for human emotions
(1 say human, but these
were also attributed to the
animals) such as jealousy,
contempt, greed, hatred,
these too, had their natural
place. They were not even considered ‘‘negative’’
emotions, but rather feelings you should normally feel at
the normal time. For example, a hunter could feel
contempt for another hunter if his deer were larger, this
contempt could feel jealousy or hatred—this was okay,
too, because it was natural, and did not disturb the
harmony. There was dis-harmony, however, if the
contempt were carried too far, or the jealousy. It then
became not a matter between two hunters, but a matter
for the council, since such a dis-harmony would
potentially affect the lives of those around them. The
same went for a disharmony between husband and wife,
mother and son, brother and sister. The council did not
however unilaterally make decisions—they had ancient,
pre-set rules by which their decisions were made. It was —
not considered a good trait to be too proud but to be |
naturally proud was okay—a good hunt is a good hunt
for everyone, after all. It was a matter of survival for the
whole community to have plenty to eat.
Now we are getting to the difficult part—yes, the part
where the traders and churchmen came on the scene.
Traders came and made contracts with members of the
Indian communities for routes and sources of fur-
bearing animals. They came to whole communities with
contracts thus making way for the first inter-community
hatreds.
Previous to the arrival of such non-Indians, contact
between large communities was also made with great
ceremony and solemnity. Potlatches, and sometimes
hunting parties took place under such ceremony,
as well as things like marriages and betrothals.
These agreements were made to further
the relations and harmony between
the communities, and make
certain the communities were
strong with men-children
and mothers for them.
this too for survival.
This scene of harmony and peace was devasted by the
arrival of traders and churchmen. The traders threw in
“‘commercialism’’ and a course of corruption followed.
The effect of the churchmen was to create confusion,
splitting open the old laws and making new ones. The
sometimes delicate relations between large communities
became difficult and at times reached a point of open
war, with the traders making deals with each community,
thus creating rivalry. Not good and natural or
harmonious rivalry such as existed before, but serious
rivalry. More and more, ceremony became less frequent
and even less desirable.
Recognizing the potential dangers of the rivalries and
disharmonies, individual Indians and councils made
efforts to reconcile the situation. They fought a losing
battle. The process of assimilation had begun. It is
sometimes referred to as progress, but it is assimilation.
Today, we have large and small groups of individual
Indians who make efforts to reunite all of us, but to no or
little avail, as we are so caught up in playing games with
equipment and rules supplied by outside forces. Yet, as
you examine the Indian leaders and their members in
isolation from each other—what do you find? You find
good men and women. Yeah, no one is to blame, no one
is evil or ambitious, and if they are, then it is a result of
the outside forces again. So what can be done? What
about my own children and their own children? Are they
going to be subject to the divisions of the Indian
ag hideg 4
community as a whole, the factions within the divisions,
even? Yes, they are. But we can tell them why these
factions exist, why we have to live with it and then try to
work within the system for the survival of us all as
Indians.
We survived as hunters and as warriors, we can survive
as people again. The strength is right there for us to use.
You can see it in the leaders, but we have to use these
leaders and see them for waht they are or potentially can
be. They are men, mortal and with all the strengths and
weaknesses natural to us all. We can’t condemn anyone
UBCIC NEWS 41
at this stage. We can only work with what good we can
produce, for evil and corruption can only be beaten down
by the goodinusall. -
However, if such feelings persist, as the doctors say, then
it is time for some action. Since we don’t have access to
traditional (pure) means of solving problems, then we
(a e
i ged = * :
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i Pe &
em =
i Pe Ch aaa
. a —_ 1 ae
4 See +
* wage 4 w
Ai ae oat 3
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oP
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—
have to look within our
on] Ve nO own self for strength
UB | Da ee to combat them
OE aaa This is a method used by
AA) NL the old Indians when
era Ni aM: they are cut off from the
Me ey councils and medicine
ee men/women—look
within and use your own
strength for solutions. If
your own reserve of
strength is low, then you
mat have problems, you must
o.". seek outside help, no, —
not outside, outside
help, but help from your
family, your Indian
friends, your Elders.
: Even if they don’t have a
BAC Whe. solution, the load is
i A TE shared. There is not
yi ot always a solution for
qi ; some things: no solution
because things have been
going on for too long. It
is a part of us, and we
must live with it, not
succumb to it, but live
with it, and share the
This great friend of my family’s liked to tell us kids this
story. He had travelled to. Ottawa and Vancouver,
observing the great Indian leaders in action, but also
observing the divisions among them and thus thinking on
the whole picture and the isolated, individual factions.
He wanted to teach us that we must learn to live with
factions, to work with what we had, to never, never
condemn a man who became a victim of the system, but
he also stressed that if we felt hatred, jealousy, contempt,
then go right ahead and feel them! No one can stop such
feelings, they are natural and no harmony is disturbed.
UBCIC NEWS 42
load. We all share it even
when we don’t recognize
it, something like having
acommon cold—live
with it, but don’t stop
fighting it, no matter
what.
Well, this little story/lecture has been with me for
twenty years now and my children are going to be very
familiar with it as they grow older. It is their legacy as it is
Ours.
KEEPERS WORDS
‘Makers are mockers.’
so said the grandmother.
Her tribal conscience
rode at her elbow
as inherited as her brown skin.
Her words, smooth, carved as bone
and so old no one remembered,
were placed side by side
in a pattern
fashioned in the beginning
of her kind.
‘There will be no new words
in man-designs
to break up what is sacred
and leave forget in its place.
We are keepers, we must not change.
On this earth
lives a cannibal monster
who devours himself
because he changes so much
as he grows
that he forgets
what his tail looks like.’
‘lll be around,’ she said,
‘soon after death lunges forward
out of the rabble.’
I will stand on a hilltop
a black dot against blazing red
and my shadow will stretch
long and narrow over the earth curve
to seep into the little shadows
even now
==. skipping behind you.’
me Seph e y
napa
tg os
* “acs
‘All your sound songs
will be no more than food for the monster
but the sacred words
will still be whispered
in shadows.
You will hear and understand; .
nothing is new, only changed,
and there are no men who are makers
just changers.’ ,
by Jeanette Bonneau
J
UBCIC NEWS 43
THIS MONTH
We never thought it would come to this. Six months
ago we, at the UBCIC News got excited if two or three
community people contributed their stories and pictures.
This month we have fifteen!
John Williams of Mount Currie was taking pictures
when the Fisheries officers made their latest raid on
Lillooet Indians excercizing their reserve right to fish.
Angela Matilpi of Alert Bay, a reporter for The Indian
Voice covered the Lillooet fishing story, doing double
duty for both our papers. Her account of the events fits
well with John Williams’ pictures. Hans Heinsolm, pho-
tographer for The Indian Voice, also covering the
Lillooet story, contributed the cover picture. A special
thanks goes to Donna Doss, Editor of The Indian Voice
for her co-operation. The Lillooet fishing story starts
page 16. And still on the subject of fishing, Wilf
Schooner a student in Vancouver, drew some cartoons
about Fisheries Officers. See page 28.
In our “I! think. . . ’’ section this month, American
Indian Movement leader John Trudell and Dino Butler of
Leonard Peltier Defence Group explain the reasons why
they are seeking political asylum in Canada. See page 34.
In preparation for the UBCIC General Assembly Oct.
15-18, we take good look at Indian Government from
many perspectives. Our story on Band stores shows that
economic self-sufficiency can be achieved to a degree,
through practical projects such as these at Band level.
Laura Williams of Chehalis sent in a short write-up about
their store and George Watts, Sheshaht band manager,
sent a picture of their store which unfortunately burned
to the ground in early August. That’s not stopping the
Sheshaht Band. They’re planning to build a bigger and
better store this time. To round out the story, we sent a
UBCIC News reporter to Alkali near Williams Lake. She
enjoyed her visit to the Alkali Band Store so much, she
didn’t want to come home. Read about band stores
starting page 30.
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And still on the subject of Indian Government... .
What do you do when a judge rules that the Motor
Vehicle Act doesn’t apply on your reserve? It happened
to the Bella Coola Band who are working on enacting
their own traffic regulations. Chief Councillor Archie
Pootlass writes about it and the importance of by-laws on
page 13.
Becoming responsible for your own health is also part
of Indian Government. The Round Lake Treatment
Centre is an all-Indian attempt at providing care to
Indian alcoholics. Paul Beauregarde, caseworker for the
Centre describes its history and function. Gordy
Williams, a survivor from the same area is responsible for
the graphic. See page 38.
Marie Cooper, administrator of the Saanich Indian
School Board sent in a short strong write-up about their
work toward full Indian control of Indian Education. It’s
part of the Indian Government in Practise story be-
ginning page 19.
Jeannette Bonneau, a talented poet and member of the
Okanagan Tribal Council responded to request for an
Indian Government oriented poem by saying, ‘‘Have Igot
a poem for you!’’ You can read ‘‘Keepers Words’’ on
page 43.
Don’t wait to be asked for your contribution though.
Joyce Joe, a west coast student attending school in
Victoria sent us (on her own) a beautifully clear moral
lecture that she heard as she was growing up. She passes
on that wisdom in our ‘‘Young People. .. .’’ section
starting page 41. Norman Hall of Bella Coola contri-
buted the drawings that go along with this story of har-
mony.
That’s it for this month. See you at General Assembly
Oct. 15-18. It’s being held this year at the Italian Center,
3075 Slocan St. in East Vancouver near the PNE. To the
dynamic fifteen who wrote in, sent pictures, sweated late
into the night writing draft after draft, Thank-you from
the UBCIC News.
Part of UBCIC News - volume 2, number 6 (September 1979)