Periodical
Our Indian World - volume 2, number 7 (November – December, 1979)
- Title
- Our Indian World - volume 2, number 7 (November – December, 1979)
- Is Part Of
- 1.06-01.04 Indian World
- 1.06.-01 Newsletters and bulletins sub-series
- Date
- November 1979
- volume
- 2
- issue
- 7
- Language
- english
- Identifier
- 1.06-01.04-01.01
- pages
- 52
- Table Of Contents
-
Editorial....................................2
Political Trust Defense Dropped by DIA
in Musqueam Case..........................4
President's Message...........................5
Supertanker/Pipeline Proposal Ignored Indian
Ownership of B.C. Land and Water.....6
News News News.........................9
Indian Homes for Indian Children..............10
Child of Two Worlds ........................11
Adult Education in Saanich...................12
MTA Opting Out Clause Committee Update..... 12
What's Happening with the
Local Services Agreement?........13
After the Assembly: Where Do We Go
From Here?.............................14
New Vice-President Elected in Northeast........15
Indian Christmas............................16
Reserve Right to Fish Upheld..................18
Bella Coola Smokr Plant......................19
Indian Agriculture: Special Supplement.....21 to 32
Editorial...........................21
Lytton Water War Wages............22
Farm Flourishes Again..............24
Cow Pregnancy Testing..........25
30,000 Christmas Trees to Mexico.....26
. . . In the Field....................28
Cowboys and Croppers..............30
Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline
Terms and Conditions Hearings............33
And the Uranium Hearings are Still Going On....36
Up-Date....................................37
Protecting the Past...........................39
Just File it Under Forestry.....................40
Setting the Record Straight....................42
Trappers Have Rights Too....................43
Knitters and Weavers Form Association.........44
I Think....................................45
Thunderbird Cultural Centre Opens
in Campbell River........................46
A Collection of Poems: Victor Michel...........48
Book Review.............49
Mini-Cross and Matching Game................50
Indian Expressions for Christmas..............51 - Contributor
- Beth Cuthand
- Pauline Douglas
- George Manuel
- B.C. Native Women's Society of Kamloops
- Victor Michel
- Wayne Christian
- Marie Cooper
- Shannon Point
- Judith Joe
- Bob Pasco
- Kluskus B
- Clifford Hanuse
- Dinah Schooner
- Angela Metilpi
- Darryl Watts
- Louise Mandell
- Judy Manuel
- Earl Smith
-
Millie
Nick ason - Bess Brown
- Herman Thomas
- Barbara Kuhne
- John Warren
- John Rigers
- Willard Martin. Penny Goldsmith
- Mary Schendlinger
- Type
- periodical
- Transcription (Hover to view)
-
OUR
INDIAN WORLD
"THE CHOICE IS OURS"
$1.00
UBCIC
NOV/DEC, 1979
NEWS
EDITORIAL
Our garden was an embarrassment to me. It sat
seeds. They grew. They towered above the other
outside our house in Northern Saskatchewan: lean and
vegetables: the short carrots, the tough lettuce, the
ragged and dwarfed. Y o u could count the vegetables:
midget potatoes.
three stunted corn, a straggly row of lettuce, 5 or 6
following the thin summer sunlight.
. . big, bright, yellow flowers
weathered beets and carrots, gnarled and twisted as
O h , I was proud. M y mother was not so strange
they hit rock on their way to maturity. It made me
after all. I took to telling any and everyone how we
want to start a "Be-kind-to-Vegetables" campaign. I
had sunflowers growing in our garden. " Y o u can eat
always thought i f I got enough support, my mother
the seeds with salt and they're very good for y o u . "
would stop her madness.
They would have grown to maturity. I know they
would have, but we were never to know for sure. One
We lived on the " s h i e l d " as it is called: an old,
night delinquents vandalized our garden,
leaving
ancient mountain range, worn and broken with the
behind the headless stalks of our sunflowers and a
passage of time. The summers were short, the soil,
wispy trail of salt.
spare and shallow, and there was no running water.
Soon after the incident, we moved South. I liked
A t the end of each summer (only two and a half
moving South. M y mother could at last grow a real
months long) we would gather our humble little
garden. When we got to our new home, we discovered
harvest and I would think: " G o o d . M y mother has
the garden was full of cinders and hadn't been worked
learned her lesson. Next spring, she won't try it
for years. Y o u ' d think, as I did, that would have
again."
stopped my mother, but it didn't.
Yet, my mother persisted. Every year, she tried to
We worked that patch of soil and cinders for three,
make that land yield us food. She tried everything. She
four, five years before it flourished. When it did, we
couldn't get bedding out plants up there so she grew
never needed to buy vegetables and fruit. Beets,
her own. The first year, the cat peed on them. The
spinach, yellow beans, baby carrots, new potatoes
second year, she grew them in the bathroom with the
with bologna and raspberries with real cream made up
door shut and they froze to death. Next year she grew
a typical summer meal. For a long time, I was
them in the basement, which was perpetually flooded.
convinced my little sister who is five years younger and
She was always trying different species of vege-
five inches taller than I, grew that way because she had
tables. About A p r i l , she'd get a seed catalogue in the
the benefit of my mother's Southern garden. Short or
mail and look for the early maturing varieties. She
tall, we were healthy. Wherever she lived for no matter
tried early tomatoes; there was not enough sunlight.
how long, my mother always planted a garden.
She tried early potatoes: there was not enough water.
She tried a "hardy lettuce" that was so tough you'd
Today my parents live thousands of miles away in
have to be a goat to eat it. Then there were the "short
South America where it's spring now. If you should go
carrots, guaranteed to grew i n shallow s o i l . " They
to the highlands of Ecuador, near the headwaters of
grew so stubbornly and so resolutely that my father
the Amazon River, I bet you any money my father is
broke a spade trying to dig them out. No kidding.
digging a garden.
But my mother was persistent. Toward the end of
A n d my mother? She's the white haired lady in the
our stay in that land, I was beginning to root for the
straw hat, a Spanish/English dictionary at her side,
garden. I wanted something, anything, to grow for
doggedly reading a seed catalogue.
her. Then my little brother planted some sunflower
The Editor
O U R C O V E R : Louisa Basil, an Elder of great determination and strength, keeps up the
daily chores on their ranch on the Bonaparte reserve.
UBCIC NEWS 2
UBCIC
NEWS
The U B C I C N E W S is the official voice o f the
U n i o n o f British C o l u m b i a Indian Chiefs.
It is dedicated to building a strong foundation
for Indian Government by providing an awareness
o f the political and social issues affecting the
Indians o f British C o l u m b i a .
Signed articles and opinions are the views o f
the individuals concerned and not necessarily
those o f the U B C I C .
Editor: Beth Cuthand
Assistant Editor: Pauline Douglas
V O L U M E 2, NUMBER 7
Written contributions: George Manuel, B . C . Native Women's Society of Kamloops, Victor Michel,
Wayne Christian, Marie Cooper, Shannon Point, Judith Joe, Bob Pasco, Kluskus Band, Clifford Hanuse,
Dinah Schooner, Angela Metilpi, Darryl Watts, Louise Mandell, Judy Manuel, Earl Smith, Millie
Nick ason, Bess Brown, Herman Thomas, Barbara Kuhne, John Warren, John Rigers, Willard Martin.
Photographs: U B C I C staff unless credited
Typesetting: Penny Goldsmith and M a r y Schendlinger
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorial
Political Trust Defense Dropped by D I A
in Musqueam Case
President's Message
.....
Supertanker/Pipeline Proposal Ignored Indian
Ownership of B . C . Land and Water
News News News
Indian Homes for Indian Children
Child of Two Worlds
Adult Education in Saanich
M T A Opting Out Clause Committee U p d a t e . . . . .
What's Happening with the
Local Services Agreement?
After the Assembly: Where D o We G o
From Here?
New Vice-President Elected in Northeast
Indian Christmas
Reserve Right to Fish Upheld.
Bella Coola Smokr Plant
Indian Agriculture: Special Supplement
Editorial
Lytton Water War Wages
Farm Flourishes Again
Cow Pregnancy Testing
30,000 Christmas Trees to Mexico
. . . In the Field
Cowboys and Croppers
2
4
5
6
9
10
11
12
12
13
14
15
Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline
Terms and Conditions Hearings
33
A n d the Uranium Hearings are Still Going O n . . . . 3 6
Up-Date.
37
Protecting the Past
39
Just File it Under Forestry
40
Setting the Record Straight
42
Trappers Have Rights Too
43
Knitters and Weavers F o r m Association
44
I Think
45
Thunderbird Cultural Centre Opens
in Campbell River
46
A Collection of Poems: Victor Michel
48
Book Review
49
Mini-Cross and Matching Game
50
Indian Expressions for Christmas
51
16
18
19
21 to 32
21
22
24
25
26
28
30
INDIAN CATTLE! This month: Special Agriculture
Supplement
POLITICAL TRUST
DEFENSE DROPPED
delivered letter stating that the GovOn September 18th after four years
ernment wanted to drop that arguof preparing the case, the Musqueam
ment!
Band sued the Crown for mismanagement of its affairs. The case involved
Jake Epp was asked why he didn't
a land lease negotiated and signed by
appear
at the court on Wednesday. " I
the DIA agent of the time which was
wasn't
invited," he replied. H e had
not only not in the Band's best
heard
that
the amendment requiring
interest, but also contained different
his
presence
or that of the Minister o f
terms than those to which the Band
Justice
had
been dropped by the
had agreed.
Crown.
The
Crown is the DepartThe Musqueam case is now over.
ment
of
Justice,
representing D I A . It
The Indians and the Government
seems that someone from the Departhave put before the Court all their
ment o f Justice didn't think the
evidence and all the arguments. The
Political Trust argument was a good
Musqueam people told the Court that
one and decided to abandon it before
the
D I A acted fraudulently, negliChief Delbert Guerin wasn't the D I A got involved. D i d the D I A ,
gently and in breach o f a legal trust
surprised the Crown dropped their who is the client of the Department of
owing, when they entered into a lease
latest defense: "Interestingly enoughJustice in this case, really not get a
for Indian land with a Vancouver
chance to instruct their defence?
they were trying to give the
golf club.
impression that we, the Musqueam
The D I A admitted that the Indian
The second argument which the
Band, was raising the political trust
people never, in fact, even saw the
question. As far as I'm concerned, Government still seeks to rely o n is
lease until 1970, even though the deal
my Band when signing the surrender the argument that the Indians are too
was completed in 1956.
late, legally, in raising the problems
were signing it over to the
The D I A ' s arguments were interestof the lease. The lease was signed in
representative of the crown, the
ing. O f course, the Government
This argument asks the
Indian Agent. Therefore they can talk 1956.
denied that they acted fraudulently or
Court
to
let
the Government off the
all they want about political trust: it's
negligently. The Court must decide i f
hook
for
any
bad dealings which they
still their responsibility. I feel pretty
the Indians proved their case on those
may
have
done
in the past and which
optimistic even though to date the
points.
still
hurt
Indians
today and in the
white justice system has no real
A strange turn o f events occurred
future
because
Indians
should have
justice for Indian people. This is a big
in the Musqueam case last week.
come
to
court
before
this
time. This
responsibility. I hope this will be the
Lawyers for D . I . A . began this sumargument
is
but
another
way
in which
ming up argument: they argued that first case."
D
I
A
claims
that
it
should
not
be held
the D . I . A . has no legal trust responresponsible
for
its
actions.
sibility to Indian people. They argued
that Jake E p p be called to Court and
that i f a trust exists at all, that trust is
explain why the argument was being
The last argument which D I A is
a political trust. The argument folusing, which asks the court's help in
advanced and what the D I A means in
lows that i f Indian people don't like
releasing it from past wrongs computting the argument forward. " E x how the D I A , as trustee, has handled
mitted, is an argument based on a
plain Yourself" said the Musqueam
their affairs under political trust, then
section o f the old Trustee A c t . Under
people to Jake E p p .
the trustee could be voted out o f
the Trustee A c t it is possible for the
A n d thejudgdeordered Jake Epp to
office but no legal remedy exists.
court to relieve against a Trustee
court to explain himself. H e must
where there has been honest dealing.
appear in court on November 21,
After the agreement had been
D I A is arguing that even i f the deal
made, lawyers for the Musqueam
1979, or withdraw the argument.
between the Indians & the golf club
people told the court that that
The Court gave the D I A one week to
was a poor one, the D I A acted
argument was not disclosed to the
make up their minds: i f they wanted
honestly and should not have to
Musqueam people at the point in the
to proceed with the argument, they
account for its actions in damages.
development o f the case when D I A
had to produce the Miister; i f they
should have advised the Indians that
The lawyer acting for the Muswanted to drop the argument, they
such an argument was going to be
queam Band predicts that the decision
had one week to do so. The deadline
made. The lawyers for the Musqueam
will be handed down sometime in
was November 21st. O n November
people urged the court to demand
January or February, 1980.
20th, the Court received a hand
UBCIC NEWS 4
PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE
Agriculture has been a fundamental, economic
foundation for thousands of years for the large majority
of our people in North America including the Indians
of British Columbia. The great accomplishments of
Indian technology are almost all related to clothing,
housing, medicines and foods.
It has been estimated that the average European, at the
time of Columbus, was five feet tall; one out of ten
Europeans in those days was deformed in some way, due
to insufficient diet: hunch-backed, crippled, lamed, deaf,
blind or retarded. That did not include those who simply
died in their infancy from the same causes. This was
Europe after the Renaissance. A t that time, North
American Indians were cultivating six hundred different
types of corn and all the different kinds of beans known
today. In British Columbia our people had Indian
carrots, parsnips, potatoes, tea, hazel nuts, fruits of
many types, fowl, deer, moose, elk, and a host of other
food stuff on which our present civilization is far more
dependent than on whatever Europeans were eating
before they came to our homeland. Nothing on this list
was then on their diet.
The preparation of the Boston baked beans was taught
by the Wampanoag Indians to the European pilgrims.
East and West coast Indians taught the Europeans to
enjoy such dishes as clam chowder, oyster stew, salmon
barbeque, baked pumpkin, cranberry sauce, popcorn,
squash, celery, buckwheat, maple sugar, pepper,
chocolate, tapioca: the list is virtually endless.
H o w much meat was available to the average European
is a question. The movies treat us to the sight of men
feasting on venison meat, wild boar and turkey but the
history text books tell us that a prosperous peasant might
have owned a cow, or a few sheep and only his lord was
permitted to hunt in the forest.
Our agricultural technology and our distribution
system of food amongst Indian families is part of our
traditional cultural values that kept our Indian
Government self-reliant and strong for many centuries.
For example, the strong young Indian hunters would
distribute the best part of the meat to the elders, the weak
and those less fortunate. He would keep the poorest parts
of the meat for himself and his family.
In all respects, this was the Indian way, the Indian
value, before the whiteman put us in his educational
institutions. What is important here is whether the Indian
The Native Council of Canada presented this plaque to
George Manuel "in recognition of superior achievements
and contributions as a representative of Canada's Native
peoples."
cultural technology acquired skills through animal
husbandry or harvested it i n the natural environment of
the forest. It was abundant in supply. Why? Because it
was carefully conserved both in the harvesting and in
storing. N o people have been entirely free of scourge or
famine but few Indian societies were familiar with the
protein deficiency in the normal cycle of a generation.
The Indian Nations have given more to the world of
technology than they have received from it. But the
calculation cannot be made in terms o f levels of
technology as a measure of civilization. The Indian
technology, in contrast to the European or the Canadian
one, gives some very important clues about the
differences in the value and goals. The Indian technology
as a value is designed for the feeding of the whole
community of man.
Europe's
most
important
contributions that are still of value today seem to be either
in the development of means of transportation or the
instruments of war. I do not think it does anyone
discredit to say that our efforts in technological
development have focused most sharply on meeting the
needs of the common man and raising the mere act of
physical survival to a high art to which all could
participate. If Europeans learned to travel because of
poverty, perhaps we cultivated our relationship with the
land out of a need to survive.
Yours in struggle,
UBCIC NEWS 5
SUPERTANKER/PIPELINE
INDIAN OWNERSHIP OF
Indian representatives from the
Queen Charlottes, Vancouver Island,
the Fraser Valley and Washington
State assembled at the Hotel Vancouver early on November 6th to appear
as witnesses before the National
Energy Board. People came to oppose Trans Mountain Pipe Line
Company's proposal for an oil port at
L o w Point, Washington and a pipeline through B . C . Phillip Paul,
U B C I C Vice-President for South
Western Region, Chief Archie Pootlass o f the Bella C o o l a Band and
U B C I C Vice President for North
Coast Region, and Dale Johnson,
Chairman o f the M a k a h Tribal
Council (Washington) and of the
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission were the first panel to address the
Board on matters o f Indian jurisdiction and reliance on the marine and
fishery resources.
Phillip Paul went to the heart o f
the matter:
" . . . T h e r e is nothing within this
application for this proposed pipeline that assures us that, i f this
pipeline were to go through, the
considerations of Indian people
would be taken into account, and
this is what I would like to put on
the r e c o r d . . . . "
Chief Archie Pootlass spoke about
the coastal communities' reliance on
the fishery resources both for food
and as an economic base:
"The Trans Mountain Pipe Line
Company's application to build a
super tanker oil port at L o w Point
in Washington, i f it were successful, would have an immediate and
direct impact on the whole coast o f
the province o f B . C . as well as the
river systems, and would therefore
affect one hundred percent of our
Indian population i n the province
of British C o l u m b i a . "
. . . N o one could ever compensate
our people for the loss of our fish
and seafoods.
UBCIC NEWS 6
L to R: Dale Johnson, Archie Pootlass and Philip Paul told the Hearing
Transmountain's proposal would seriously hamper Indian claims to the
marine resources.
We not only rely on the salmon and
marine resources for food, we also
depend on it for our spiritual being
through our potlatches, our feasts
and funerals, which are all part o f
our tradition and livelihood."
Dale Johnson expressed a feeling
shared by many of our people:
" I am no expert in moving oil by a
long way, but it seems that there
could be other ways, safer ways of
doing it, than what is being done;
you see in the news every day about
tankers colliding and oil spills all
over and the effects that it has. It is
just something that we do not want
to see happen in our area."
An oil spill could destroy the fishery for years if Supertankers are allowed to
transport oil down our Coast.
PROPOSAL IGNORES
B.C. LANDS AND WATERS
On Wednesday, November 7th the
second panel of U B C I C witnesses
gave their evidence. Present were
Chief T o m Sampson, Tsartlip Band,
Stan Chipps, Beecher Bay Band; Gus
Underwood, Tsawout Band; Chief
M a r y Johnson, Mowachaht Band;
Caroline Wesley, Skidegate Band;
Sam Douglas, Popkum Band; and
Chief A n d y Alex, Union Bar Band.
We introduced our presentation by
showing two U B C I C fishing films
Sinumwak andWe'llDo Our Fishing.
Chief M a r y Johnson presented
evidence on the relationship of the
people of the West Coast with marine
resources and added:
" I have been observing the matters
that have been discussed here at the
hearing, and I am getting more and
more a f r a i d . . . I do not believe for
a minute that anybody in the world
can ever replace any damages or
losses we might have within the
marine and fishery resources."
Chief Tore Sampson presented evidence of several Treaties which spell
out Indian rights to marine resources:
A n y increased movement in the area
o f the Juan de Fuca or our
neighbours to the south, you know,
will definitely damage our rights as
handed down by the governments of
this country. It is a right that we
have to uphold and keep reminding
the citizens of this country that they
must give recognition and they must
weigh these factors in considering
any future traffic in our waters."
"We are in sympathy with the
people who need oil but we have to
say if the oil goes through, you
know, they are wiping us out. This
country is going to have a bigger bill
to pay, not only in terms of social
assistance, but the tragedy of our
people as a nation, as an ethnic
group who will almost be completely
wiped o u t . . . W e , as a people of this
continent have got to start looking
at our priorities."
Gus Underwood gave evidence regarding his people's reliance on the
marine resources o f Saanichton Bay.
He provided documents which substantiate the economic and cultural
importance of the Bay, and told the
Board how the Band had defeated a
proposal for a marina at Saanichton
Bay because o f the potential depletion
of marine resources.
could ruin my people's way of
living which we are so accustomed
to. Y o u could say as natives o f this
country, it is the only way we can
survive. We don't make a great
deal of money at our employment
so we depend a lot on our seafoods,
and who knows i f we have a bad oil
spill it may affect our place o f employment."
Waiting for the Hearing to begin. Will anybody listen?
"Historically, all facets o f community life among the Coast Salish
including patterns of work, religious rituals, community ceremonies, leisure activities and the arts,
originated in the community's usage of and relationship to the sea."
Stan Chipps from Beecher Bay read
a letter from Chief Burt Charles o f
the Cheanuh Band:
" O u r seafoods which we rely on
most year round, will be contaminated. Also all shellfish. A n oil spill
will possibly affect the salmon,
ling cod and other bottom fish in
and around our area. It will most
certainly kill off waterfowl which
my people also depend on
I
know accidents will happen, there
is no guarantee that it won't, but
damn it, it's those accidents that
Carolvn Wesley from the Skidegate
Band, Queen Charlotte Islands, also
expressed concern about loss o f
income i f the marine resources were
ever damaged:
"The Island is divided into two
parts, and we have very strong
winds and tides, and i f there ever is
any oil spill up there it will affect
both sides of the Island. We depend
a lot on the herring and seaweed
and all the salmon and all the
different kinds of shellfish. Masset
has a cannery, and i f anything
should happen and the cannery had
to close down they would have no
employment and they will have
nothing to live on. There are also
canneries at Port Simpson north o f
Prince Rupert and one at Bella
Bella, and they all depend on
resources from the sea."
UBCIC NEWS 7
Sam Douglas, spokesman for the
Popkum Band, told how all the
Bands along the Fraser River will
also be affected by an oil spill:
"The Popkum Band and just about
all the other Bands on the Reserves
along the Fraser River will be
affected if there ever was an oil spill,
whether it was in Juan de Fuca or
wherever it was, because we have
many runs which run up the Fraser
River and most of the fish would be
affected in that area."
The proposed oil pipeline from
Sumas, B . C . to Edmonton would
pass through the Popkum Reserve.
"I have talked to several people up
in the Fraser Valley area who have
the line going through their properties, and at no time has the Trans
Mountain Oil Company approached any of these Bands to see if they
were opposed to it or if they were
willing to let them go through their
property. It always seems that when
there is a big project going through
the country, the Indian people and
their lands that it goes through are
the last ones to hear about it, and
then because of the time element
they are always pressurized into
signing hasty leases and agreements
. . . T h e Popkum Band that I represent here today, is cut up in so many
pieces that you can hardly build a
house in any given spot without it
being affected by a hydro line, a
highway, a railway, or a pipeline.
We have five different lines going
through there and it is only a 200
acre piece."
Chief Andy Alex of the Union Bar
Band also expressed concern about
further pipeline construction on the
right-of-way through the* Kawkawa
Lake Reserve. When questioned about
negotiating with the Company, he
replied:
"In the past there has been some
commitments from some of the
companies involved with negotiating terms of contracts, releases or
right-of-ways or whatever you
have. There has been some, but
they are not as comprehensive as
they should be."
•
UBCIC NEWS 8
International Agreement
in Force
The historic moment began when
Dale Johnson who had come to
represent nineteen United States
Tribes on the Washington coast and
in Puget Sound, spoke at the N.E.B.
hearings in Vancouver.
Mr. Johnson stated very nicely in
a tone of great strength and determination.
"As they were historically, the
fishery resources are today the
centre of the Indian way of life,
from both the economic and
cultural standpoint. It will be
through the joint efforts of all
managing entities in the United
States and Canada that our
fishery resource will continue to
be a significant part of the
economic base of the Pacific
Northwest.
"We are very much concerned
about the potential problems
associated with the Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline Corporation
Proposal affecting the waters
commonly fished and important
to fish production for both United States and Canada."
The common interests of the
Northwest Indians and Indians of
the Union of B.C. Indians Chiefs
are fish and marine resources. As in
the past, fish is still our food,
livelihood and our culture.
So
strong is the need to protect our
fish, the leaders representing the
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the
Indian leaders of Northwest and
Puget Sound have found it necessary to stand and fight together to
protect our fish and our resources.
The first meeting
between the
fishing portfolio and the Northwest
Indian Fisheries Commission will be
sometime in December. We are
presently awaiting confirmation of
dates to discuss our joint efforts to
protect our resources. If you require
information regarding fishing,
please don't hesitate to call or write.
It is also with your own individual
effort that we can succeed in
managing and controlling our Indian foods.
•
NEWS NEWS NEWS
FUNDING C U T B A C K S A R E IN T H E WIND
There is a possibility o f a $2 million cutback in the B . C .
budget o f the Department o f Indian Affairs.
This year, the new government has directed the
Department to look at this year's budget and to identify
where cutbacks can be made. The Regional Director
General, Fred Walchli, has told the U n i o n that he may
know by the middle o f December whether these cutbacks
will actually be carried out.
Each year, the Department has requested Supplemental
moneys from Parliament to cover price and volume
increases in non-discretionary budget areas like education, social assistance, and child care. U n t i l now, these
extra moneys have always been approved. However, this
year, the extra costs may have to be found in other parts
of the existing budget, such as band capital projects,
economic development, and other discretionary program
areas.
Therefore, i n order to meet the costs o f welfare and
education, the Department is consdering using mostly the
small amount o f developmental moneys in the budget
that are most important to our Bands. A large part o f
these moneys could be used to pay off the Provincial
Government under the Child Care and Master Tuition
Agreements.
George Manuel has written to the Prime Minister
demanding approval o f supplemental funding.
power to investigate the Federal government. The
Ombudsman is supposed to be neutral and impartial.
He/she is not to get involved i n politics. A n y complaints
made by an individual are to remain confidential and no
information collected by the Ombudsman's office in the
course of any investigation is to be divulged.
Members o f the St. Mary's Band met with the
Ombudsman and his staff and voiced their complaints,
which ranged from issues concerning child apprehension,
burial procedures with H u m a n Resources, the closing of
a group home and several complaints about consumer
goods. In one case a woman received a solution to her
problem within an hour after talking with Friedman.
Whether the Ombudsman will be an effective service to
Indian people i n this province remains to be seen. A s
Chief Sophie Pierre put it: " L e t ' s wait and see how
effective they'll be."
But is the Ombudsman impartial? Pat Ruby, assistant
to Friedman told our reporter i n conversation that her
previous job had been with Foothills Pipeline Company,
a major investor i n the Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline.
She told our reporter (a Kootenay Indian) he should tell
his people that they could get a sizable settlement from
the company and further that they could get jobs during
construction. If they didn't, they would be left with
nothing. If that's not political meddling, what is?
DIA
POLITICAL M E D D L I N G
O n Nov. 21, D r . C a r l Friedman, B . C . ' s new Ombudsman and his staff arrived at the St. Mary's Band near
Cranbrook, uninvited and unannounced. The first Band
members heard about the visit was a news report on a
Cranbrook radio station.
There was some confusion about the purpose o f the
visit. Arriving just two weeks before Hearings are to
begin i n the Kootenays on the Terms and Conditions
regulating the construction of the world's largest Pipeline
Project, the radio reporter jumped to the conclusion that
the Ombudsman was visiting St. Mary's Band to hear
complaints about the pipeline.
The
Ombudsman, a new service for British
Columbians, came into existence on October 1 under the
terms o f the provincial government's Ombudsman A c t
passed i n 1977. The purpose o f the governmentappointed Ombudsman's office is to hear complaints and
make recommendations to agencies concerned. These
include: ministries o f government, provincial, municipal
and regional, as well as hospitals, corporations,
universities, public schools, boards, corporations and
private individuals. The Ombudsman does not have the
UBCIC NEWS 9
TO
BECOME
SUPPORT
AGENCY?
In Quebec City on November 20/79 Jake Epp, Minister
of Indian Affairs, introduced his department's new
policy to reduce the D I A from a governing body o f
Indian people to a support agency for all Indians i n
Canada.
" W e have to get back to the one Indian government,'*
stated E p p , "that is legally constituted and has the
support o f the people that is the Chief and Band Council.
They are the number one group we have to deal with.
That's where the decisions will have to take place to
ensure the Indian needs are fulfilled."
Bob Manuel, head o f the Indian Government Portfolio
for U B C I C , said, " A l t h o u g h the minister's intentions are
good, the minister in order to fulfill his committments
made to Indian people is going to have to overcome his
own bureaucracy within his department, provincially and
regionally."
Bob also added, " I f he doesn't change it, I don't see
any real changes. A s Indian people we can keep him
informed o f what the department is doing to undermine
his policy and try to understand his policy as clearly as we
can. The minister is his part has to keep his door open for
us."
INDIAN HOMES FOR INDIAN
CHILDREN
At present over 1,500 B. C. status Indian children and even a greater number
what the community is going to be.
of non-status children are in care, while many are placed up for adoption. In
What we do to our children, we are
most cases they are being placed in non-Indian homes. With all due respect to
doing to the community and to ourthe many non-Indian families who are caring for our children, the B. C. Native
selves. If we look after them and
Women's Society of Kamloops has released a position paper expressing their
make opportunities available to them
Concern over this situation.
and give them the opportunity to take
advantage o f those opportunities, our
The Indian A c t allows laws of the
Although the B . C . Native W o m children will profit by what we can
province, i.e. Adoption A c t , Protecens's Society appreciates that many o f
give them and in the long run we will
tion o f Children Act, etc., to apply to
our children have been adopted by
gain by what we have given our
Indians where Federal law or Treaty
non-Indian families, our intention is
children.
rights have not been enacted.
not to upset these families directly or
The B . C . Native Women's Society
of Kamloops, B . C . believes that legislation should be enacted that would
impose duties on Native Indian
parents and, Indian Band Governments, local or otherwise, which
would enable Indian children who
have at least 25% Indian ancestry
blood to be given the opportunity to
develop within the background o f his
or her ancestral culture. W e believe it
is up to us to pursue the rights o f
Native Indian children and guarantee
and entrench their rights i n legislation, as our Communities' continual
existence depends upon the development o f the complex relationship
between the local Band, the family
and the individual.
We feel the existing legislation that
affects our children can be characterized as "Paternalistic" and not
representative o f Indian concerns,
and that it moreover reflects nonIndian adults' concerns rather than
interests of the Indian child.
Because o f the importance that
early, years have i n indoctrinating
culture, ideas, and language, our
children should not be subjected to a
lulling influence i n the atmosphere
and left languishing. The time is now
to have new legislation which will
protect the ancestral culture o f our
children. W e feel action is needed and
legislation must be enacted i n the
Indian child protection field.
There must be much more involvement in the prescribed criterion than
what presently exists under the Adoption Act of British Columbia i n order
to be eligible to adopt an Indian child.
indirectly, but our concern is that
such children may have lost their
ancestral cultural identity.
The Adoption Act states that the
rights o f Indian children are protected
but it must be emphasized that i n fact
such cultural rights are not guaranteed to the Indian child upon placement in the hands of the Superintendent of C h i l d Welfare.
We feel that there is much more
involved than providing the necessities o f life, sustenance, clothing,
shelter, food and warmth, to the
raising of an Indian child and that
special care should be involved, to
look after the child, to guide the
child, to supervise the child, and even
to go beyond that, and to direct
activities of the child which will not
destroy the child and will not allow
the child to be a menace to others.
The Society has an interest in every
Indian child in the community; for it
is understood that what our Indian
children become will be reflected i n
We believe that what we can give
our children is a duty; what we
prevent is equally a duty. When an
Indian child does have a mental or
emotional disturbance or what ever
the case may be, it is a duty of the
Native Indian Community, through
the facilities set up by the community,
to do everything to prevent the disturbance from becoming a permanent
state of mind.
Finally, as most adoptions are
handled through Childrens Aides
Society or H u m a n Resources, or the
Catholic Children A i d Society who
place children i n adoptive homes,
there is no direct Indian participation
in the procedure. Chiefs and Counsellors and members o f the Band who is
giving a child up for adoption should
be granted the right to place the child
and to review applications of persons
wanting to adopt such children; and
the Indian ancestral factor must be
regarded as important i n agency
placements.
•
The B.C. Native Women's Society presented this evidence to the UBCIC
General Assembly that the Provincial Government is in fact committing an act
of genocide. The Federal Government is opting out of its responsibilities for
Indians as stated in the BNA Act. There is no Federal Legislation that protects
Indian children and their rights. The Society's paper was unanimously adopted
by the Assembly. It was then resolved by the Assembly that the UBCIC will
support and work with the B.C. Native Women's Society towards changing
existing legislation by bringing in an Indian Children's Service Act that will
protect the future generation from cultural genocide,
(Editor's Note: The B . C . Native Women's Society will travel to hold various
workshops on Indian Children's Rights.
For more information please contact The B . C . Native Women's Society
315 Yellowhead Highway, Kamloops, B.C. or UBCIC Health Portfolio
UBCIC NEWS 10
Child of Two Worlds
Which Path Will You Follow?
// seems strange to me, that what we refer to daily as
Indians or natives, is more often than not a mixture of
bloods living in one human being who has chosen to be
Indian.
If this article accomplishes nothing else, perhaps it will
at least clear my mind on the subject for another fifteen
years.
Sincerely,
Shannon Point
Chehalis Band
I was attending a meeting in Vancouver the other day
as a representative from my Reserve. One of the speakers
asked permission o f the Chairman to have all the white
people leave the room while an important topic was
discussed.
For the first time i n fifteen years I was made to think
about my bloodlines, o f the fact that I am a " h a l f
breed," that I owe my Indian Status to the fact that a
white man, my father, did not marry my mother, a full
blooded Creek Indian, until after my birth.
That night after driving home to my Reserve I looked
at my husband, an Indian man, at my five children and
wondered in my heart, what does make a person an
Indian? Is it a certain amount o f blood, a belief or an
acceptance by other Indians?
l was raised between two societies. Raised by two
Grandmothers. M y Indian Grandmother spoke no
English, lived on a Reservation in the United States all of
her life and clung to her ancestors' ways. She taught me
pride i n my native blood, respect for my people and their
culture and how to survive using all the old ones' skills.
She never forgave my mother for weakening her
bloodline and never spoke to her after my birth. Her
repeated advice to me was, " M a r r y your own kind, live
the way of your ancestors."
M y white Grandmother had never met a Native person
before my father married my mother. She was a good
" C h r i s t i a n " woman who made my father marry my
mother because it was the " C h r i s t i a n " thing to do. She
took me to her church and Bible school, taught me the
importance of a formal education and all the skills to be a
good "white wife and mother." She never would admit I
was part Indian. Her advice to me was, " M a r r y your own
kind, live as the white people l i v e . "
Who then were my people? I look like my white father
and act and feel like my Native mother.
I left my Grandmothers and went out into the world. I
graduated high school and college, served time in the
A r m y and still did not find the answer, " W h o then are
my people?"
I had a good j o b , a nice apartment and friends o f every
race. One evening at a large dinner party, as I sat in a
room full of good friends, I suddenly realized how very
lonely I was and that I had been lonely for a very long
time. I left the dinner party, went home and took a good
long look at myself in the mirror. I looked like any well
groomed, young white woman. I combed out the beauty
shop curls, washed off the well applied make-up and took
off the expensive cocktail dress. Now dressed in levis, old
moccasions and shirt, with my hair in the braids of my
youth, some of my mother showed through. I got in my
car and drove out into the Mojave. I stayed there three
days, doing all the things my mother's mother had taught
me in my youth, to purify my mind and body in the ways
of the old ones. Then I returned to my people.
I have been alone many times, since that evening
fifteen years ago, but I have never again been lonely. In
this present day when so many o f us have so many
different bloods flowing in our veins I say to others who
live in lonely confusion in their minds, return to your
people wholeheartedly, the call of your ancestors is
strong. Follow it faithfully and you will find peace.
To others I remind you that to weaken that bloodline is
to bring sorrow, confusion and loneliness to your
children.
T o be a half breed is to live in two worlds, belonging to
neither, accepted by neither. It takes a strong commitment to choose one way of life and follow that path no
matter where it leads.
For fifteen years I have lived with and for my people.
I've been taken off to jail at Franks Landing, shot at
while bringing supplies into Wounded Knee and again I
ask, " W h a t does make a person an Indian? Is it a certain
amount of blood, a belief or an acceptance by other
Indians?"
H a l f Breed
Child of two worlds
Which path will you follow
H a l f Breed
The call of the old ones is strong
Listen to the voice of your ancestors
Listen to the distant echo of the drums
Y o u know in your heart to deny is wrong
Half Breed
Child of two worlds
Which path will you follow?
UBCIC NEWS 11
ADULT EDUCATION IN SAANICH
by Marie Cooper
of Saanich Indian School Board,
Recently, an article appeared in
Victoria newspapers indicating that
the Indian peoples of this region have
decided to take over adult education.
This, however, is misleading information because the Saanich Bands
have been working at developing an
adult education program for some
time.
Under the auspices of the Saanich
Indian School Board (which represents the four Saanich Bands in the
field of education), an adult education program has been in the planning
stages for over two years. In the
Spring of 1978 an in-depth proposal
was published which planned out our
adult community education needs for
five years.
After the proposal was developed,
we went to the community to seek
their support and advice regarding
adult education. Originally it was due
to the advice of the community
members that we had gone ahead with
the proposal. W i t h a few exceptions,
there was a lot o f strong support for
the proposed plan of action.
Next, we gathered support from the
various Indian organizations who
were involved in the field of education; the Union of B . C . Indian
Chiefs, the National Indian Brotherhood, the United Native Nations, and
the United Indian A l l Tribe Federation.
A t this point we were ready to approach D I A and obtain our funding.
It is very important that we obtain the
core funding from the federal government and not the provincial government. We felt that this would reinforce our existing relationship with
the central government and would not
jeopardize our long standing rights
under the B N A A c t .
After some negotiations with the
Department, we were able to obtain
roughly one half of the monies we
UBCIC
NEWS 12
requested for the establishment of an
alternate program for drop-outs in
our area. The number of our students
dropping out of high school is a
serious problem and we felt that their
needs had top priority.
Unfortunately, there were some
disputes that came up in our community just as we were about to begin the
program. The result has been that
D I A has withheld our monies.
Many of our students remain
outside of any educational system
because there is no real alternative
available for them. Many others will
drop out this year without employment or educational alternatives.
Fortunately, we have a good working relationship with the local nonIndian school district. In fact, we
MASTER TUITION A G R E E M E N T
OPTING OUT CLAUSE: UBCIC/
DIA JOINT C O M M I T T E E
The intent of an opting-out
clause is to serve notice to all concerned that those Bands who so
wish have the legal federal right to
local
control
and
parental
responsibility in the education of
their children. The adoption of a
final opting-out clause will depend
even run some of our programs in
their schools. Therefore, it will be an
ideal situation to have our alternate
school located on our land; it will be
close to the local public schools which
have agreed to allow us the use of
some of their facilities and equipment
that we can't afford. It will also allow
for the extensive use of our Elders
and other community members, while
at the same time making it easily
accessible for our students.
We hope that our alternate school
can be started in the near future. This
will partly depend on how much
support is available from a newly
elected council in Tsartlip. With their
support we will be successful. Without their help, it will be a very
difficult task.
•
on the ratification by B . C . Bands.
Therefore the committee will be
releasing information bulletins to
keep Bands informed. The joint
U B C I C / D I A committee have set
terms of reference and have agreed
that by December 14, 1979 or
before, the Addendum Clause will
be agreed to by both parties, and
that there will be no discussion
with the Provincial Government
on any aspect of these discussions.
WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE
LOCAL SERVICES AGREEMENT?
Since the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs sent out the first
draft Local Services Agreement accompanied by a letter
from George Manuel stating the intention of this first
draft, a new draft Agreement has been negotiated with
stronger changes recommended by the Bands we have met
with so far. This in itself is all part of the negotiating
process for getting the fairest agreement for oneself.
Recently, however, the Department of Indian Affairs
District Offices appear to have been pushing that first
draft. Bands should be aware that another draft is in
discussions with the DIA. This new draft is the result of
the recommendations from the District Councils and
Bands through workshops where we discussed suggested
improvements and incorporated them.
NEW LSA C A N STILL B E N E G O T I A T E D IF B A N D
HAS A L R E A D Y SIGNED B U T NOT SATISFIED
Any Band who has already signed an Agreement and is
not satisfied can still negotiate a new Agreement, which
will supercede anything they have signed in the past.
In the Lakes District, the District Council has an
Agreement with the District Office not to approach the
Bands or begin negotiations until the District works out
an Agreement that they can recommend to the Bands in
their District.
At the request of the Lakes District Council, the
UBCIC has held two workshops on the Agreement and
the District Council has now formed a committee to work
with their Bands on their Agreement. Other workshops
have been held in Kamloops, Lillooet and the South
Island.
The UBCIC has developed a team of people to go out
and discuss the Agreement, things like:. The Draft
Agreement that the UBCIC has organized; Organization
of Government that the Federal systems require we
should put into place; financial reporting; and control
aspects; management aspects of the agreement; legal
interpretation of the Local Services Agreement.
L . S . A . JUST A N INTERIM A G R E E M E N T
The whole Local Services Agreement centres around
the purposes and conditions by which Bands receive
monies from the DIA to meet the various needs of their
communities. The Treasury Board decided there has to be
an Agreement between Bands and the DIA covering
monies turned over for local administration. Therefore
this Agreement becomes a contract between the Bands
and the DIA as to how the monies are to be used and
reported. As far as we are concerned, this is an interim
arrangement. The long term objective is to develop strong
Indian Governments to provide the Indian people with a
fair share of the Canadian resources to provide for our
people's needs. But in the meantime, Bands are getting
their money through the DIA and this Agreement is the
legal contract for that transaction.
DIA'S OBLIGATIONS M A D E L E G A L L Y BINDING
IN NEW LSA
With the L S A we are not dealing with Indian
Government; just an interim agreement by which we get
monies. Up to now, Bands and the DIA considered the
L S A as a way of putting control on the Bands as to the
use of these monies. However, the new draft agreement
does also have clauses to require the DIA to carry out
their responsibilities in a more fair and efficient way. If
the DIA does not fulfill its obligations, they can be sued
by the Band and be forced to adhere to the Agreement.
he L S A forces the DIA to meet deadlines for
disbursement of monies and it provides a fair arbitration
procedure in case the Band or the DIA can't agree on
funding levels and responsibilities.
Up to now, the DIA had the upper hand, so the new
L S A gives both parties legal equality.
T H E NEGOTIATING IS U P T O E A C H B A N D
The UBCIC is negotiating with the DIA a draft
Agreement that the UBCIC considers fair and this will be
ready and sent out to all Bands in December, 1979. But it
is only a suggestion. Bands are responsible for their own
negotiations with the DIA. The UBCIC draft is only a
suggested guideline.
The UBCIC is prepared to provide assistance during
negotiations for Bands that request this, but it is up to the
Band to decide what it is prepared to agree to. Some
people have understood that the UBCIC Agreement was
binding for all Bands. It is not.
FINANCIAL ADVISORS UNDER B A N D C O N T R O L
In order to negotiate and argue one's planning, budget
proposals more strongly, it is necessary to thoroughly
understand one's Band's planning and budget. The
Gitskan Tribal Council have negotiated their own
financial advisor, the Central Interior Tribal Council
wants positions for Band financial advisors, the
Government Band Financial Advisors are so inefficient
and more concerned with looking after the Government's
side of things that they don't provide the help that Bands
require. However, District Councils should be looking
for negotiating that these kinds of positions be under
District Council or Band control.
If Bands want to hold workshops or require assistance
with planning and budgetting, or negotiations, they
should contact Willard Martin, coordinator of the
UBCIC Local Services Agreement Workshop team.
•
UBCIC NEWS 13
AFTER THE ASSEMBLY:
General Assemblies are the most
important event in the life of any
responsible organization. Held yearly,
they make it possible for the people to
instruct their elected representatives
and their organizational workers on
the direction they will take in the
coming year. The 11th General
Assembly o f the U n i o n of British
Columbia Indian Chiefs held in
Vancouver October 15 to 18 marked
an important moment in the life of
this organization. It was significant
that this year there was far less talk
about "rights" and far more talk
about "responsibilities". It was as i f
the debate about rights had been
settled in the minds o f the people: we
have rights, now how do we go about
putting them into practice?
M O R E SPECIFIC DIRECTION
"There was an urgency to do things
that need to be done and stop talking
about i t , " commented South Coast
Vice-President Philip P a u l . "It was
significant that there was a real life to
the conference: more on the issues
than the politics that usually goes on.
I think the discussion around Indian
Government, what it really means,
has got a lot of people acting on
preserving their culture and doing
something about the language, seeing
the land again, the way it was meant
to be, how important land is for the
continuation of our culture. It was a
very positive conference. It seemed to
be a pay-off for all the struggles that
the U n i o n has been through."
M O R E WORK A T COMMUNITY
LEVEL
Vice-President Saul Terry, re-elected by acclamation to represent the
Central Interior region, said: " L o o k ing at the resolutions that came out o f
this Assembly, it appears there are
many more specific directions. It
gives us a better idea of our mandate.
I think this is due to the fact that the
Union has more contact with the
communities now. Questions are
being dealt with out there so that the
resolutions at the Assembly could be
fewer and more specific. It was an
indication of the real work being done
that there was no antagonism or confrontation. A s for the organization of
the Assembly, the talking session on
the first day, indicated to me, that
returning to a method o f communication by speaking out through the
oratory used in the past is fundamen-
B A N D CONSTITUTIONS:
A constitution is a beginning
towards
re-establishing
Indian
Government. It's a legislative base.
We did have an Indian Government until just a few years ago.
After the war, Indian Affairs
became a real part of our lifestyles,
taking away our responsibility to
govern ourselves. We gave up most
of our responsibilities, for example, in education, developing an
economic base, and other areas.
Bands want to get away from that
now.
One way to do that is to have a
constitution: a guideline for the
UBCIC NEWS 14
tal to Indian Society. I sensed a
reluctance on the part of some people
to get up and speak their mind, others
seemed to be confused and sometimes
the points had to be forced. But it
seems to me that we have to begin to
incorporate the fundamental values
of Indian Society into our meetings.
During the Talking Sessions we were
taking the hardly used aspect o f
verbal communication. I think too
often we are too technical and we're
suffering for it. But it was a start, a
beginning towards more trust, working together on common goals."
M O R E ACTION O N R E A L ISSUES
Newly elected Vice-President for the
North Coast Region, Archie Pootlass:
" T h e new format o f the Talking
Session allowed for the participation
by the Elders and Observers as well as
the delegates. The ceremonies, dancing and social events in the evenings
gave a renewed sense of Indian
Nationhood for all the communities.
The General Assembly showed me
that the Union has been successful in
developing the concept of Indian
Government to the point where it is
far more feasible or possible than say,
T H E N E X T STEP?
Band in whatever areas they wish
to take responsibility for. A
constitution outlines the method
for electing the Chief and Council
and gives them the general terms of
reference for their positions. It
calls for a General meeting of
Band
members
annually
or
bi-annually to give the Chief and
Council and the Administration a
mandate.
A Constitution also outlines the
various areas of jurisdiction the
Band wants to govern such as:
education, health care, fisheries
management, etc., etc. Then there
are areas we haven't begun to work
on but wish to begin working on
like Indian Religion. Those new
areas should be outlined in the
Band Consitution as well.
The Aboriginal Rights Position
paper, adopted
by the
11th
General Assembly adopted by all
the member Bands of the Union
provides a base for the development and implementation of
policies and laws to regulate any
Band's chosen responsibilities, so
that they can truly function as
governments—Indian
Governments.
•
WHERE DO WE GO
FROM HERE?
VICE PRESIDENT ELECTED IN
NORTHERN REGION
On November 16, 1979, delegates
from the Williams Lake, Fort St.
John and Lakes Districts met to elect
a Vice President for the Northern
Region of the Union of B.C. Indian
Chiefs in Prince George, B.C.
Eddy John, the interim vice president, chaired the meeting. The successful candidate was M r . Dennis
Patrick of the Nazko Indian Band,
who is also the Coordinator for the
Cariboo Tribal Council. His acceptance speech was business-like:
"Thank you for the confidence you
placed in me and the opportunity to
serve you. I've listened closely to
comments made regarding the problems of this region. I suggest that we
form a Steering Committee today, to
do the following:
—develop a definite strategy to
—to develop a work plan to ensure
assist Bands in working at problems that we begin the task of problem
outlined
solving
two years ago in Penticton. I think
from my first observations that there
still has to be a lot of work done at the
community level. Especially in the
north where it seems communications
has broken down. A t the political
level with your elected Chief and
Council, I think they have begun to
understand Indian Government but
there has to be a lot o f work done
with the memberships and the administration in line with Indian Government. Since the General Assembly
we've had three, four Council meetings discussing our Indian Government and direction we're going.
Instead of scrambling and reacting
continually to Indian Affairs, we
have to establish long term developments, administrative changes, what
have you. I think a lot of Chiefs and
Councils are beginning to understand
what is necessary to re-establish our
spiritual base through our past."
M O R E EMPHASIS ON SPIRITUAL
BASE
T o senior Vice-President, Philip
Paul goes the last words: " T h e whole
breakdown of Indian people has been
in the area of mind, body, and spirit.
The foundation of our culture is
spiritual. We have to respond. We've
been dealing with the physical frustrations but the whole foundation o f
Indian people has always been a
spirituality based on the land. That
has to be promoted even more
strongly in the months and years
ahead. The conference was spiritually
based because any time you have
truth and honesty coming together,
something is bound to give. That is
—to act as a committee to evaluate
our progress
— to provide ongoing advice to
myself on developments in these
districts.
This group, along with the Chiefs
and Council members, would form a
positive and reliable work group so
that all the problems are not neglected.
The importance of the work to be
done is more than personal goals, and
I pledge myself to understanding the
difficulties and working towards improvement o f the situation.
In this Region there are many good
leaders who have not or are unable to
run for this important position and I
promise to try to involve them for
their expertise and assistance. I also
realize that some leaders prefer to
work at their own Band level and I
ask their assistance in the future.
what happened i n the last two or three
years of the U n i o n . There has been a
lot of truth and honesty and dedication and hard work going into what
is happening. A n y time you have
those forces working together they
are spiritual. T o get back to the value
structure we were talking about at the
Assembly, requires a lot o f hardnosed decisions about how we treat
our lands and how we respond i n
dealing with the land we now have. I f
we are really going to retain our
culture, then there are some pretty
hard decisions that have to be made.
The tough days of Indians doing
things for themselves, really expressing themselves, are now upon us.
Self determination means dealing with
the toughest of situations and using
all our resources to do it regardless o f
how difficult it i s . "
•
UBCIC NEWS 15
INDIAN
CHRISTMAS
A story by Beth Cuthand
"Christmas makes me sick," says Canute, "us running
around spending money, doing all the things the white
people do; cutting trees, buying fancy foods, expensive
toys. What for, Toes?"
"It's a good excuse for a big celebration, I say,"
answered Two Toes.
"No, Toes, I'm serious. Christmas is the Whiteman's
celebration. It's their God, their way. We're Indian,
Toes," said Canute, holding his friend's arm real hard.
"Look at my family. Sammy, over there by the skis—it
scares me to see the greed in his eyes." Two Toes didn't
say anything for a while, just looked around the store at
the fancy decorations, the busy people, busily buying big
presents that would take months of fried bologna to pay
back.
"I wish we didn't have Christmas at all. This is going
to be the last time," Canute went on. "Every year I get
mad that we have to do these things. It's the kids, Toes. I
do it for the kids. Why? What for? It's not our way. I
feel. . . "
"Compromised?" said Two Toes, who knew a lot of
big English words.
"Yes Toes, I'm going against my own ways, my
beliefs." Canute looked real serious. Sometimes Two
Toes worried about his young friend. Canute's thoughts
made the old man uneasy. Two Toes was thinking hard
now, trying to ease his friend. "I go to Church with my
Grannie eh? Ever wonder why Canute?"
Canute nodded and looked intently at his old friend.
Two Toes continued. "I always used to fight it because I
thought it wasn't Indian. A medicine man helped me sort
it out. I met him at a gathering and for some reason sat by
him. We were quiet for a long time and then he turned to
me and looked me right in the eye and said 'If you asked
me to go to your church and pray with you, I would. I'd
kneel and pray with you if that's how you prayed. I'd
stand and sing with you, if that's how you sing. But when
I prayed, I'd pray in my own way to the Good Creator.
You wouldn't know because you would be praying too: in
your own mind, in your own way. But we would be
worshipping the same Being together. You would call him
"God" and 1 would call him "Good Creator." I would
worship with you in your church, if you asked me to.'
That's all he said, Canute, but it stays with me. I go to
Church with my Grannie because she asks me to. I'm not
sure how, but that man's message has something to do
with your problem, Canute."
Canute was disappointed, angry. He didn't say
anything, just turned and walked away. Two Toes
watched after his friend. He had an overpowering urge to
go hunting. A deer or moose would be nice for the
celebration, he thought.
UBCIC NEWS 16
When Two Toes came home a week later, he found a note
from Canute asking him to come to a family meeting on
Friday to talk about Indian Christmas.
Two Toes felt relieved. 'Canute must have figured
something out,' he thought. 'I think today is Friday. I'd
better go see Grannie and phone him.'
Grannie was 96. She lived alone in a little log house
next door to her grandson Two Toes whom she always
called by his given name.
"Norbert, you're just in time," she said as Toes
clomped into the house. "Take your boots off." Grannie
stood by the kitchen table nearly hidden by a giant bowl
into which she was busily mixing nuts, carrots, candied
fruit, raisins, spices, flour and the occasional splash of a
nameless liquor. "Canute has kept coming by every day,
ranting and raving about Indian Christmas. Young fool
thinks he's just invented it!" Grannie took a swallow of
the liquor and continued mixing, mixing the dough.
"I didn't know you drank alcohol," Toes said in
surprise.
"There's a lot of things you young people don't
know," said Grannie to her 60 year old grandson. She
wiped her hands on her apron. "Sit down Norbert," she
said kindly, taking his big rough hand in hers. She poured
two little glasses of the dark brown liquor. "Don't look
so surprised. You're old enough to share a little drink with
the Old People. Alcohol is not a bad thing as long as you
don't lose your dignity. The Evil is in the indignity." Two
Toes took a little sip and looked soberly at his Grannie.
"I buy a small bottle of this rum every year at this time to
put in my Christmas cake. A long time ago before you were
even born, when I was a young woman, I thought and
decided to bake a Christmas Cake like the white ladies
do. I got all the baking goods together. It cost a lot of
money and grandfather had to sell four beaver pelts to
help pay for them, even though he didn't think much of
it. He thought I was trying to be something I wasn't. The
recipe which I got from the minister's wife called for 1
cup of rum. Your grandfather wouldn't hear of it." The
old lady chuckled and sipped her drink. "I mixed up the
Christmas cake on Stir-up Sunday as the white people call
it, 6 weeks before Christmas. I wrapped up the cakes and
put them away to season. D o you know what happened,
Norbert?" Two Toes shook his head.
" C o m e Christmas day, I brought the cakes out and
unwrapped them. M y children were all excited, especially
your mother, Norbert. She always loved sweets. Your
grandfather was excited too. Y o u see, he knew that cake
was a gift. I was giving away something that I had put a
lot of love into. Even though it was foreign, your
grandfather could respect that." Grannie's eyes were
misty and far away. Two Toes held her old, frail hand
and waited for her to continue.
"The cakes were spoiled, Norbert," she said softly.
"They were mouldy and dry. A l l those expensive fruits
and nuts were spoiled. Y o u see, my son. the rum was
supposed to be there. It helps preserve the cake and
makes it moist."
"Was grandpa m a d ? " asked T w o Toes.
" N o , " the old woman replied. " H e felt guilty. Ever
since that Christmas, for as long as he was alive, he
always bought me a small bottle of rum. Every year, he
would help me stir the cake and we would sit together
afterward, as we are doing today. We would enjoy this
drink together as the cake baked in the oven. It was a time
when we would discuss the things that we would give
away to our children, our relatives and our friends.
Y o u ' d better hurry n o w , " she said, once more rising and
bustling about. " Y o u r good friend needs you n o w . "
Two Toes hurried over to Canute's house, thinking
about what his Grannie had said. He felt a big lump in his
throat and a tinkling laughter deep inside. Canute met
him at the door looking defiant and willful.
" I thought you weren't c o m i n g , " he said. " C o m e in,
the meeting is about to start." Everyone was sitting at the
table. The girls looked glum. Sammy looked resentful,
Mary Anne bewildered and John Henry sober and
dignified as usual. Canute's Grannie sat serenely with a
slight smile playing on her lips'. Two Toes sat down beside
Grannie, trying to arrange his face to look supportive and
serious but the tinkle wouldn't go away.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking about Christmas,"
Canute began. "Every year we all get uptight and worried
over nothing. Every year all I hear is 'I want, I want' until
it drives me m a d . " Canute was getting wound up. "This
year things are going to be different!" Canute thundered,
striking the table with his fist. " W e ' r e all Indian, right?"
Eight heads nodded up and down. " W e l l we should act
like Indians, right?" Eight heads nodded up and down.
" T h i s year, we're going to celebrate Christmas. . . "
The kids breathed a collective sigh of relief and Canute
looked intensely at the family around the table. " B u t
we're going to celebrate it the Indian way. Christmas is a
good excuse for a celebration. Toes told me that last
week. Well, we're going to celebrate. We're going to give
thanks for all the gifts the Creator has given us. Each one
of us will have a give away on C h r i s t m a s Day as a way of
giving thanks for our own gifts. D o you understand?"
Canute was more relaxed now he went on. " A n d the
special meal we eat will be a feast for our relations who
have gone before. They are part of us too and we must
always remember them."
Canute began to pace across the kitchen floor. H e was
thinking aloud. "Since the whiteman came, Christmas
has become a part of our lives. We can't make it go away
but we can give it the respect that it deserves in our own
way by our own beliefs. W i l l you try it this w a y ? " Canute
appealed to his family.
" Y o u mean we'll give away prints and towels and
scarves and things like that?" asked Melinda, looking
doubtfully at her sisters. " A n d you wouldn't get m a d ? "
"It's up to us, we have to discuss i t , " said Canute.
"That's why I called this meeting so we could decide
together. After all, we all have to live with it and be
comfortable. What do you t h i n k ? "
Two Toes sat beside Canute's Grannie, as the family
discussed the upcoming celebration. Once in a while he'd
catch her eye and they'd chuckle softly for no reason that
could be said in words.
•
UBCIC NEWS 17
O n September 27, 1978, David
Spinks from Lytton B . C . was charged
with unlawful possession of three fish
and unlawfully fishing by means of a
net. The same defence was available
in the Spinks court case as the defence
arising from the Bradley Bob decision. This case upheld the reserve
right to fish, but found that there was
a legal area in law for the Federal
Government to regulate fishing for
the purpose of conservation. A s a
result of this, it was necessary to
approach the Spinks case from a
different point of view.
O n November 8, 1979 in Lillooet
court, the U B C I C Legal Advisors
argued that the statement made by
Spinks to the fisheries officer at the
time of his arrest was involuntary.
While on trial, 19 year old David
Spinks admitted he had been scared.
H e had told the officer he didn't
know the area was closed to fishing.
The officer asked, "Whose fish are
these?" There was no reply from
David or his brother who was with
him at the time. The officer said, " I f
you don't tell me you both could be
charged." David then said, " O K ,
they're mine." H e made further
statements after the officers said
they could be taken into custody.
The Legal Advisor said, " T h e
judge didn't agree with us. We put
David on the stand and the judge
found that part of the statement was
involuntary but the part of the
admission which was damaging came
before there was any pressure put on
him."
by the Indian people in the case was
one of great importance for the
Indian people.
The Advisor said, " D a v i d Spinks
case was sort of like that of the
Bradley Bob case and Spinks had
been through a great deal in coming
to court and having his case put over
so long to see what would happen
with the Bob case. The judge was very
sympathetic with that position and so
he gave Spinks a discharge."
After the long five hour court case,
Spinks said, " I ' m glad it's finally
over."
J U D G E DOESN'T THINK C O N FISCATED FISH WILL B E R E TURNED
The same day in Lillooet court,
Frank L i n k from Shalalth Indian
Band also appeared. O n July 16, 1978
he was charged by a fisheries officer
with illegal fishing. Four fish and one
net were confiscated from him.
However, the Federal Fisheries Department dropped the charges against
L i n k . The judge said it was certain his
net would be returned before next
spring, but unlikely that the fish
would be returned.
•
RESERVE RIGHT TO FISH
UPHELD
Sam Mitchell, left, never misses a
fishing case in Lillooet.
UBCIC NEWS 18
" S o all the C r o w n prosecutor had
to prove is: David was fishing with a
net and he was fishing above the C P
Railway bridge at Mission on the
Fraser River. H e proved all of these."
The judge said it was hard to come
to a decision but "the defendent is
guilty as charged." The Legal A d v i sors gave a submission that Spinks
should be given a discharge because
he was helping out his family by
fishing for food.
" A l s o because it arose out of some
of the 1978 charges along the lines of
the Bradley B o b case, we argued he
should be given a discharge. The
judge agreed with us and gave him a
conditional discharge of six months."
The Legal Advisor said the reason
why the judge gave a conditional discharge was because of the Bradley
Bob decision, and the position taken
Frank Link's case was dropped but
he'll probably have to wait some time
for his net.
BELLA
COOLA
SMOKER PLANT
Pssssst.. .Wanna buy some smoked fish?
On our central coast, the Bella Coola
Indian tribe has opened their own fish
processing plant, which will focus on
the smoking and vacuum packaging
offish. Sam Moody, a Band member
who worked a long time towards
getting the plant established, gives
this report of what is happening with
the Bella Coola Smoker Plant.
In Bella Coola we now have our
own processing plant where we fillet
fish, and smoke it and vacuum pack it
for marketing i n the North American
market. It is primarily salmon right
now. The bulk o f the work involves
the actual filleting. It can be tiresome,
but then that is an art in itself.
the smoke is applied on a continual
basis. It requires very little maintenance. One person can operate it for an
eight-hour shift, and i n that time we
can smoke roughly 350 to 400 pounds
of fish, depending on the filleting.
We are also marketing our own
chips. We have an agreement with the
Department of Forestry to acquire the
alder wood for chips. We purchased a
ten thousand dollar chipper and we'll
be marketing chips to the lower
mainland and up to the interior. The
alder chips are used for smoking. We
chip them, age them, then semi-dry
them. They are the ideal wood for
smoking.
ping. In the future we'd like to get
somebody to undertake and manage
the chipping operation from the
Band. We're trying to work i n
conjunction with Forestry, i n what
they call cutting/clearing. Our chipper crew would work on a contract
basis to make it easier and I guess it
would be to the advantage o f the
Department o f Forestry, because i n
the practice o f cutting and clearing,
the alder and the other deciduous
woods are just dropped and left there.
Our chipper crew could chunk it up
and haul it out, but right now it's just
too expensive to Forestry to do this
type o f operation.
We are planning to buy fish directly
from the fishermen this year, our own
Band fishermen and through the
services o f a chartered packer boat.
But we're going to be open to
everybody and anybody: we want as
much fish as we can get. W e ' l l also be
negotiating with a couple o f fishing
companies i n Vancouver to do some
custom smoking during the slack
periods.
Right now, our capacity is roughly
8,000 pounds a week. That's going
with two shifts and depending o n
what kind o f filleting we do. The
filleting is done by two women, Grace
Hans and Gloria Tallio. Joey Nappi
and Peter Siwallace are the shop
foremen and I ' m the product manager.
For the smoking, we ordered a
smoke unit from H u l l , England. The
machine controls the temperature and
the amount o f air that's getting i n .
Y o u can recycle the smoke. It cooks
with an automatic smoker unit, where
fish is put into the smoker unit and
The chipper machine is a spinofffrom the smoker plant and soon will be a
business in itself.
We will be sending them to other
plants; we've had quite a few inquiries about our chips. That's more or
less a spinoff from our smoker plant,
and it's going to be a full time
operation within itself.
It's quite a tedious task to get wood
from the actual site and do the chip-
Forestry can go i n , drop the trees
and finish their project within their
time period, and when they're out o f
there and we go i n and clean up,
cutting the branches off, quartering
the alder and hauling it out. O n other
sites the tree would just be dropped
and quartered and left. Forestry
UBCIC NEWS 19
would rather see the Bands haul the
wood out. We have a supply for the
next fifty years at least; it's a rotating
supply. The Forestry Department is
about 25 years behind i n their cut and
clearings but we'd like to concentrate
on just smoking. W e are just preparing a proposal for the upcoming year.
We have received some good news
just this month. W e got our processing licence. Earlier, before we applied
for our licence, we were testing the
food fish done by the people on our
reserve. We did a lot o f testing: we
would ask the people to get the fish
and we would smoke it for them. A l l
we were doing was trying to perfect
our technique. Then Fisheries came
along and asked us i f we had a
processing licence, at the time we
were just about to apply. They said i f
we didn't have a licence we couldn't
smoke any food fish.
We established a Board o f Directors, all Band members, but I would
like to get some points of view from
professional people like bank managers and company managers. In A p r i l
when we start in full operation
commercially, we'll be competing
with the bigger companies, and i n
order for us to succeed I think we
need some outside information.
The Federal Bank seems to be
really interested i n what we are doing
right now and the Special A r d a . We
need some sort of professional advice.
The actual planning of the processing plant started back i n 1975.
Actually the idea came to me when I
was working with the Indian Fisheries
Assistance Program and I knew this
Band was struggling hard to try to set
up an economic base here. It was
being sold at present. Y o u can only
keep frozen fish for so long and then
they have to do something with it. W e
can smoke it. Once it's smoked,
and vacuum packed there's not too
much problem with spoilage; it can be
put into a refrigeration unit, and it
will store indefinitely.
We will be experimenting with
smoking herring and ground fish such
as black cod, ling cod and rock cod.
We are now negotiating supplies
and soon we'll be able to do custom
smoking for other Bands and companies. It just depends on our
capacity to get raw products. What
we plan to do, as part of our
marketing, is to get a supply o f
salmon solely for samples from our
smoker.
There is some concern that we'll be
shipping all our salmon out of the
valley but we hope to supply a local
Grace Hans and
Gloria Tallio, Peter
Siwallace, Joey
Nappi, Sam
Moody fillet,
smoke and pack
about 8,000
pounds of salmon a
week with the
automatic smoker
unit.
Photo: Bella Coola
Smoker Plant
There were so many things we
didn't think oft W e found it very
difficult right at the beginning because everybody was preoccupied
with their own work: they changed
project offices and officers within the
L E A P Canada Manpower right at the
beginning of the project. There were
all kinds o f foul-ups and I was ready
to give up, but we held i n there. W e
got a lot of support from our Chief
Councillor and from the staff.
UBCIC NEWS 20
obvious what sort of resource you
could tap to set up an economic base;
either forestry or the fishing industry.
It finally materialized during 1978; we
actually got funds in mid-March,
1979 and we started operations
then, preparing everything.
Right now we are looking at a lot o f
fish sitting i n Vancouver i n freezer
plants. The market isn't too strong
right now because there is no fish
store and maybe set up our own Band
store.
Everything was touch and go for
quite a while, but I think we're in the
right groove now. The one thing that
was really good was our Chief
Councillor asked us to smoke salmon
for the feast during the U B C I C
General Assembly. We sent roughly
300 pounds down. We got a lot o f
good compliments which we all take
the credit for!
•
INDIAN
AGRICULTURE
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
Agriculture on Indian Reserves has long been regarded
as little more than a subsistence enterprise. On numerous
occasions I have heard the remark Indians are not
farmers. This statement may be true in some areas o f this
province, but the fact is that Indians participate of a large
extent in the provincial farm labour market.
Over the past 30 plus years agriculture on reserves has
become almost invisible. Before that, Indians were very
much involved in agriculture. A surface inspection of
many reserves will indicate a very definite pattern o f
agriculture land use.
Even though the majority o f agricultural activity on
Indian reserves did deteriorate over this period, some
agricultural ventures did flourish, and during the late 60's
and early 70's agriculture on Indian reserves began to
emerge once again. Many of these projects became large
corporate Band farms. In many instances these large
projects were short lived. Lack o f training, capital and
overall planning made the transition from what was a
family farm to a large corporate entity impossible in most
cases.
During the early stages of the Western Indian
Agricultural Corporation the problems of farming on
Indian reserves were discussed in great detail. The large
number of people participating in those discussions was
an indication of the need for agricultural services.
Farming for the purpose of making a living has
experienced some dramatic changes. Technological
advancements are equally prevalent in agriculture as they
are in other Economic Sectors.
For this reason the Western Indian Agricultural
Corporation has approached Indian Agriculture from a
training and extension service perspective. The Corporation deals mainly with the upgrading of an Indian farmer
or a potential Indian farmer's agricultural skills.
The Corporation offers its services to any person or
groups interested in Agriculture. Agricultural workshops
dealing with agricultural topics and
management
practices are held in various parts o f the province. The
type o f workshop held depends upon the type o f
agriculture in that area, plus the requests for specific
topics from interested people.
These workshops are developed to assist the farmer or
potential farmer in making his/her project more
manageable and viable.
The Corporation has been involved i n the development
of agricultural proposals for financing, training and
overall planning. The Corporation does not do the work
but assists the farmer in any way possible through
extension and training services. The Corporation does
not get involved in the financing o f projects: this
responsibility lies outside the objectives of the
Corporation. The main objective is to develop farmers,
not create and manage projects.
A t present, the Corporation is working towards
developing a 4 H program within the province. The
objective is to involve young people in the area of
Agriculture. These 4 H Clubs will be developed along the
lines best supported by the respective communities. In the
majority of Indian communities situated in the
agicultural zones very little incentive is present to
entourage young people to become involved in
agriculture.
Leadership in the agricultural Economic Sector must
be developed and the agricultural potential o f reserves be
protected and developed to ensure the interests of the
comm\nity are protected.
by Bob Pasco
UBCIC
NEWS 21
LYTTON WATER WAR
Reynold Blanchford and his wife Ellen have been ranching in Lytton for
over twenty years.
Reynolds Blanchford, also known
as Buck Thomas, and his wife Ellen
live on IR 17 at Lytton. Living two
miles from the ranch has caused
hardship but D . I . A . refused to build
anywhere else but there. Reynolds is
founder of the Lytton Range Patrol
and president for first two terms,
president o f the Lytton band's Cattleman's Association, a member o f the
Lillooet Livestock Association and
Band Councillor.
The ranch is located on 12 acres o f
land in the Bothanie Valley and has a
little apple orchard in it. The terrain
makes it difficult and sometimes even
dangerous to cultivate with a tractor;
a team of horses for year-round use is
more practical.
Ranching began as a hobby some
twenty years ago and Reynolds
Blanchford remembers the first five
calves he had. He now has a breeding
stock o f Hereford, Angus and short
Horns, totalling forty five. " A t the
sale in Kamloops, I got top prices for
twenty two calves. That's really good
considering all the other ranchers'
competition. I think that's something
to stick my chest out f o r . " T o totally
appreciate that statement, one must
be fully aware of the background.
UBCIC NEWS 22
O f all the difficulties besides tourists, vandals, predators and rustlers,
the greatest frustration faciig Band
members who farm and ranch in
Lytton is the business of Wjter Rights
and Water Licences. Water licences
are issued by the Provincial Water
Rights Branch, supposedV to control
water use, to ensure that everyone has
an equal share and opportunity.
There are Priority Licences to ensure
that a bottom or low ranch in a water
system gets water first but in this case
It hasn't worked. There is no way to
monitor amounts o f water taken by
the big ranches who sometimes use
over 100-120 sprinklers, allowing
little or no water to reach the bottom
line. T o add to their difficulties, St.
George's School on Lytton Reserve
has been leased to a white rancher for
$100 per month and he feels he's
entitled to share their water licence
rights because he's living on the
reserve. T o top matters off, D I A ,
who holds the Band's water licences,
has already transferred two water
licences to the lessee in 1978. When
D I A is questioned, their response is
they are "researching" it. Reynolds
said, " T h e non-Indian ranchers
should make their own ditch. We
have no water now. W h y should they
come and take what little we do have.
If they use our water, they should
compensate us for 20 years of work
that kept the water coming."
Buck Thomas got top prices for his calves this fall.
These flumes, built nearly 70 years ago, bring precious water to tne
Blanchford farm.
It took eight Band members fifteen
years to build the ditches for irrigation in their spare time around the
early 1900's. It was built without any
professional engineering skills, technology or machinery. The first (top)
ditch is all open but some water is lost
because of seepage. The second ditch
runs along the bottom through some
pretty steep hillsides and flumes are
then used in these areas. There are
constant disruptions to the flow o f
water: pine needles, huge boulders,
branches, leaves, and sand must be
constantly cleared at all times. A
breakdown means dropping everything, and could happen at any time
of day but can't be ignored or else
water is lost. These ditches have been
maintained, solely and independently
by the individual users of the ditch.
Still, other farmers and ranchers have
the audacity to accuse them of
wasting water.
The irony of the situation is that all
this work doesn't bring water at
times. The Blanchfords had a poor
growing season this year with only
200 bales. He needs at least 3,000
bales and had to buy some locally.
" I f they just leave our water alone,
instead of hogging it, we would be
Regulating the water supply to make
every drop count.
self-sufficient. Then this neighbour
has the nerve to sell me hay, which
had been rained on. It was raised with
our own water: boy, that really
burned me u p . " The Union of B . C .
Indian Chiefs Legal Task Force is
now looking into the Water Licence
business.
About four years ago, Reynolds
suffered heavy losses to cattle rustlers. The stories sound like a western
novel come to life. One night, he
relates, a van was parked, hidden
from view and so suspicious that he
sawed a tree, across the road and sent
someone to report it to R . C . M . P . ,
while he investigated. He challenged
them, at which the men became
extremely angry at first and refused
any explanation, yelling they were
going to report it: until they found
out that it was already being reported.
The intruders cooled down. This is
how the Range Patrol began.
One cannot help but be impressed
with the achievements, considering
the size, terrain, hardships created by
the water situation and share the
rewarding feeling when he received
top prices for his calves. " I like what
I'm doing, that's why I'm raising
cattle."
•
UBCIC NEWS 23
Albert Dunstan has a small
farm high in the mountains
above Lytton, facing "The
Woman
Who Always
Sleeps." He still lives in the
house his parents built, with
no electricity, but in a truly
beautiful setting.
Nine years
ago he renewed his interest
in the family ranch, got a
loan, bought machinery
and cultivated the land. He
paid back that loan and also
bought cattle. He now has
twenty-five breeding cattle
(that's the calving barn on
the right); and has about 50
head of cattle in all.
FARM FLOURISHES
AGAIN
Water for irrigating forage
crops and market conditions are the main topics of
conversation (with WIAC
fieldworker George Saddleman here) and the major
worries of a mountain
rancher.
PREGNANCY TESTING IN COWS
by Judith Joe
Throughout the Nicola Valley, the
Okanagan and other ranching areas,
machines are being used to determine
pregnancy in cattle. This preg-testing
operation is sponsored by the Western Indian Agriculture Corporation.
The cow pregnosticator is made by
Animark Incorporated, i n A u r o r a ,
Colorado, U S A .
The detection o f pregnancy can
save money. Early pregnancy detection enables you to cull non-producers, thus saving feed and maintenance costs. This also enables you
to sell early, before the market is
saturated, and results i n higher profits.
The cow pregnosticator detects
pregnancy externally, quickly and
accurately, with ultra sound waves.
Pulses o f sound are transmitted
through the body: you use the same
principle as sonar or radar. Cows may
be checked in a shute with a single
operation in as little as thirty seconds.
Dairy cows may easily be checked
during milking. In dairies, the cow
pregnosticator is also proving valuable for keeping records. It permits
accurate culling and replacement,
based on early pregnancy detection.
The use o f the instrument enables
breeders to keep cows producing
longer and from missing cycles, also
to cull open animals. It is useful in
detecting false pregnancies that are
indicated by infections, post abortion, uterus disturbances, cystic ovaries, hormone therapy and usual
phenomena such as mummified foetus, surgical scars and adhesion from
old pregnancies.
The cow pregnosticator is 100%
accurate in what it shows. The
accuracy rate is more than 90% at
forty days after breeding your herd.
External pregnancy testing shortens
the time it takes to test a herd. The
cow pregnosticator takes much less
time than palpation and eliminates
the heavy physical demand. It is easy
to use and you can check animals at
your convenience. B y preg-testing,
one cuts costs, increases productivity
and increases efficiency, resulting i n
higher profits. Preg-testing workshops have been held throughout the
Nicola Valley, the Okanagan i n
Vernon and Enderby and in Hazelton.
Judith Joe, below at a recent pregtesting workshop. Using the new 7
pound machine, seen here hanging
around her neck, Ms. Joe can check a
cow for pregnancy in as little as 30
seconds.
Judith Joe has cattle of her own.
She is ranching with her father in
Merritt. About two months ago,
W.I.A.C. was having a preg-testing
workshop in her area and she
happened to be interested. She went
down to Colorado with other fieldworkers to complete her training and
is now in business with her own
machine.
Indian farmers or Bands who
are interested in making use of this
early detection service should contact
Judith Joe directly at Box 1, Merritt,
B.C., Tel.: 378-5603, or through
W.I.A.C, 440 West Hastings, Vancouver, Tel: 684-0231.
UBCIC NEWS 25
At the St. Mary's Reserve Christmas trees are brought from the Band's tree farm and are unloaded at the tree yard for
trimming, tagging, and baling.
ST. MARY'S TREE FARM
The St. Mary's Indian Band is in
the process o f shipping out this year's
crop of Christmas trees to the United
States and Mexico. Dan Gravelle,
W . I . A . C . fieldworker in the Kootenays, showed our reporter around the
farm and explained how it came into
being and how things work.
The St. Mary's tree farm takes up
14,000 acres of the Band's 17,000
acres. The tree farm was started in
1974 by the Band. Before that,
companies would come in each year
and cut away at the Band's natural
forest for the Christmas trees: over
forty thousand trees were cut and
sold, but the Band received a very low
price.
The tree farm is managed by the
Band and all the cutting, pruning and
bailing is done by Band members.
The Band supplies the hand tools and
trucks for the cutting and hauling.
UBCIC NEWS 26
The Christmas trees are tagged, in preparation for the long haul to Mexico.
The St. Mary's Band realize they
must develop their young tree farm
into one that will produce excellent
trees every year. The Band is focusing
on a true development program so the
trees will need to be pruned each year.
It is all part of proper forest
management.
The Christmas tree comes from the
Douglas fir. In order to grow
properly they need a semi-arid climate. Compared to coast trees the
Douglas fir grows continuously
throughout the year. They are mature
enough for a Christmas tree at age
five.
U p to 1974 there was no control
over who bought the trees because
each year a set price was put on by big
corporations. Emerald and another
tree company, Poffer, would get
together each fall to settle a price.
Band members work long hours as one member is in the process of baling the
trees together.
by cutting away the Christmas tree
from the top, but there must be a live
branch left to carry on a cycle of
cutting the tree away, and letting
another grow. After the trees are cut
down to various lengths they are
hauled down to the tree yard where
they are graded or measured. The
Christmas trees come in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
and 12 feet lengths. The trees are
trimmed and ready to be put into
bails or bundles and are tagged
according to the size of the Christmas
tree. Once the tagging and bundling
process is done the trees are ready for
shipping.
The St. Mary's Band decided there
must be a way of getting a better price
so they released shipments of trees to
Phoenix, Arizona, and to other
buyers further down i n the States.
Now the competition for the trees is a
lot steeper. Now such firms as
Emerald Christmas Tree Company
and Poffer Company have cut down
Once the trees are ready for shipping, Band members observe everything is intheir orders to a minimum because o f
order.
all the competition there is from
Christmas tree firms in the Arizona
area and Mexico is ordering large
amounts of Christmas trees.
Each Band member is paid 5 cents a
tree and their day is from dawn to
dusk: about 28 men show up daily, in
the months of October and November.
This year's Christmas tree season
started October 15th, 1979. Before a
Douglas fir tree can be cut and
trimmed, it must have at least two
heavy frosts. The second heavy frost
freezes the tree, making it safe for the
cut. The trees are first of all pruned
The Band at this time is in the midst
of marketing an order to Mexico. The
order is for 30,000 Christmas trees
and there are other orders going to
various Christmas tree firms in the
States.
The St. Mary's Christmas tree farm
is rich in Douglas firs, and other trees.
With the new forest management, the
farm will no doubt go for a very long
time producing Christmas trees each
and every year, and supplying an
important part of the Christmas spirit
to places in the United States and
Mexico.
•
UBCIC NEWS 27
"playing a big role in information exchange among
If someone wants to go into farming, then they can go
listen to somebody else and recognize some of the areas
where they're lacking information and go from there.
The first workshop is for Financial Planning. Then the
Home Garden workshops are popular, to get more people
The Western Indian Agriculture Corporation has been
growing home gardens and having people realize the
growing fast during its first year in operation. The main,
and most effective communications with Indian farmers amount o f dollars that you save by doing that. We talk
about the common problems that occur with gardens—
and Bands interested in or involved in agriculture are
like when the bean leaves get discoloured, some people
through the field workers. There are now nine fieldmen
just leave the crop—when they could correct it or prevent
stationed throughout the Province. We talked to Chester
it by putting the right dust on it. A n d we talk about what
Douglas of the Cheam Band who is fieldman for the
Lower Fraser Valley:
..IN THE FIELD
What is your main purpose?
M y job is to create awareness that most Indian reserves
have a land base that they're not using, or that somebody
else is using, and that there is an agricultural potential
here. Then it is a question o f just relaying to them any
information that I have on any agricultural programs that
are available.
How do you go about this?
For students in the area I'm going to set up workshops.
It is very important to give them an idea o f the
opportunities in the field o f agriculture. I feel that this
part is important because a lot o f individuals that are
working now have a land base but they are too set in their
ways and have a kind o f psychological block that
prevents them from getting involved in their land and
going into some kind o f farming for themselves.
What kinds of training do you discuss with students?
Well you can get a good training out o f the school
system if you program your studies to a management type
of program. That's what agriculture is now—it is really
mainly management and economics. If you're going to go
into agriculture, some science courses would be quite
useful. Biology helps because it gives you an idea of what
is happening when your crop is growing, the breakdown
of the soil and the producing of the crop. It helps but you
don't really need to know that. Y o u can grow a good crop
of corn without knowing that the soil is breaking up,
because all that information is available to you i f you
follow the recommended management practices: for
instance, taking a soil sample and shipping it off to the
Department of Agriculture. They'll send you back a form
they have and it's got all the components in the soil and
what is lacking.
There's a lot of help available, then?
Oh sure. It's just a question o f contact. That's what
we're here for: to relay ideas to individuals, and the
information that is available. Then the workshops come
in and they learn how to find and use that information.
What kind of workshops have you planned in your area
As yet they haven't started in my area, but they will be
UBCIC NEWS 28
Pruning workshop at Mount Currie last winter.
can be done to prevent the bugs and what you can do to
put off the bugs i f they do get i n there. That's what it is
all about: just to let everybody know that something can
be done about it. There will be an A I workshop (Artifical
Insemination) mainly directed towards cattlemen.
And who would give this workshop?
The Milner staff. This is the B . C . A . I . Centre and they
set up the special courses. It's a five day course and it
goes through all the recommended procedures o f
artificial insemination.
Could someone who took this workshop go home and
practice in their area?
No, there would have to be a follow up course. I think
one of the Regional Colleges has a special course for AI
technicians. The worksho will give the participants the
basic knowledge o f how to do it, but there are
government restrictions that won't let them do it on
anybody's herds but their own.
Then there is the L A N D T E N U R E W O R K S H O P .
That's different from area to area in B . C . , but the land
tenure setup on Indian reserves is particularly sticky. Y o u
have Certificates o f Possession, Notice o f Entitlement,
Rights of Use and Occupation and they're all restricted in
the different ways in which you use land in your
possession.
This leasing is something I don't understand yet and
that's one o f the reasons I'd like to get this workshop
going on this really complicated subject. A lot o f people
could use more insight into this.
There are a lot o f workshops in all kinds of subjects,
ranging from beekeeping to beef herd management:
financial planning, machinery maintenance, irrigation,
fieldcrops, farm planning, land clearing, forage
harvesting, range management. If enough people are
interested in one subject, the fieldman i n the area will
plan out a workshop on it. So it's up to the fieldmen to
listen to the questions we're asked,and see the main areas
of interest.
and for M i k e van Joseph in Lillooet, there is mainly hay
and ranching, but his Pemberton area there is more
open. They are exploring all kinds of alternatives up
there. Some people are checking out beekeeping. Cecil
Louis is in the Okanagan which is ranching and some
Bands are getting into orchards. Jimmy Quaw is in the
Fort St. John/Dawson Creek area. There are two new
fieldmen coming in, one to serve the Island where there is
everything, from beef and dairy herds to vegetable co-ops
and berries. The other new fieldman will be going to the
Northwest. Doc Walkem is in the Williams Lake area.
George Saddleman is in the Merritt area. These two are
mostly ranching.
Do you see your roles changing as WIAC becomes more
Can a Band approach the fieldman with specific established
I think we'll get to know the whole procedure better.
instructions for a workshop?
Oh yeah, that's open to all Bands. If they want any
workshop on a subject that is agriculture-related then
we'll become involved.
Who pays? And who gives the workshops?
W I A C sponsors the workshops, and we have two
agrologists in the office—those are the highly technical,
specialised guys. W e ' l l also go to the Provincial Ministry
of Agriculture, Agriculture Canada and Research
stations and we'll try and get resource people from there.
For the most part they've been fairly co-operative.
This is a new company just a year old. There's new
employees. We started with only four fieldmen and more
are coming in the whole time so it's a learning process for
the fieldmen as well. In time the role of the fieldmen will
become more efficient. Whether we'll be looking for any
bigger goals I'm not too sure.
What got you interested in agriculture?
I like the business of farming. I think a lot o f
people could if they just recognize the economics of it. I
like to see the crop grow from there to there. I like to see a
crop harvested. It's kind of nice to watch a calf grow to a
large animal. I don't know if I had any real expectations
Hope Band talked of your being able to conduct training
when I went into the field of agriculture but I felt it was
there according to their needs. How does that work?
something I wanted to do.
Hope Band is a prime example of a Land Tenure
Finally, I think it is important that Bands must have
Mix-up, so we have to work out that whole question. The
something
to offer to young people after they complete
Hope Band has been attending a whole lot of workshops,
their
training,
in whatever field. I think Bands should try
picking up all sorts of information and ideas. They will
and
provide
work
opportunities for young people who
sort these out and approach us with more detailed plans
persevere
and
get
training—or
why should they bother
and then we'll go again from there.
committing their time?
•
What about College Courses? Can WIAC sponsor
anyone
A l l we can do is examine the courses and help
individuals choose the best programs for their needs. It's
important that individuals there design their courses
around their home operations.
WIAC WORKSHOPS S C H E D U L E D FOR J A N U A R Y
1980.
Do you each have your ownfieldof expertise or interest?
Jan.
Like you always talk of the management side of things.
Jan.
I don't know. I would think it depends more on
regional differences. Like in the north where Jimmy
Quaw works, they can't grow corn but we do in the
Fraser Valley. But we don't grow much hay in the Valley.
A n d we don't have the cow/calf operations that they do
in the Interior. Down here, it is more diversified. There's
fruit and vegetable operations. There's contract cropping
—where a Band or individual can contract with a
company to grow say a hundred acres o f corn o r beans or
onions for sale to a company.
Dan Gravelle in the Kootenays is mostly into ranching
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
11
14
16
18
21
21
22
Coqualeetza
Merritt
Kamloops
Chase
Lillooet B. Hall
Coqualeetza
Vernon
Financial planning
Calving
Calving
Calving
Bee Keeping
Home Gardens
Equipment
Maintenance
Jan. 28
Jan. 29
Jan. 30
Mt. Currie
Lytton
Kamloops
4H
/ Irrigation
Range
Management
Range Management
Jan. 31
Merritt
Range Management
UBCIC NEWS 29
COWBOYS AND
Eleven years ago, the Fountain
Band valley in the Lillooet area was
sage brush, bunch grass and ditches.
Now it is a successful ranching
operation.
No one was really into farming or
ranching other than one Elder, who
had 35 head o f cattle. Some other
people had two and three acre
spreads, but Sam Mitchell was the
only one working the land.
FOUNTAIN
BAND
RANCH
Fountain ranch runs 250
cattle on 600 acres of pasture. They're excited
about future plans for
another 150 cattle and 200
acres of irrigated land.
seeding.
They got a bulldozer and levelled
all the ditches, pulled out the fence
lines and then chopped the sage
brushes to the ground. In the first
year, the land was green and the
children were really happy because all
the reserve land was green.
Victor A d o l p h , Chief o f the Fountain Band, saw the land was good for
development and convinced the people with small land holdings to put it
into one operation. The Indian
Affairs Economic Development Department funded them to purchase
ranch equipment.
UBCIC NEWS 30
With this and money from the
Band itself, they bought the necessary
equipment to till over 400 acres o f
rugged land. They bought a 12 foot
wide swather called a conditioner to
cut hay, two balers, a wagon and
truck, three tractors, ploughs with
attachments and a Brillion Drill for
Today with a helping hand from
eight men in the summer, they run a
250 head cow/calf operation on 600
acres o f cultivated pasture, starting
from the Fraser River to Sallis Creek
and up the valley to Fish Lake.
The ranch has Domino bulls from
Chataway Ranch and their cows were
bought from B . C . Livestock i n
CROPPERS
Kamloops. They crossed their cattle
with Swiss Simmental. " T h e Swiss
Simmental mothers are milkers and
so the calf grows faster i n the summer
and they still retain the Hereford
colour."
The ranch raises their own horses
for range riding i n the mountains.
They have Straight Quarters and
Morgan Arabs. " T h e Morgan Arabs
got the spirit and the Quarter horses
have the strength."
Chief A d o l p h explained the cow's
cycle: " Y o u have to watch how you
calve the cows. Y o u time the mating
of the bull and cow! If you put them
together early, the mothers calves too
soon. Then you do your branding and
castrating; you put your ear marker
on and turn them out on the range
about M a y 15th."
Their hay is sold to one reliable
company. " O n e thing a rancher
doesn't want to do is sell hay and
have to chase all over to get his money
so we deal with one broken T o our
neighbors we sell small volumes or
whatever they need because they
don't have large herds.
The Band pays lease money to 48
locatees, the people who own land
under Band custom. They pay so
much an acre and it increases every
year according to productions. Things
are going well. " I think i n about five
years we will be debt free. The only
one we are obligated to pay now is
Indian Economic Development."
DEADMAN'S
F r o m the advanced Fountain
Ranch operation, we went to Deadman's Creek Indian Band near K a m loops, where individual families are at
different stages o f developing their
agriculture.
In the winter, they put their cattle
in a fenced pasture and haul hay to
them. The calves get pneumonia i f
it's too cold and icy. If anybody's
looking for an area to winter their
cows, they should be placed on the
sunny side of a land bank or bush.
Aged cows are sent to meat
markets. " L a t e calves calve even
later so we send them for beef to
Kamloops. Depending on the number
of sales, a liner will haul about 85
cattle but i f we sell 10, we can haul
them ourselves."
FARM RESURRECTED AT
CREEK
SHIPMENTS O F H A Y H A V E
B E E N 25 TONS SINCE TIGHTENING BALES
Special pens were built for emergencies. " I f we have any indication o f
illness, we have a pen where our boys
innoculate cattle for whatever cause.
They went to Dawson Creek and
Kamloops to train in innoculating
cattle."
we can't run as many head here as we
can up on the mountain range, we'll
develop the bottom land where the
water is and rotate them from one
pasture to the other. Last summer it
was dry, so our cows came down i n
the first part of A u g u s t . "
The Band at one time, in the
1940*s, was famous for their fruit
orchards and vegetable gardens, but
then production dropped right off.
Now there is a regrowth i n agriculture
and i n land development.
Horses are raisedfor range riding
Before, we were getting about 16 or
17 tons for a double semi-load so we
tightened up our bales and lengthened
them a bit and we filled our truck.
Now our shipments are 25 tons o f hay
and we sell whatever we can i n
volume."
The Fountain Band has four Senior
Councils of Elders who act as
advisors for the ranch operation.
They have plans for a future irrigated
pasture of 200 acres. Enough, says
the Chief, to support 150 head easy.
" W e ' l l start on the irrigated pasture next year. That will be with cooperation with Special A r d a . Because
There are 12 individual land holders in ranching and gardening. The
lots are large and designed more to
sustain horses and cattle. In 1974, the
cattle industry was in a slump and
anyone who was into agriculture was
just 'hanging i n . ' Now conditions
have improved again, the land holders raise cattle on the reserve and sell
to buyers of their choice. They
usually find an agent who knows the
best price for cattle.
The Band got a loan to buy
swathers, ploughs, balers and a
Massey Ferguson Tractor. Last year
they went into cutting, baling and
stacking hay on a share basis. A piece
of their land was seeded about six
years ago and yielded 35 acres o f
UBCIC NEWS 31
alfalfa hay. Alfalfa has been one o f
the Band's main sources of income.
About 1,000 acres of land are into
production but not all of it is under
Band control. The Band however is
counting on regaining control. Instead o f leasing out land they are
trying to encourage Band members to
get agriculture skills so that they can
run those operations themselves.
The Band is also looking at the
lumber industry, exploring possibilities of the kind o f revenue they could
generate, but also looking at what the
environmental results would be. Logging could be an important resource.
Breeding horses has always been
important. The people use their
horses in industry, and for pleasure
riding but the majority are- used for
rodeo events. The annual rodeo at
Deadman's Creek is the highlight of
the year for the Band and attracts a
lot o f visitors from all over the
Province.
Six miles from the reserve is 90
acres of unused land. W i t h Special
A R D A funding, the Band will develop the land and buy 50 more head of
cattle. A t the moment, they have 56
head of Hereford cattle. The lease
permit for the land allows for 100
cattle there.
Alfalfa hay benefits from the good soil ground.
The
Band Administration explained, "the cattle industry is looking at as much land as possible for
grazing. This is summer grazing land
and i f we don't put the cattle out
there, we may lose it. We want to
hold it for Band members, so that, as
they build their herds again, they will
have some grazing l a n d . "
The Band hopes to gain more
independence and speed up their
growth in agriculture. " W e hope in
the next few years, there will be
enough financial revenue to make
expansion possible. It's something the
Band can do, without having to go to
the bank or use any Special A R D A
programs."
The second project will include
growing, cutting and marketing o f
alfalfa hay. G o o d quality alfalfa sells
for one hundred dollars a ton.
Starting from scratch again and
exploring all agricultural projects has
meant a lot of ups and downs during
the last year or so. But that doesn't
seem to be holding anyone back.
About 30 years ago, Deadman's Creek was famous for their fruit and vegetable sales. Now an agricultural regrowth
is happening again.
UBCIC NEWS 32
ALASKA HIGHWAY GAS PIPELINE TERMS
AND CONDITIONS HEARINGS
THEY HEAR BUT
THEY DON'T LISTEN
The stated purpose o f the Terms
and Conditions Hearings i n the
Northeast is to make an opportunity
for the people to express their views
about the proposed pipeline through
their area. The proposed route is to
bring gas from Alaska, through the
Y u k o n and northeastern B . C . to join
the Alberta links with more pipelines
to the United States.
The Hearings opened i n Fort St.
John on November 19th, and moved
to the communities next day: to
Blueberry
River
Reserve
on
November 20th, Doig River Reserve
on the 21st and Halfway Reserve on
the 22nd. Hearings are planned in
East and West Moberley on the 24th,
Lower Post on the 26th, Fort Nelson
on the 28th and Prophet River on the
29th November.
HEARINGS OPEN IN FORT ST.
JOHN
Bands in the northeast have been
preparing for these hearings for over
a year. A l l traditional and present
land use was documented to support
their information and arguments.
This final Land Use Study was
presented on the first day o f the
hearings. The northeast Bands were
supported by groups from other areas
affected by the pipeline. Maggie
Stone, Annie Boya, R o y A b o u and
Andrew came down from Lower
Post. W i l f Jacobs, Pat Gravelle and
Lexine came from the Kootenay Area
Council.
The representatives
from
the
companies who would be involved in
the construction o f any pipeline
assured participants that their drafted
terms and conditions were just a draft
and
information
and
opinions
coming out of these hearings would
be definitely considered i n their final
draft. However, their attitude at thisd
first day's hearing was more of giving
information on what they proposed
to do and offering token reassurances
rather than listening to what anyone
else had to say.
UBCIC NEWS 33
BLUEBERRY
RESERVE
Feeling of frustration, o f not being
taken seriously, was increased at the
first Community Hearing. Pipeline
officials seemed deaf to the evidence
being presented by the Elders who
remembered the signing o f the Treaty
8 guaranteeing the right to hunt and
trap. They don't want to be fooled
any more. " F o o l e d " was a word that
came up over and over: fooled by
promises made i n the Treaty, fooled
by the officials who sold Reserve 172;
fooled by promises made by Kildonan
and the scare when the gas well
leaked.
The old people were firm. They
didn't want money compensation.
Dollars will be spent away: the land
will stay. If the pipeline comes i n , the
Elders stated, the game will go away
for a long time and they will die
before the land heals itself. They
want a piece of land that no one else
can use for hunting or trapping,
UBCIC NEWS 34
accessible only to their own people.
The feeling that the pipeline people
hadn't heard or understood the
evidence given by the Indian people
was expressed by Kenny Apsassin
who had been sitting quietly all day.
He stood up:
"You are just laughing, especially
the big shots. When all of this is
over, where is this going to leave
us?"
Clarence Apsassin summed up the
feeling of the Hearings at Blueberry:
"None of you guys can support us
the way these traplines have. What
do you care? A few dollars means
nothing. All the time you planned,
we were left out. You came, not to
listen, but to tell us the pipeline is
coming. We could tell you over and
over again but you still don't hear
what we say."
The Northern
Pipeline Agency
promised a second hearing.
DOIG RIVER RESERVE
A s the people arrived for the
Hearings at the Doig Reserve, they
passed Margaret Attache, Linda
MacAdahay and Beatrice Harding i n
the process of tanning a hide. There
was evidence of meat being dried.
Charles Dominique, an Elder,
spoke:
H A L F W A Y RESERVE
The little hall at Halfway Reserve
was warm and the smell of
moosemeat greeted the people at the
door. Thomas Hunter, the eldest was
the first to give evidence:
"The white man has money in the
bank; our riches is the furs and the
meat. The land is the Band and as
long as the land is there and the
game is there, we will never be
hungry."
"It's going to affect our grandchildren. I won't live much longer
but I really fear what the pipeline
is going to do for the game. It's
going to drive the game away.
What future is there then for my
grandchildren?"
The young people spoke very strongly
against the pipeline. Barbara Davis,
eighteen years old, spoke up:
"It will destroy our way of life.
There won't be as many animals.
This is my home no matter how
much you try to cover over damage
and return things back to normal.
White people have done a lot of
damage."
The Hearings closed with no answers
and many assurances from the pipeline officials that did not put
anyone's mind at ease.
Everyone feasted on moose meat,
rabbit and bannock and there was
singing of the traditional songs by
some of the Halfway men as pipeline
officials prepared to leave.
As
they were leaving, one
WestCoast Transmission official
asked his colleague: "Do you think
they've learned anything?", "they"
being the Indians. They still feel it is
the Indians who should be learning
something. Earlier that day, the same
official had admitted that "We didn't
even know you people were here. We
didn't know the price you put on your
hunting and trapping." They will
always claims that they didn't know
and we will always fear what they
may do out of ignorance.
UBCIC NEWS 35
AND THE URANIUM HEARINGS
ARE STILL GOING ON
Since the last update article on the Uranium Inquiry,
the Royal Commission has been focussing on the actual
methods of uranium production. A number of major
points have been identified during testimony and
cross-examination.
Only one company, Norcen, is at the moment seriously
developing plans to mine uranium. Many others are
exploring, but these companies have not yet presented
any information which indicates that they have reached
the mining stage. The Rexspar company which has a
deposit near Clearwater on the North Thompson, River
appears to have put its mining plans on hold, since its
testimony was that no work has been done on mine
development since 1977.
Solutions to many of the problems of uranium mining
have not yet been developed. This is admitted by even
those who favour uranium mining. However, these
proponents "of uranium mining believe that future
research will solve these problems and that the hazards
can be adequately contained until solutions are found.
Opponents of uranium mining argue it is foolish to put
this sort of trust in future research and that uranium
mining should not be permitted until the mining
companies can demonstrate that their activities pose no
risk to the environment or to health.
Waste materials produced during mining and milling
present the greatest hazard from uranium production.
These waste materials are normally stored in areas called
tailings ponds. Problems occur when these materials are
introduced to the water system of an area. A m m o n i a and
acids are used in the milling process and these are very
destructive to fish. However, the greatest hazard exists in
the radioactive nature of much of the waste rock stored in
the tailings area. These tailings remain radioactive for
thousands of years and present a potential hazard to the
environment and to health for untold generations. Yet
the experts agree that there is as yet no means to dispose
of this hazardous waste and can only suggest that the
waste be stored until a means of disposal is discovered.
The government agencies in charge of protecting the
public and the environment have a policy that radiation
exposures and the release of pollutants to the environment should be "as low as reasonably achievable." It
became clear during the hearings that this means that a
protection measure is "unreasonable" i f it puts a
uranium mining company out of business. Instead of
asking, "Is uranium mining safe?"; the government
agencies are asking, " C a n the company afford to mine i f
it is required to protect the environment?"
The results of this policy can be understood by looking
at the devastating impact uranium mining has had on the
Serpent River Band of Northern Ontario. Before uranium
UBCIC NEWS 36
mining was introduced onto their tribal lands, the Band
fished and trapped extensively in the Serpent River Basin.
Today no trapping or fishing is possible and in the early
1970's the Federal Department of Health told the Band
not to eat the fish or to even drink the water from the
Serpent River. A n d the testimony of a representative of
the government agency in charge of controlling uranium
mining was that these results were foreseeable when
uranium mining was permitted to go ahead. However, the
Band has not been compensated for its losses and both
the government and the uranium companies refuse to
accept any responsibility.
HEARINGS SCHEDULE EXPANDED
In response to pressure from the U . B . C . I . C . and other
public interest groups, the Royal Commission has
expanded the Inquiry schedule. Technical Hearings will
be scheduled until the end of June and Community
Hearings will now be held in September and October. The
Commission has indicated that it is willing to hold
hearings on Reserves and any Band interested in this
happening should contact the Energy and Resources
Department of the U . B . C . I . C .
•
12th Annual Sr. Men's
Native Invitational
Moccasin Hockey
Tournament
February 2nd & 3rd
Saturday & Sunday
1980
Location:Merritt, B.C.
10 Teams
Prizes
Trophies
Entertainment
Dances
EVERYONE WELCOME
UP-DATE
GITSKAN CARRIER SECOND A N N U A L TRIBAL
CONVENTION
The Gitskan - Carrier
Tribal Council's Convention was held at Kispiox on
November 7, 8 and 9. The
theme
was
Education:
"Learning Today, Leading
Tomorrow."
Learning Today,
Leading Tomorrow
Reports were presented
on Council business such as
Outreach,
Courtworkers,
Alcohol program, Fisheries
study and L a n d Claims.
Resolutions were passed on
education, unemployment
and Unemployment Insurance.
Speakers at the Convention included Keith Jamieson
from the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians, Phillip
Paul from the U B C I C and Gordon Reed. The speeches
were all well accepted by the people there.
The main presentation went to G o r d o n Reed, the
Indian Principal o f the John Field Elementary School in
District 88. The presentation was to recognize the fact
that he is an Educator and has worked his way to the
Principal o f the School.
A feast was held during the Convention. Traditional
dancing made the occasion memorable and enjoyable.
[Report from Bill Blackwater and Mel Bevin]
MURIAL JOE'S BLOCKADE
Murial Joe is still meeting with Duncan City Council
over the rights to her land. There is a new mayor in
Duncan who is familiar with the issue.
Her blockade is still standing declaring that is her land.
The U . B . C . I . C . News would also like to apologize to
Murial. Please read i n the October issue on page 9 that
Murial's family name is Whinams.
A L E R T B A Y H E A L T H ENQUIRY
A health enquiry has been granted to the Kwakwelth
District Council i n Alert Bay B . C . Newly appointed
Co-ordinator for the council, Ernie Willie, says the
nature o f the enquiry is still unclear and is to be
negotiated between the Kwakwelth District Council with
National Health and Welfare Minister, Dave Crombie
and his personnel.
The Alert Bay District Council would like to have
health care under their control and are aiming at the
middle of January, 1980, for the enquiry. The enquiry,
said Willie, will be reviewed i n the fairest manner possible
for the delivery of health services to Indian people. H e
said the enquiry is a good beginning but not yet the
solution.
FOUNTAIN BAND M E E T S DIA MINISTER
Fountain Band Chief Victor A d o l p h met with Indian
Affairs Minister Jake Epp on November 8, 1979 at the
Hotel Vancouver to talk about the fishing problems his
Band is experiencing.
" W e were pleased with the meeting because o f Epp's
sincerity that he was going to go and talk with James
M c G r a t h , Department of Fisheries Minister, and L o m e
Greenaway, M P , at some time in the near future."
Chief A d o l p h says they are expecting to meet with
them in the first week o f December. " T h i s will be a
preliminary meeting to go over the conditions and
by-laws to determine to what extent we can make
amendments to the present act regarding Indian food
fishing for the Indian B a n d . "
He said the Fountain Band wants control over their
reserve land. "It was agreed in 1976 that the Department
of Fisheries does not have the authority to issue permits
to anyone outside the Band, without first having a permit
from the Fountain Band C o u n c i l . "
He said, " T h e Federal Fisheries has been trespassing
and these are some of the things we want resolved.
There's no way the fisheries act can't be amended. It can
be amended."
" W e are prepared to talk over the winter months but
only at the ministerial level. Two metings won't resolve it,
possibly the third one. Epp agreed fully that there must
be something resolved before the next fishing season."
UBCIC NEWS 37
UP-DATE
BEAVER REPORT O N SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELO P M E N T R E J E C T E D B Y NIB A N D PTO'S
The National Indian Brotherhood called a meeting
of Provincial/Territorial Organization representatives
for November 15 and 16 in Ottawa. The main purpose of
the meeting was to review the context and value of the
Beaver Report on social and economic development of
Native people in Canada.
The representatives present were quite unanimous in a
decision to recommend rejection of the Report by the
Executive Council of the National Indian Brotherhood.
It was generally felt that i f the report was accepted in
its present form, it would have certain negative effects on
Native social and economic development throughout the
land.
The group immediately sought alternatives for
recommendations to the Executive Council.
WATER CONTROL ON RESERVE LAND
A follow-up meeting on this issue has been scheduled
for Tuesday, 27 November, at 10:00 a.m. in the
U . B . C . I . C . Boardroom at 440 West Hastings, Vancouver.
The purpose of this meeting is to begin concrete action
on the various problems Band representatives raised at
the first meeting in October.
Band representatives are invited to attend to discuss the
action they need on their reserves with the government
officers responsible for the programs available in this
field.
The Western Indian Agricultural Corporation has
appointed a fieldworker to deal with specific Band
situations over the winter.
CONFISCATED FISH: R A L P H G E O R G E
F E D E R A L FISHERIES
SUES
U p to now, when Indian fishermen are confronted by
Fisheries officers, the accused upon his arrest has had his
fish, net and sometimes his vehicle confiscated by the
Fisheries Department. In the 34 cases that the U B C I C has
dealt with this year, there have been approximately 510
fish and 3 nets seized by Fisheries. These confiscated fish
have been either left to be freezer burnt, given away or
sold to charity institutes for $1.00.
The reason the Fisheries department gave for selling
the fish was that they were unable to keep the fish for
long periods of time without it becoming inedible.
However, the fish are not needed as evidence during the
UBCIC NEWS 38
court hearings, as the fish themselves are in fact not
illegal, unlike drugs for example. So there is no real
reason for confiscating the fish in the first place.
Ralph George's case which he won in Chilliwack court
March 16, 1979, is a prime example of unfair dealings by
the Fisheries department and the courts.
The case has become precedent-setting in that it will
determine exactly what the responsibilities of the
Fisheries department will be in future instances. The
decision will determine what will happen in the other
cases of confiscated fish, such as the Larry Ned and
Donna Villeneauve cases.
The Union of B . C . Indian Chiefs on behalf of Ralph
George has sued the Attorney General of Canada, the
Queen, represented by the Department of Fisheries and
the individual Fisheries officials involved. The suit is for
damages and negligence in the treatment and handling of
the fish and for the return of the fish. The Task Force
issued a claim on November 6, 1979 and is waiting for the
opponents to file a claim before the trial can begin. This
might take a couple of months.
FISHING CASES
December 16, 1979
January 17, 1980
February 8, 1980
March 27, 1980
M c K a y Jr. from Lillooet, B . C . for
unlawful possession of fish.
M r . Peters from Hope, B . C . He's
being charged with unlawful possession of fish.
Chester Douglas of Cheam for
unlawful possession of fish.
Herman Thomas: the Crown has
appealed in this case.
HUNTING CASES
January 8, 1980
January 24, 1980
Noeh Shotnanna from the Grasmere
Band was charged for possessing an elk
on September 26, 1979. His case was
held over from October 31, 1979.
A case involving Charlie Jack. It is
an appeal case out of Victoria. The
Jacks maintains they have the right
to hunt for religious purposes
February 4, 1980
A hunting case involving M r .
Gregory. He is being charged with
hunting out of season.
February 5,6, 1980 A hunting case in A l k a l i Lake. In
this case the Band is trying to
establish the reserve right to hunt.
PROTECTING THE
PAST
This "heritage program" has meant
looking for prehistoric activity sites
within the traditional areas o f the
Kluskus Band. Archaeological excavations at an old camp site locally
known as Tezli, has dated occupation
of the site at about 4500 years ago.
We are also looking for prehistoric
houses, villages, old fishing sites and
hunting stations. The old houses are
easiest to recognize as their remains
appear as large pits or depressions.
Y o u have probably, at one time or
another, come across these kinds o f
pits in the bush. Their size ranges
from 1m x 1m x 50cm. deep for small
storage pits to houses ranging from
4m to 9m in diameter, at times 2m in
depth.
S A V I N G O L D SITES F R O M
LOGGING OPERATIONS
U p to now, over 250 archaeological
sites have been located, mapped and
registered with the Provincial Government. More importantly than this
great numbers of heritage sites, was a
program run last year in the Kluskus
Lake area which will enable a person
to estimate the expected number o f
prehistoric houses and/or storage
pits located around a lake. We hope
similar studies will be carried out for
stream corridors, stream confluence
UBCIC
NEWS 39
areas and random locations in dense
forest. The purpose o f such a study as
this is that now the Kluskus Band will
be able to provide Forestry with an
estimate of archaeological sites within
any particular area which is expected
to be logged. With this kind o f
estimated information, many sites
could be saved from being wiped out
by the logging operations. This
information will also help all future
cultural impact studies that may be
required.
MACKENZIE GREASE TRAIL
P L A N N E D WITH NO BANDS'
CONSULTATION
This summer a 'heritage inventory
Photo: Kluskus Band
For the past two years the Kluskus from Vancouver,andcoordinatedby
Band has been coordinating a pro- Chief Councilor Roger Jimmie. Band
Members Roy Alexis, Richard Changram documenting their cultural herityman, Galeen Chantyman and Shirtage.
This program is being directedley Clement help out on a seasonal
by Rick Blacklaws, an archaeologist basis.
and assessment' program was directed to prepare a preliminary list o f
resources instead o f planning an
Alexander Mackenzie Grease Trail.
This park concept has been talked
about for some time. A hiking trail
has been cleared between Bella Coola
and Gilles Crossing near Quesnel. A
provincial government feasibility project has been completed for the trail
concept and a glossy covered trail
guide is expected to be produced
before this coming spring. For all this
work which has been done on the
Mackenzie Trail concept, the Kluskus
Band has not been asked for development input.
The main purpose o f this project
was then to further understand and
document the Band's heritage and to
inform the government and other
agencies involved i n planning a
Mackenzie Trail that our heritage
must be respected. This project, was
also interested in locating historic
sites pertinent to Band history and
marking of Band land use areas on
maps. This winter the Band will draw
up the! position o f the Band concerning their heritage resources and the
planned development of the Mackenzie Grease Trail. A history program
will also be run in conjunction with
this winter's project. This history
program is to include interviews with
Band Elders and the gathering o f old
photographs. In this way we hope to
better understand where we have
come from and plan where we are
going now.
•
HELP WANTED
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A long-range growth opportunThe position offers a variety of
ity exists for a young Native person
work, a salary commensurate with
with the ability, desire and deterexperience and a full range o f
mination to become a professional
fringe benefits.
accountant and financial manager
Applications should include a
for a diverse group o f Native confull resume o f education and
trolled enterprises.
experience and both personal and
Applicants must be qualified
work references.
(University entrance) and willing
Replies to:
to enrol i n , and complete, a six
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FILE IT UNDER FORESTRY
A
FICTIONAL
SHORT STORY
PROMOTING THE
WORKING DISCUSSION
PAPER
Kids were now screaming as they jumped in and out of
the puddles that the gravel road normally had all year
round. Sure enough, the mothers perking their heads out
of their house windows, were yelling at them to hurry on
to school. Instead of the nightly ghost town one could
smell the morning breakfasts in the breeze of the gentle
wind. Another morning had become alive.
Before the Band office door opened fully a voice
screamed, " G o o d morning big heap-um business m a n ! "
B i l l , the Band Manager, started laughing as the woman
walked i n . These two would always start the day at the
office with some funny line.
" D i d you make coffee. . . " before she let him answer,
the secretary c o n t i n u e d , " . . . boy does that smell fresh..
. who made it, you or the big chief?" A t that moment the
Chief stepped into the office and shivered a bit when the
warm air hit him.
" D i d you read that paper last night? Hey Fred, did you
read that forestry paper last night?" B i l l apparently
jumped at the Chief at the first opportunity. The Chief
shook the cold feeling that came into his spine from the
UBCIC NEWS 4 0
warm air and walked directly into his private office
without replying to the Band Manager. A t this moment
Bill began shuffling about with accounting journals on
the desk while mumbling, " D a m n books, I thought they
were straightened out last night."
" W h a t is this paper you're talking about?" the
secretary normally got curious with documents in the
office. She is qualified for a higher position but the Band
is so small in per capita the Council could offer the job o f
secretary.
"Remember the Union's last General Assembly i n
October? Bill by now had the desk in proper order.
" O h , yeah, was this paper in with all those others i n
that big red book? The one the big Chief brought b a c k ? "
she asked further.
" N o , it was separate and handed out later. . . at least
that is what I was told. Anyway, the difference between
that paper and a lot o f others i n any assemblies is that it's
a basis o f discussion. . . I mean it does not drown you
with information about. . . about. . . it just gives you the
basic idea and provides you with the opportunity to talk
about any given area i n the paper at any given time." B y
now Bill was getting carried away.
" Y o u mean it's not written to be read and discussed
later. . . you know, after you read i t . " The secretary was
now setting up her typewriter to do a few letters.
" W e l l . . . basically it's written so that your discussions
will be a factor in making it a paper to be read then
discussed later. . . it's a working discussion paper." One
could see that in Bill's face there was no other way to
explain, but he continued, " T h i s forestry paper is meant
for us, at this level, you know, the Band level, to talk
about such things as. . . harvesting or cutting. . .
reforestation. . . you know. . . the priorities in forestry
that seem important to us. . . here. . . look outside and
see all those trees. . . look at all the big companies moving
in on us."
The secretary couldn't continue with her typing now.
" Y e a h . . . but how is a paper like that supposed to help
us. . . we can't take it and use it against the government
or the big companies."
" Y o u ' v e got to understand that it is just a basic
working discussion paper, it's written so that we can start
a basic discussion between ourselves. . . maybe i f we can
really take forestry serious. . . you k n o w . . . l o g g i n g . . . or
a sawmill. . . or even tree planting and all that other
reforestation stuff. . . we could start the whole process
right here. We could do it if we wanted to. . . but we've
got to do it with precaution. . . it's a learning process. . .
this paper just might start that process. I don't k n o w . "
The Band Manager began to pour himself a cup of
coffee.
The Chief came out of his office with a cup in hand,
saying, " W h a t is all this muttering about? That forestry
paper. . . that paper that was handed out in the last
General Assembly?"
Bill responded quickly, " Y e a h . . . that working
discussion paper."
The Chief smiled as he spoke jokingly, "That
discussion paper. . . the ideas about opportunities in
Woodlot Licences. . . the Small Business Program of the
Timber Sale Licence. . . or even the Contractor Clause in
the Forest Licence and Tree-Farm L i c e n c e s . . . a a h . . . the
government or even the Department. . . it would take
years and years before any government agency would
believe that our Band is capable of doing any type of
forestry operations. The bureaucratic runarounds are
getting pathetic!"
" W h a t about the sections dealing with the forestry
priorities for Indian Bands in terms of socio-economic
basis. . . don't you get tired of going through all these
procedures and guidelines o f these short term projects. . .
or even the long term welfare programs. . . I don't
k n o w , " the Band Manager was getting somewhat
emotional now.
"Discussion papers all seem the same. . . what i f we did
discuss this one with the members. . . what will we
accomplish?" the Chief retorted.
" A t least we'll get the whole process rolling. . . at least
we'll be thinking in terms of a long term socio-economic
base. . . maybe someone in our Band is capable enough. .
or has a far better knowledge of forestry than we have
now. . . maybe we can get this person to do something. . .
this way we'd at least get away from the short term
projects and long term welfare way of t h i n k i n g . " The
Band Manager appeared to have said his last speech.
" O k a y . . .If you suggest that we discuss this. . . let's
hear what the other Councillors say first. . . we'll have a
Band Council meeting soon. " T h e Chief entered his office
and closed the door.
.
The secretary, in surprise as she apparently was
thinking quite heavily to herself, stood up and smiled
while asking the Band Manager, " H o w many copies of
this working discussion paper shall I make?"
"One for each Councillor! I don't think we're having a
meeting this week. Maybe i f the Councillors get a copy
earlier they'll be familiar with it. Now I think I ' l l carry on
with these accounting journals." The Band Manager
entered another room and closed the door. The secretary
began typing the many draft letters, Band Council
Resolutions, minutes of a recent meeting and so forth, all
of which were piled on her desk.
Outside the Band Office, all that could be heard
seemed to thousands of birds singing and the mighty roar
of the river beside the small village. Then a logging truck
of the nearby logging company, as a mandatory safety
precaution for the school children, blew his horn as he
sped on the backroad behind the village. The kids, quite
content, were listening to their teachers, or on the other
hand, were making him really do overtime on his job.
The mothers beginning their morning cleanup after
countless cups of coffee with other women. A few of the
younger adults, who were finished or not in school,
moved slowly on to their on-reserve project jobs. The
morning was well into the on-going day.
Clifford Hanuse
UBCIC NEWS 41
• The Ehattesaht Co-op's timber
licence at the present is a spin-off
for about sixty people employed at
Barr Creek.
• The re-organization o f the Co-op
was done without any further
financial assistance from funding
agencies o f the Federal Government.
• The Co-op is paying o f f its debt
from proceeds o f the contract with
Pacific Logging.
EHATTESAHT
The Ehattesaht Co-operative Enterprise began i n 1969 and was established i n 1974. A t the present time
they are i n full operation, employing
48 people on the production side and
12 support staff. There has been a
persistant rumour going around among Indian people and the various
federal government agencies that the
Ehattesaht Co-operative Enterprise,
which owns timber sale licence A02055
in the Nootka P.S.1/4 U., is bankrupt
and out o f business.
The Co-op has been constantly
used as a bad example by the D I A to
other Bands that wish to get involved
in the forest industry. Bands have
been informed by various parties that
the Co-op is bankrupt due to mismanagement. It is therefore very
important that the record be set
straight.
• The Ehattesaht Co-op is not bankrupt, but in full operation under an
agreement with Pacific Logging to
log T . S . L . A02055.
UBCIC NEWS 42
The D I A staff and other funding
agencies should look at the management expertise it took to save the
Co-op from bankruptcy after Ottawa
had instructed the Receiver to liquidate all assets o f the Co-op.
Today the Co-op is i n full operation due to the hard work o f the
Board o f Directors and the efforts o f
the Co-op solicitor and the chairman
of the Ehattesaht Band Timber
Committee and cooperation from the
Minister o f Forests.
If this isn't good management and
hard work I am at a loss to say what it
is.
•
FORESTRY CO-OP
SETTING THE RECORD
STRAIGHT
by Earl Smith
TRAPPERS HAVE RIGHTS
TOO
A number o f trappers are facing loss or destruction of
their traplines across British Columbia. Y o u should be
aware that you have the right to protect your trapline and
to receive compensation for any loss o f income.
In a number of areas forestry development is occurring
on land where people trap. When most of the land has
been logged over, it is no use for trapping for a long time
to come. However, this does not mean that the trapper
does not have any rights when this happens.
has the right to negotiate with the logging company. He
has the right to appeal to the Forest Service to have the
logging plan changed to avoid areas o f high value for his
trapline. H e also has the right to negotiate with the logging
company for compensation for the loss o f income he will
face once the logging has been completed. The trapper
may not be able to stop the logging company moving into
his area; however, he is still able to negotiate for the best
arrangement possible.
Therefore i f you are faced with logging in your
trapping area you should
1) Meet with the logging company as soon as possible
and obtain all o f the details of their cutting plans.
2) Prepare some information on the income you have
received i n the past from your trapline. A l s o identify
those areas which are most likely to be affected by the
logging.
3) Request a meeting with the logging company and the
Forest Service to discuss the logging plan. Be prepared to
suggest exclusion o f certain areas i n your trapline from
the plan. A s k the logging company for a payment to
compensate you for reduced income you will have after
the logging is completed.
4) Contact the U n i o n office i f you require assistance to
prepare for defending your trapline. Our staff can meet
with you to help you work out a plan o f action.
Presently the law is unclear about trapping rights
compared to the rights o f logging companies. There has
not been a case where a trapper has gone to court to try
and prevent a logging company from moving onto his
trapline. Therefore it is not certain whether you could
prevent logging altogether. However, trappers do have
certain rights which can give you some strength when
negotiating with the logging company and the forest
service.
•
If you work for a Band newsletter, and would like to
learn how to interview and talk to people in order to
gather information and news, or
If you are a member o f a Band Council or are a local
spokesperson for your people and would like to learn
how to be at ease when being interviewed, and how to
establish solid links with the press,
The policy o f the forest service is: logging companies
must meet with holders of registered traplines before
moving into an area. They are required to discuss their
logging plans with the trapper. A t this time the trapper
Contact Commissions Portfolio, U . B . C . I . C . , 440
West Hastings St., 3rd Floor, Vancouver, B . C .
684-0231, for a special workshop.
•
UBCIC NEWS 43
KNITTERS AND WEAVERS
FORM ASSOCIATION TO
PROTECT AND PROMOTE CRAFTS
A n association is being organized for Indian knitters
and weavers to deal with the problems many of us face
every day.
Are you getting a fair price for your goods?
Do you want to choose your price and choose your
buyer?
Others are getting rich from our crafts: in Japan a
genuine Cowichan sweater sells for $360.00. What are
you getting? $50.00? $60.00? $70.00?
In Vancouver there are several groups who are ripping
off the Indian people by selling fake Indian sweaters and
calling them by our name. Some of these sweaters are
machine knitted, others are knitted by non-Indians and
they are made of unspun yarn that falls apart.
Stores in Vancouver are selling these sweaters and
calling them Cowichan sweaters—they are selling them
for $85.00-$ 145.00 and people don't know what they are
buying.
Some o f the knitters and weavers have been meeting
over the last few months to talk about setting up an
association. If you want to:
—choose your buyer
—sell your goods overseas
—make sure you get a fair price
—improve your supply of wool
We can do this by working together as an association.
There are laws which can be used to protect Indian arts
and crafts. A n example is the Cowichan trademark case
that is being fought now by the Cowichan Band. Y a r n
Barn Holdings, a Vancouver Company, now has control
of the name " C o w i c h a n " and they can use this name to
sell sweaters, patterns and yarn. They can stop anyone
else from using the name—including the Cowichan
people. The Cowichan Band is suing the Y a r n Barn on
behalf of all of the Coast Salish knitters, to get the name
back under Indian control.
The name " C o w i c h a n " is a trademark—it identifies
high quality goods. Once we control the name
" C o w i c h a n " we can stop non-Indians from using the
name and we can protect the high standards of the
Cowichan sweater.
The U B C I C Legal Task Force has put together a
booklet explaining the law of copyright and trademarks
and how to use these laws to protect our crafts. It is being
sent to all of the Bands and Indian Cultural Centres in
B . C . and it will be available for anyone to use.
UBCIC NEWS 44
W o u l d you like to have workshops or speakers
in your area on copyright, trademark law and the
association? C A L L U S at:
684-0231 (Millie Nickason)
or 271-1475 (Gladys Edward)
Copies are also available at the U B C I C office and it is
called: Protection of Indian Intellectual Property.
These laws are not as helpful as they could be. A s an
association we can lobby the Governments to have these
laws improved. .
Please support this association by:
—Writing letters o f support to:
The Association for Indian Knitters and Weavers
c/o Union o f B . C . Indian Chiefs
440 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, B . C . V 6 B 1L1
—by sending the names o f knitters and weavers for our
mailing list. We can then send you information and
let you know when the next meeting will take place
(send a representative from your area)
•
ANNOUNCEMENT
The National Indian Brotherhood of Canada
is pleased to announce
a
NATIONAL
INDIAN EDUCATION
CONFERENCE
April 22-25, 1980
Vancouver, B.C.
For immediate information contact:
Your Provincial or Territorial Indian Organizations
or
The National Indian Brotherhood
Education Program
102 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ontario K 1 P 5N4
(613) 236-0673
I THINK...
For a moment just take time out to T H I N K about
your life all the good times, all the bad times; the
births, the deaths; the Indian ways, the white man's
ways. If you think about it long enough you will find
tears starting to build up inside of you, for like most
Indians you probably have lived a very hard life, filled
with sorrow and hate. When you think about it, it's a
bloody wonder that we are still living.
One year ago, Wayne Christian and Derek Wilson went
to visit and study in Tanzania, an independent African
nation. Chief Christian wrote this letter to the citizens of
Spallumcheen to tell them why he was going to such a far
away country.
become like him. I say B U L L S H I T to that idea, the
whiteman does not understand the Indian and never
will. We have a tie to the land and nature that has
allowed us to survive through all the bad times since
The white people have caused the problems that we
have now; they destroyed as much of the Indian ways
as they could; they beat our language out of us at
residential schools; they took our land, fishing and
hunting grounds; they forced us to live i n reserves;
they forbid us to gather; they said that i f we became
like the whiteman our problems wouldn't exist; they
lied to us, cheated and killed our people; they gave us
alcohol to ease the pain of the whiteman's ways; they
forcibly took children from parents and grandparents
because they said we didn't know how to raise
children; they paid white people to make those Indian
children into little white people; the white people are
slowly killing the Indian ways and the Indian.
The only way that we can develop a
strong community is to work together: remember we
all have to live together, we should be able to criticize
and take criticisms without feeling that the other is out
to get you. We are a small community and we should
get along because the lives o f Elders and those not yet
born depend on us doing something constructive for
their futures. F o r us and only us can change our
community into a better place for the Elders and
children. Remember that you were once a child and
that you will become an elder in the future. We have to
be able to see into the future. We have to be able to see
what other communities are doing to help themselves
and to use their experiences to help build our
community into a strong one; in places like Africa
they have successfully taken full control of their lives,
the people decide what they want and their leaders
provide them with the services the way people want the
services.
We, the Indians of Spallumcheen are allowing the
white people to control our lives now, because i f you
watch the band meetings and the people in the band
office you will see that you, the people, listen more to
the white people than you do to your own people. If
things keep going the way they are going we might
even have a W H I T E chief i n the near future.
A l l over the world the whiteman has said that he
is the superior race and all Indian people should
the arrival o f the whiteman. Now it is time that we take
control of our lives once more and build our
community into one where our children will find
comfort and happiness. We as young people, parents
and Elders have to take that responsibility back into
our community, we have to accept that responsibility
and the mistakes that we make, but at least the
mistakes will be ours and not someone else's.
We have to sit down as a group o f friends and
enemies to talk seriously about what type o f Indians
do we want to be in this day and in the future. We have
to decide what we want and once we do that we can
develop a plan on how to get there. Remember i f we
don't do anything about our community nobody else
will do it for us. What do we want for our children,
their childrem ourselves; is it money or is it to live
comfortably as an Indian in this modern society? D o
you want your children to understand that as Indian
people we are special and that we deserve special
treatment or do you want your children to learn to
become a white man not knowing their historical
background? W H A T D O Y O U W A N T Y O U R
COMMUNITY TO BE LIKE?
Yours in recognition o f Aboriginal Rights.
Chief Wayne M . Christian
Spallumcheen Indian Council
UBCIC NEWS 45
THUNDERBIRD
CULTURAL
CENTRE
A respected worker for Indian rights in B.C., Chief Bill Roberts was proud to see the
fulfillment of his band's efforts to make the hall a reality.
The Campbell River Indian Band
officially opened their new Hall on
Saturday, November 17.
This is a day that will be memorable to the band leaders and Band
residents who witnessed the ribbon
cutting and a speech by Chief Bill
Roberts. The new Thunder Bird
Cultural Centre once open filled
quickly. Within the hall the people
watched as the Campbell River Band
performed their traditional dances.
There were various dances displaying
beautiful traditional customs, some
of the costumes used were museum
displays at one time.
Many of the dances were of great
rejoicing and the ceremonies were
done in the customary way their
ancestors had opened a long house
many years ago. Everyone from child
to Elder showed a lot of pride in being
a part of the celebration. Band Chief
Bill Roberts spoke and commented on
the dances saying each dance has a
story originating from past beliefs of
tribes in the area. The cannibal Bird
The young people led by the elders
contributed to the importance of
keeping a cultural event alive.
UBCIC NEWS 46
Photographs from Upper Islander
Traditional costumes were featured in Indian color and desig
With the beating of the drum, the great masks gave forth a sense
coming to life.
Dance in which the great mask's beak
came to life with its loud clapping,
was one of the dances featured.
What caught my eye was the
involvement of the chldren in the
ceremonies as they danced proudly
UBCIC NEWS 47
arond the gymnasium floor.
The recreation complex gymnasium
floor measures 70 feet by 100 feet and
will accomodate such sports as basketball, volleyball and other sports. It
also includes a meeting room and an
office. Outside there is a parking lot
capable o f holding 300 cars. The H a l l
will mark an important phase for the
community: bringing together the
people spiritually and physically.
•
elders
RESPECT
Respect must be
Earned not
Sold or bought.
People can earn respect by
Extending a helping hand and
Care for those who need it
Though it may be your enemies.
Experience with
Long life and are
Dear to us. W e must give them
Excellent treatment and great
Respect which they deserve for years of
Service to us and our children.
ALCOHOL
FRIENDSHIP
Friendship is another thing like
Respect must be earned.
It can never be bought
Earning friendships is a
Never ending process
Don't stop
Share yourself and friends
Help others less fortunate
In your area meet new
People and develop new friendships,
A l c o h o l is dangerous, you can
Land up in hospital, family break up,
Commit crimes you
O f course pay for later
Have the strength to turn
O f f Alcohol and
Live a Happier Life.
SING A SONG
Sing a Song
In Indian
Never make a
Game of it, listen
A t all times.
Sing a Song
O f the Indian way
Not one with no
G o o d meaning.
WISDOM
Wisdom is our Elders,
Intelligence gained through
Such things as experience.
Don't forget this wisdom
Our Elders have
Make sure it is passed on.
By Victor Michell
Lillooet, B . C .
Illustration by Chief Randy Chipps of Beecher Bay
UBCIC NEWS 48
RESOURCE CENTRE
Book Review — Fiction
by Bess Brown
Kinsella, W . P . Scars. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1978.
There have been countless books written about the
Indian people of North America. The majority of the
literature available is historical or cultural: there are
comparatively few fiction or non-fiction books. O f this
material there is only a small percentage which can be
categorized as comedy. Scars, a collection o f short stories
by W . P . Kinsella, is one o f the rare exceptions.
It is a welcome change from the usually dry, though
undeniably important historical and cultural material.
A s with most comedies the personalities o f the
characters are not developed to any great degree. The
only character we come to know is the storyteller, Silas
Ermineskin. Though he works periodically, he is more
often unemployed or attending a career training class
being sponsored by the Department of Indian Affairs. H e
is also being trained to eventually replace the medicine
woman, M a d Etta. Silas is the type o f individual who
believes there is some good in everyone, that is, in Indian
people anyway. His opinion o f white people, however, is
quite the opposite. O f the relationship the Indians and
R C M P share, he says "Indians and R C M P be like oil and
water, don't mix at a l l . " H e does, however, give them
some credit; in one of the stories, "Canadian Culture,"
he writes "them white people ain't so dumb as you would
think." These feelings typify the attitudes held by the
Indian people in Scars.
The Medicine woman, M a d Etta is another character
who appears in a number o f stories. M a d Etta is quite an
extraordinary character. Her physical appearance can
only be described as unusual. Her dress is made from five
flour sacks; when she is with a "patient" she also wears
fur leggings and fox tails on the sleeves of her dress. In
addition to this she also has war paint on her face. M a d
Etta is quite a large woman. The hotel which she
frequents has made a chair especially for her. "They got
two chairs wired together and braced with two-by-fours
so that M a d Etta can drink beer and not bust up the
furniture." Though her appearance is unusual, M a d Etta
adds much to Scars. She displays much wisdom and
understanding when helping someone in need.
However, Scars also includes a number of serious
stories. One of these is the Black Wampum. Through this
story Kinsella reveals how Indian people today can, and
often do, revert to the traditional ways, in order that we
may better cope with the many dilemmas created by
today's fast-paced society. In this story an Indian man
accidentally kills the young child of his white employer.
In the traditional ways, it would be necessary to replace
the dead child with one of his own children. A s he has a
young child he now must decide i f he will honour the
traditional ways and give up his child or live by the
contemporary values and keep his child. In the end we are
able to see how both he and his wife turn to the
traditional way of life to cope with this unfortunate
situation.
"Canadian C u l t u r e , " on the other hand, is one of the
more humorous stories in Scars. Its subject matter deals
with a group o f white people who would like to make a
film on the Indians of Hobbema. The white people have a
very set idea o f what the Indians are supposed to be like.
They are extremely disappointed to find that they are not
the savages they had read about. Silas and his friends
make the filming as hard as possible on the film crew.
The first day the crew arrives, their car is destroyed. They
are given incorrect instructions by the Indians and land in
a slough and i n their (Indians') half-hearted attempt to
recover the car, they manage to completely demolish it.
Eventually the Indians agree, for a price, to act like the
savages they are supposed to be, but at the same time they
still manage to get a small measure o f revenge against the
film makers.
Scars for the most part is light and enjoyable, but it
offers some excellent serious stories. Though the stories
differ from one another in many aspects, they all share
one common element: each contains a moral or offers a
somewhat philosophical comment on life.
Though Kinsella is not an Indian, he provides much
insight into the relationship shared by the Indian people
and the white people.
Kinsella has also written another book titled, Dance
Me Outside.
•
UBCIC NEWS 49
INDIAN MINI-CROSS
s I V 0 N T E
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This diagram contains some terms relating to Indian Government; just find and circle them
in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal, backward or forward, but consecutive line. Each name
has at least one letter in common with another.
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Indian Government
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Indian Matching Game
1. A
2. A
representing the
hat representing a
3. A
4. A
tattoo. (Haida)
representing the
WORD LIST
A . mask
B . hawk
F . wolf
(Tlingit)
-whale. (Tsimshian)
. (Kwakiutl)
C . dancing
D . killer
G . mask
ANSWERS: 1. A&B
(1)(2)(3)(4)
UBCIC NEWS 50
2. C & D
3. E
4. F & G
E . duck
INDIAN
FOR
ORDER FORM
Quantity
A) Pen & Pencil Set
fine point, black with silver imprint
ea. $8.00
•
ea. $3.00
•
B) Licence Plate Holders:
. . . is Indian Land . . .
ea. $3.00
•
C) Indian Government Crests
. . . Y o u are on Indian Land . . .
ea. $1.00
•
D) 1980 Action Planners
ea. $6.00
•
E) Key Chain Ring
ea. $3.00
•
F) Hasty Notes—10 in package
ea. $3.00
•
G) Indian Government Flags — 20x26"
ea. $2.00
•
3'x5'6" ea. $30.00
•
To: Union of B . C . Indian Chiefs, 440 West Hastings, 3rd
Floor, Vancouver, B . C . V 6 B 1L1
Enclosed find cheque or money order of $
.
Name:
Street or Box N o .
Town
Postal Code
Province
EXPRESSIONS
CHRISTMAS
THIS MONTH
The warm summer season for fishing, hunting,
farming and ranching has ended. Winter gives time for
working people to sit back, relax and think about their
accomplishments over the year. In this edition, some of
those times are shared.
Surprise! The UBCIC NEWS has changed its name.
I N D I A N W O R L D is a name that fits our editorial
outlook, a name we had to earn. I N D I A N W O R L D is our
world: from straight news about the threats of pollution,
erosion of fishing rights, health care, economic
development, etc. to the sincere expressions of feelings
and dreams through poetry, short stories, editorials and
opinions. We hope you like it. What we make of our
I N D I A N W O R L D is up to us.'The choice is ours.'
About a year ago a number of B . C . farmers made a
choice: they decided to form a Corporation to encourage
the development of Indian farmers by providing
information on new te.hnology, marketing reports, new
farming and ranching techniques, economic counselling,
etc. This month we are proud to present a 12 page
supplement on Agriculture, planned and guided by Board
members and field workers of W E S T E R N I N D I A N
AGRICULTURE CORPORATION.
Bob Pasco, founding member of W . I . A . C . , describes the services available to Indian farmers. A friend
sent two great pictures of him. See page 21.
Judith Joe ranches with her father in Merritt, and she
explains the advantages of cow pregnancy-testing
machines on page 25.
Sam Moody's long time dream for a smoker plant in
Bella Coola has become reality. He's excited to talk about
the plant where they smoke and package salmon for the
North American market. He also contributed pictures.
Story and pictures on page 19. The K L U S K U S B A N D
writes about documenting their cultural heritage and
using this to protect their land against the impact of the
Alexander Mackenzie Grease Trail. Story on page 39.
Shannon Point of Chehalis is a halfbreed. She tells us
what it's like to grow up in two worlds on page 11. In our
"I Think. . . " section this month, Chief Wayne Christian
of Spallumcheen makes us think with his strong
statements about Indian communities and white society.
Administrator of the Saanich Indian School Board,
Marie Cooper, talks of their plans and hopes for an Adult
Education Program starting on page 12. They also sent a
picture.
Victor Michell, a talented young poet from Fountain
Band writes beautiful poems about love, respect and our
Elders on page 4 8
A special thanks goes to all those who showed
hospitality and helped us get our stories for this issue.
Also to Campbell River Band for sending pictures of
their opening of the Thunderbird Cultural Centre on page
46 and 47
That's it for this month. The U B C I C sends their
warmest wishes for a joyous M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S T O
Y O U A L L . A n d to the people who wrote in, sent pictures
and worked hard to make it all happen, Thank Y o u from
the I N D I A N W O R L D .
EDITORIAL
Our garden was an embarrassment to me. It sat
outside our house in Northern Saskatchewan: lean and
ragged and dwarfed. You could count the vegetables:
three stunted corn, a straggly row of lettuce, 5 or 6
weathered beets and carrots, gnarled and twisted as
they hit rock on their way to maturity. It made me
want to start a ‘‘Be-kind-to-Vegetables’’ campaign. I
always thought if I got enough support, my mother
would stop her madness.
We lived on the ‘‘shield’’ as it is called: an old,
ancient mountain range, worn and broken with the
passage of time. The summers were short, the soil,
spare and shallow, and there was no running water.
At the end of each summer (only two and a half
months long) we would gather our humble little
harvest and I would think: ‘‘Good. My mother has
learned her lesson. Next spring, she won’t try it
again.”’
Yet, my mother persisted. Every year, she tried to
make that land yield us food. She tried everything. She
couldn’t get bedding out plants up there so she grew
her own. The first year, the cat peed on them. The
second year, she grew them in the bathroom with the
door shut and they froze to death. Next year she grew
them in the basement, which was perpetually flooded.
She was always trying different species of vege-
tables. About April, she’d get a seed catalogue in the
mail and look for the early maturing varieties. She
tried early tomatoes; there was not enough sunlight.
She tried early potatoes: there was not enough water.
She tried a ‘‘hardy lettuce’’ that was so tough you’d
have to be a goat to eat it. Then there were the ‘‘short
carrots, guaranteed to grcw in shallow soil.’’ They
grew so stubbornly and so resolutely that my father
broke a spade trying to dig them out. No kidding.
But my mother was persistent. Toward the end of
our stay in that land, I was beginning to root for the
garden. I wanted something, anything, to grow for
seeds. They grew. They towered above the other
vegetables: the short carrots, the tough lettuce, the
midget potatoes. big, bright, yellow flowers
following the thin summer sunlight.
Oh, I was proud. My mother was not so strange
after all. I took to telling any and everyone how we
had sunflowers growing in our garden. ‘‘You can eat
the seeds with salt and they’re very good for you.’’
They would have grown to maturity. I know they
would have, but we were never to know for sure. One
night delinquents vandalized our garden, leaving
behind the headless stalks of our sunflowers and a
wispy trail of salt.
Soon after the incident, we moved South. I liked
moving South. My mother could at last grow a real
garden. When we got to our new home, we discovered
the garden was full of cinders and hadn’t been worked
for years. You’d think, as I did, that would have
stopped my mother, but it didn’t.
We worked that patch of soil and cinders for three,
four, five years before it flourished. When it did, we
never needed to buy vegetables and fruit. Beets,
spinach, yellow beans, baby carrots, new potatoes
with bologna and raspberries with real cream made up
a typical summer meal. For a long time, I was
convinced my little sister who is five years younger and
five inches taller than I, grew that way because she had
the benefit of my mother’s Southern garden. Short or
tall, we were healthy. Wherever she lived for no matter
how long, my mother always planted a garden.
Today my parents live thousands of miles away in
South America where it’s spring now. If you should go
to the highlands of Ecuador, near the headwaters of
the Amazon River, I bet you any money my father is
digging a garden.
And my mother? She’s the white haired lady in the
straw hat, a Spanish/English dictionary at her side,
doggedly reading a seed catalogue.
her. Then my little brother planted some sunflower The Editor
OUR COVER: Louisa Basil, an Elder of great determination and strength, keeps up the
daily chores on their ranch on the Bonaparte reserve. ay
UBCIC NEWS 2
The UBCIC NEWS is the official voice of a
Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.
It is dedicated to building a strong foundation
for Indian Government by providing an awareness
of the political and social issues affecting the
Indians of British Columbia.
Signed articles and opinions are the views of
the individuals concerned and not necessarily
those of the UBCIC.
VOLUME 2, NUMBER 7
Editor: Beth Cuthand . Assistant Editor: Pauline Douglas
Written contributions: George Manuel, B.C. Native Women’s Society of Kamloops, Victor Michel,
Wayne Christian, Marie Cooper, Shannon Point, Judith Joe, Bob Pasco, Kluskus Band, Clifford Hanuse,
Dinah Schooner, Angela Metilpi, Darryl Watts, Louise Mandell, Judy Manuel, Earl Smith, Millie
Nick ason, Bess Brown, Herman Thomas, Barbara Kuhne, John Warren, John Rigers, Willard Martin.
Photographs: UBCIC staff unless credited
Typesetting: Penny Goldsmith and Mary Schendlinger
Sc as taies #3
(TABLE OF CONTENTS )
FEUER aes, ir IS Mine tera ove Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline
Political Trust Defense Dropped oe DIA Terms and Conditions Hearings. . tetetene es 33
MsIVisa ean Case iene.) 64 5 es Heer es 4 And the Uranium Hearings are Still Going On....36
ReresiclGnt Si VeSSARe 5.10% einige iste alee lanes os e's 5 Ups WMate eiitins, cle Wine feats Shade am iele ss tein ohege cies 37
Supertanker/Pipeline Proposal teceae Indian Protecting the Pasts.cii0 0 ccs cect Me niere en oieuets 39
Ownership of B.C. Land and Water......... 6 Just File it Under Forestry. ............2e0eee0- 40
INewsi NEWS: NewS scacis ceils 2a Ss pitti odisiace ings s 9 Setting the Record Straight..................4.. 42
Indian Homes for Indian Children. Bs heyR Gar estab aba DAra i ia 10 Trappers Have Rights Too...... reset eeee ees 43
Child of Two Worldsy vis. mineis 2 daisies oo ose 11 Knitters and Weavers Form Association......... 44
Adult Education in Saanich..... Bishi s atuaale gheeh os 12 I Think. eg tere tee oa sso torede 45
MTA Opting Out Clause Committee Update. orheleds Thunderbird Cultural Centre Opens
What’s Happening with the in Campbell River. . rere oe 46
Local Services Agreement?....... ae ahi xe 13 A Collection of Poems: Victor Michel..... aeons 48
After the Assembly: Where Do We Go Book Review........ tettttest es ree ess eace ees 49
POM Pere hook hare cine eee ents al ieee 14 Mini-Cross and Matching Game................ 50
New Vice-President Elected in Northeast ........ 15 Indian Expressions for Christmas............-- 51
Midian “GHEISUNAS. ¢ aie eae hale oe wae Vb see eee 16
Reserve Right to Fish Upheld. Rac ak Pate es Pherae a 18
Bella Coola SmoOkr Plants oc Se ere ea ele cies 19
Indian Agriculture: Special Supplement..... 21 to 32
CEG se ols etek we oles Aioin’e acters 21
Lytton Water War Wages...........- a7
Farm Flourishes Again.............. 24
Cow Pregnancy Testing......... fie ie
30,000 Christmas Trees to Mexico..... 26
SN A et nae NAS a 5 INDIAN CATTLE! T his month: Special Agriculture
UG Cowboys and Croppers...........+-- 30 Supplement j
- POLITICAL TRUST
On September 18th after four years
of preparing the case, the Musqueam
Band sued the Crown for mismanage-
ment of its affairs. The case involved
a land lease negotiated and signed by
the DIA agent of the time which was
not only not in the Band’s best
interest, but also contained different
terms than those to which the Band
had agreed.
The Musqueam case is now over.
The Indians and the Government
have put before the Court all their
evidence and all the arguments. The
Musqueam people told the Court that
the DIA acted fraudulently, negli-
gently and in breach of a legal trust -
owing, when they entered into a lease
for Indian land with a Vancouver
golf club.
~The DIA admitted that the Indian
people never, in fact, even saw the
lease until 1970, even though the deal
was completed in 1956.
The DIA’s arguments were interest-
ing. Of course, the Government
denied that they acted fraudulently or
negligently. The Court must decide if
the Indians proved their case on those
points.
A strange turn of events occurred
in the Musqueam case last week.
Lawyers for D.I.A. began this sum-
ming up argument: they argued that
the D.I.A. has no legal trust respon-
sibility to Indian people. They argued
that if a trust exists at all, that trust is
a political trust. The argument fol-
lows that if Indian people don’t like
how the DIA, as trustee, has handled
their affairs under political trust, then
the trustee could be voted out of
office but no legal remedy exists.
After the agreement had been
made, lawyers for the Musqueam
people told the court that that
argument was not disclosed to the
Musqueam people at the point in the
development of the case when DIA
should have advised the Indians that
such an argument was going to be
made. The lawyers for the Musqueam
people urged the court to demand
UBCIC NEWS 4
(
' were
\_ first case.”
Guerin wasn’t
surprised the Crown dropped their
latest defense: ‘‘Interestingly enough
Chief Delbert
they were trying to give the
impression that we, the Musqueam
Band, was raising the political trust
question. As far as I’m concerned,
my Band when signing the surrender
signing. it over to the
representative of the crown, the
Indian Agent. Therefore they can talk
all they want about political trust: it’s
still their responsibility. I feel pretty
optimistic even though to date the
white justice system has no real |
justice for Indian people. This is a big
PeSponsipiyy, I hope this will be the
that Jake Epp be called to Court and
explain why the argument was being
advanced and what the DIA means in
putting the argument forward. ‘‘Ex-
_ plain Yourself’’ said the Musqueam
people to Jake Epp.
And the judge ordered Jake Epp to
court to explain himself. He must
appear in court on November 21,
1979, or withdraw the argument.
The Court gave the DIA one week to
make up their minds: if they wanted
to proceed with the argument, they
had to produce the Miister; if they
wanted to drop the argument, they
had one week to do so. The deadline
was November 21st. On November
20th, the Court received a hand
pusg uivanbsnjw :50}0Ud
S
DEFENSE DROPPED
: ay
delivered letter stating that the Gov-
ernment wanted to drop that argu-
ment!
Jake Epp was asked why he didn’t -
appear at the court on Wednesday. ‘‘I
wasn’t invited,’’ he replied. He had
heard that the amendment requiring
his presence or that of the Minister of
Justice had been dropped by the
-Crown. The Crown is the Depart-
ment of Justice, representing DIA. It
seems that someone from the Depart-
ment of Justice didn’t think the
Political Trust argument was a good
one and decided to abandon it before
the DIA got involved. Did the DIA,
who is the client of the Department of
Justice in this case, really not get a
chance to instruct their defence?
The second argument which the
Government still seeks to rely on is
the argument that the Indians are too
late, legally, in raising the problems
of the lease. The lease was signed in
1956. This argument asks the
Court to let the Government off the
_ hook for any bad dealings which they
may have done in the past and which
still hurt Indians today and in the
future because Indians should have
come to court before this time. This
argument is but another way in which
DIA claims that it should not be held
responsible for its actions.
The last argument which DIA is
using, which asks the court’s help in
releasing it from past wrongs com-
mitted, is an argument based on a
section of the old Trustee Act. Under
the Trustee Act it is possible for the
court to relieve against a Trustee
where there has been honest dealing.
DIA is arguing that even if the deal
between the Indians & the golf club
was a poor one, the DIA acted
honestly and should not have to
account for its actions in damages.
The lawyer acting for the Mus-
queam Band predicts that the decision
will be handed down sometime in
January or February, 1980. “
nem
apne ter
| PRESIDENT’S ~
MESSAGE
Agriculture has been a fundamental, economic
foundation for thousands of years for the large majority
of our people} in North America including the Indians
of British Columbia. The great accomplishments of
Indian technology are almost all related to clothing,
housing, medicines and foods.
It has been estimated that the average European, at the
time of Columbus, was five feet tall; one out of ten
Europeans in those days was deformed in some way, due
to insufficient diet: hunch-backed, crippled, lamed, deaf,
blind or retarded. That did net include those who simply
_ died in their infancy from the same causes. This was
Europe after the Renaissance. At that time, North
American Indians were cultivating six hundred different
types of corn and all the different kinds of beans known
today. In British Columbia our people had Indian
carrots, parsnips, potatoes, tea, hazel nuts, fruits of
many types, fowl, deer, moose, elk, and a host of other
- food stuff on which our present civilization is far more
dependent than on whatever Europeans were eating
before they came to our homeland. Nothing on this list
was then on their diet.
The preparation of the Boston baked beans was taught
by the Wampanoag Indians to the European pilgrims.
East and West coast Indians taught the Europeans to
enjoy such dishes as clam chowder, oyster stew, salmon
barbeque, baked pumpkin, cranberry sauce, popcorn,
squash, celery, buckwheat, maple sugar, pepper,
chocolate, tapioca: the list is virtually endless.
How much meat was available to the average European
is a question. The movies treat us to the sight of men
feasting on venison meat, wild boar and turkey but the
history text books tell us that a prosperous peasant might
have owned a cow, or a few sheep and only his lord was
permitted to hunt in the forest. :
Our, agricultural technology and our distribution
system of food amongst Indian families is part of our
traditional cultural values that kept our Indian
Government self-reliant and strong for many centuries.
For example, the strong young Indian hunters would
distribute the best part of the meat to the elders, the weak
and those less fortunate. He would keep the poorest parts
of the meat for himself and his family.
In all respects, this was the Indian way, the Indian
value, before the whiteman put us in his educational
institutions. What is important here is whether the Indian
Photo: Courtesy Native Council of Canada
The Native Council of Canada presented this plaque to
George Manuel ‘‘in recognition of superior achievements -
and contributions as a representative of Canada’s Native
peoples. ”’ .
cultural technology acquired skills through animal
husbandry or harvested it in the natural environment of
the forest. It was abundant in supply. Why? Because it
was carefully conserved both in the harvesting and in
storing. No people have been entirely free of scourge or
famine but few Indian societies were familiar with the
protein deficiency in the normal cycle of a generation.
The Indian Nations have given more to the world of
technology than they have received from it. But the —
calculation cannot be made in terms of levels of
technology as a measure of civilization. The Indian
technology, in contrast to the European or the Canadian
one, gives some very important clues about the
differences in the value and goals. The Indian technology
as a value is designed for the feeding of the whole
community of man. Europe’s’ most important
contributions that are still of value today seem to be either
in the development of means of transportation or the
instruments of war. I do not think it does anyone
discredit to say that our efforts in technological
development have focused most sharply on meeting the
needs of the common man and raising the mere act of
physical survival to a high art to which all could
participate. If Europeans learned to travel because of
poverty, perhaps we cultivated our relationship with the
land out of a need to survive.
Yours in struggle, .
UBCIC NEWS 5
Ni
SUPERTANKER/PIPELINE
INDIAN OWN ERSHIP | OF
Indian representatives from the
Queen Charlottes, Vancouver Island,
the Fraser Valley and Washington -
State assembled at the Hotel Vancou-
ver early on November 6th to appear
as witnesses before the National
Energy Board. People came to op-
pose Trans Mountain Pipe Line
’ Company’s proposal for an oil port at
Low Point, Washington and a pipe-
line through B.C. Phillip Paul,
UBCIC Vice-President for South
Western Region, Chief Archie Poot-
lass of the Bella Coola Band and
UBCIC: Vice President for North
Coast Region, and Dale Johnson,
Chairman of the Makah Tribal
Council (Washington) and of the
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commis-
sion were the first panel to address the
Board on matters of Indian jurisdic-
tion and reliance on the marine and
fishery resources.
Phillip Paul went to the ‘heart of
the matter :
‘¢.,.There is nothing within this
application for this proposed pipe-
line that assures us that, if this
pipeline were to go through, the
considerations of Indian people
would be taken into account, and
this is what I would like to put on
the record... .’”
Chief Archie Pootlass spoke about
the coastal communities’ reliance on
the fishery resources both for food
and as an economic base:
‘‘The Trans Mountain Pipe Line
Company’s application to build a
- super tanker oil port at Low Point
in Washington, if it were success-
ful, would have an immediate and
direct impact on the whole coast of
the province of B.C. as well as the
‘river systems, and would therefore
affect one hundred percent of our
Indian population in the province
of British Columbia.”’
..No one could ever compensate
our people for the loss of our fish
_ and seafoods.
UBCIC NEWS 6
L to R: Dale Johnson, Archie Pootlass and Philip Paul told the Hearing
Transmountain’s proposal would seriously hamper Indian claims to the
marine resources.
We not only rely on the salmon and
marine resources for food, we also
_ depend on it for our spiritual being
through our potlatches, our feasts
and funerals, which are all part of
our tradition and livelihood.”’
Dale Johnson expressed a feeling
shared by many of our people:
‘I am no expert in moving oil by a
long way, but it seems that there -
could be other ways, safer ways of
doing it, than what is being done;
you see in the news every day about
tankers colliding and oil spills all
over and the effects that it has. It is
just something that we do not want
to see happen in our.area.”’
An oil spill could destroy the fishery for years if Supertankers are allowed t to
transport oil down our Coast.
Se
roonsame rn
SR ee
ber 7th the
IC witnesses
resent were
On Ray Nov
second panel of UBC
gave their evidence.
- Chief Tom Sampson, bs sartlip Band,
Stan Chipps, Beecher Bay Band; Gus
Underwood, ‘Tsawout Band; Chief
Mary Johnson, Mowachaht Band;
Caroline Wesley, Skidegate Band;
Sam Douglas, Popkum Band; and
- Chief Andy Alex, Union Bar Band.
We introduced our presentation by
showing two UBCIC fishing films
Sinumwak and We'll Do Our Fishing.
Chief Mary Johnson presented
evidence on the relationship of the
people of the Wet Coast with marine
resources and added:
‘*I have been/observing the matters
_ that have been discussed here at the
hearing, andI am getting more and
more afraid . . .I do not believe for
a minute that anybody in the world
can ever replace any damages or
losses we might have within the
marine and fishery resources.”’
Chief Tom Sampson presented evi-
_ dence of several Treaties which spell
out Indian rights to marine resour-
ces: :
‘movement in the area\
de Fuca or our
itt fees nee
st be completely
sa hk of this:
Gus Underwood gave evidence re-
garding his people’s reliance. on the
marine resources of Saanichton Bay,
He provided documents which sub-
stantiate the economic and cultural
importance of the Bay, and told the
Board how the Band had defeated a
proposal for a marina at Saanichton
Bay because of the potential depletion
of marine resources.
could ruin my people’s way of
living which we are so accustomed ©
to. You could say as natives of this
country, it is the only way we can
survive. We don’t make a great
deal of money at our employment
so we depend a lot on our seafoods,
and who knows if we have a bad oil
spill it may. affect our place of em-
_ ployment.”’
4
Cae for the Hearing to begin. Will anybody listen?
‘*Historically, all facets of commu-
nity life among the Coast Salish
including patterns of work, reli-
gious rituals, community ceremo-
nies, leisure activities and the arts,
originated in the community’s us-
age of and relationship to the sea.’”
Stan Chipps from Beecher Bay read
a letter from Chief Burt Charles of
the Cheanuh Band:
*“Our seafoods which we rely on
most year round, will be contami-
nated. Also all shellfish. An oil spill
will possibly affect the salmon,
ling cod and other bottom fish in
and around our area. It will most
certainly kill off waterfowl which ©
my people also depend on....I
know accidents will happen, there
is no guarantee that it won’t, but
damn it, it’s those accidents that
Carolyn Wesley from the Skidehate
Band, Queen Charlotte Islands, also
expressed concern about loss of
income if the marine resources were
ever damaged:
“The Island is divided into two
parts, and we have very strong
winds and tides, and if there ever is
any oil spill up there it will affect.
both sides of the Island. We depend
a lot on the herring and seaweed
and all the salmon and all the
different kinds of shellfish. Masset
has a cannery, and if 7 anything
should happen and the cannery had
to close down they would have no
employment and they will have
nothing to live on. There are also
canneries at Port Simpson north of
Prince Rupert and one at Bella
Bella, and they all cepa on
resources from the sea.”’
UBCIC NEWS 7
Sam Douglas, spokesman for the
Popkum Band, told how all the
Bands along the Fraser River will
also be affected by an oil spill:
‘‘The Popkum Band and just about
all the other Bands on the Reserves
along the Fraser River will be
affected if there ever was an oil spill,
whether it was in Juan de Fuca or
wherever it was, because we have
many runs which run up the Fraser
River and most of the fish would be
affected in that area.”’
The proposed oil pipeline from
Sumas, B.C. to Edmonton would
pass through the Popkum Reserve.
a have talked to several people eS
iim the Fraser Valley area who have
& line going through their proper-
i Sy and at no time has the Trans
th BH i sort throngh are
Be cy nce ew aes
pieces that you can hardly build a
jouse in any given spot without it
being affected by a hydro line, a
highway, a railway, or a pipeline. |
| We have five different lines going
there and it is only a 200)
acre piece.”
Chief Andy Alex of the Union Bar
Band also expressed concern about
further pipeline construction on the
right-of-way through the’ Kawkawa
Lake Reserve. When questioned about
negotiating with the Company, he
replied:
“In the past there has been some
commitments from some of the
companies involved with negotiat-
ing terms of contracts, releases or
right-of-ways or whatever you
have. There has been some, but
they are not as comprehensive as
they should be.”’ °
&
‘
UBCIC NEWS 8
The historic moment began when
Dale Johnson who had come to
represent nineteen United States
Tribes on the Washington coast and
in Puget Sound, spoke at the N.E.B.
hearings in Vancouver.
Mr. Johnson stated very nicely in
a tone of great strength and deter-
mination. :
‘*‘As they were historically, the
fishery resources are today the
centre of the Indian way of life,
from both the economic and
cultural standpoint. It will be
through the joint efforts of all
managing entities in the United
States and Canada that our
fishery resource will continue to
be a significant part of the
economic base of the Pacific
| Northwest.
International Agreement
in Force
‘We are very much concerned
about the potential problems
associated with the Trans Moun-
tain Oil Pipeline Corporation
Proposal affecting the waters
commonly fished and \mportant
to fish production for both Uni-
ted States and Canada.”’
The common interests) of the
Northwest Indians and Indians of
the Union of B.C. Indians Chiefs
are fish and marine resources. As in
the past, fish is still our food,
livelihood and our culture., So
strong is the need to protect our
fish, the leaders representing, the
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs andthe
Indian leaders of Northwest and
Puget Sound have found it necess-
ary to stand and fight together to
protect our fish and our resources.
The first meeting between the
fishing portfolio and the Northwest
Indian Fisheries Commission will be
sometime in December. We are
presently awaiting confirmation of
dates to discuss our joint efforts to:
protect our resources. If you require
information regarding fishing,
please don’t hesitate to call or write.
It is also with your own individual
effort that we can succeed in
managing and controlling our In-
dian foods. iy
e ‘NEWS NEWS NEWS _
i FUNDING CUTBACKS ARE IN THE WIND
There is a possibility of a $2 million cutback in the B.C.
budget of the Department of Indian Affairs.
This year, the new government has directed the
Department to look at this year’s budget and to identify
where cutbacks can be made. The Regional Director
General, Fred Walchli, has told the Union that he may
know by the middle of December whether these cutbacks
will actually be carried out.
Each year, the Department has requested Supplemental
moneys from Parliament to cover price and volume
increases in non-discretionary budget areas like educa-
tion, social assistance, and child care. Until now, these
extra moneys have always been approved. However, this
year, the extra costs may have to be found in other parts
of the existing budget, such as band capital projects,
economic development, and other discretionary program
areas.
Therefore, in order to meet the costs of welfare and
education, the Department is consdering using mostly the
_ small amount of developmental moneys in the budget
that are most important to our Bands. A large part of
these moneys could be used to pay off the Provincial
Government under the Child Care and Master Tuition
Agreements.
George Manuel has written to the Prime Minister
_demanding approval of supplemental funding.
3 power to investigate the Federal government. The
Ombudsman is supposed to be neutral and impartial.
He/she is not to get involved in politics. Any complaints
made by an individual are to remain confidential and no
information collected by the Ombudsman’s office in the
course of any investigation is to be divulged. '
Members of the St. Mary’s Band met with the
Ombudsman and his staff and voiced their complaints,
which ranged from issues concerning child apprehension,
burial procedures with Human Resources, the closing of
a group home and several complaints about consumer
goods. In one case a woman received a solution to her
problem within an hour after talking with Friedman.
Whether the Ombudsman will be an effective service to
Indian people in this province remains to be seen. As
Chief Sophie Pierre: put it: “Let’s wait and see how
effective they’ll be.”’
But is the Ombudsman impartial? Pat Ruby, assistant
to Friedman told our reporter in conversation that her
previous job had been with Foothills Pipeline Company,
a major investor in the Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline.
She told our reporter (a Kootenay Indian) he should tell
his people that they could get a sizable settlement from
the company and further that they could get jobs during
construction. If they didn’t, they would be left with
nothing. If that’s not political meddling, what is?
- POLITICAL MEDDLING
On Nov. 21, Dr. Carl Friedman, B.C.’s new Ombuds-
man and his staff arrived at the St. Mary’s Band near
Cranbrook, uninvited and unannounced. The first Band
members heard about the visit was a news report on a
Cranbrook radio station.
There was some confusion about the purpose of the
visit. Arriving just two weeks before Hearings are to
begin in the Kootenays on the Terms and Conditions
regulating the construction of the world’s largest Pipeline
Project, the radio reporter jumped to the conclusion that
‘the Ombudsman was visiting St. Mary’s Band to hear
complaints about the pipeline.
The Ombudsman, a new service for British
Columbians, came into existence on October 1 under the
terms of the provincial government’s Ombudsman Act
passed in 1977. The. purpose of the government-
appointed Ombudsman’s office is to hear complaints and
make recommendations to agencies concerned. These
‘include: ministries of government, provincial, municipal
and regional, as well as hospitals, corporations,
universities, public schools, boards, corporations and
private individuals. The Ombudsman does not have the
UBCIC NEWS 9
DIA TO BECOME SUPPORT AGENCY ?
In Quebec City on November 20/79 Jake Epp, Minister
of Indian Affairs, introduced his department’s new
policy to reduce the DIA from a governing body of
Indian people to a support agency for all Indians in
Canada.
‘‘We have to get back to the one Indian government, vy
stated Epp, ‘‘that is legally constituted and has the
support of the people that is the Chief and Band Council.
They are the number one group we have to deal with.
That’s where the decisions will have to take place to
ensure the Indian needs are fulfilled.’’
Bob Manuel, head of the Indian Government Portfolio
for UBCIC, said, ‘‘Although the minister’s intentions are
good, the minister in order to fulfill his committments
made to Indian people is going to have to overcome his
own bureaucracy within his department, provincially and
regionally.”’
Bob also added, ‘‘If he doesn’t change it, I don’t see
any real changes. As Indian people we can keep him
informed of what the department is doing to undermine
his policy and try to understand his policy as clearly as we
can. The minister is his part has to keep his door open for
us. 99
INDIAN HOMES FOR IN DIAN
- At present over 1,500 B.C. status Indian children and even a greater number
of non-status children are in care, while many are placed up for adoption. In
most cases they are being placed in non-Indian homes. With all due respect to
the many non-Indian families who are caring for our children, the B.C. Native
Women’s Society of Kamloops has released a position paper expressing their
neern over this situation.
The Indian Act allows laws of the
province, i.e. Adoption Act, Protec-
tion of Children Act, etc., to apply to
Indians where Federal law or Treaty |
rights have not been enacted.
The B.C. Native Women’s Society
of Kamloops, B.C. believes that legi-
slation should be enacted that would
impose duties on Native Indian
parents and. Indian Band Govern-
ments, local or otherwise, which
would enable Indian children who
have at least 25% Indian ancestry
blood to be given the opportunity to
develop within the background of his
or her ancestral culture. We believe it
is up to us to pursue the rights of
Native Indian children and guarantee
and entrench their rights in legisla-
tion, as our Communities’ continual
existence depends upon the develop-
ment of the complex relationship
between the local Band, the family
and the individual.
We feel the existing legislation that
affects our children can be charac-
terized as ‘‘Paternalistic’? and not
representative of, Indian concerns,
and that it moreover reflects non-
Indian adults’ concerns rather than
interests of the Indian child.
Because of the importance that
early. years have in indoctrinating
culture, ideas, and language, our
children should not be subjected to a
lulling influence in the atmosphere
and left languishing. The time is now
to have new legislation which will
protect the ancestral culture of our
children. We feel action is needed and
legislation must be enacted in the
Indian child protection field.
There must be much more involve-
ment in the prescribed criterion than
_ what presently exists under the Adop-
tion Act of British Columbia in order
to be eligible to.adopt an Indian child.
Although the B.C. Native Wom-
ens’s Society appreciates that many of
our children have been adopted by
non-Indian families, our intention is
not to upset these families directly or
indirectly, but our concern is that
_such children may have lost their
ancestral cultural identity.
The Adoption Act states that the
rights of Indian children are protected
but it must be emphasized that in fact
such cultural rights are not guaran- —
teed to the Indian child upon place-
ment in the hands of the Superinten-
dent of Child Welfare.
We feel that there is much more
involved than providing the necessi-
ties of life, sustenance, clothing,
shelter, food and warmth, to the
raising of an Indian child and that
special care should be involved, to
look after the child, to guide the
child, to supervise the child, and even
to go beyond that, and to direct
activities of the child which will not
destroy the child and will not allow
the child to be a menace to others.
The Society has an interest in every
Indian child in the community; for it
is understood that what our Indian
children become will be reflected in
CHILDREN
what the community is going to be.
What we do to our children, we are
doing to the community and to our-
selves. If we look after them and
make opportunities available to them
and give them the opportunity to take
advantage of those opportunities, our
children will profit by what we can
_give them and in the long run we will
gain by what we have given our
children.
We believe that what we can give
our children is a duty; what we
prevent is equally a duty. When an
Indian child does have a mental or
~ emotional disturbance or what ever
the case may be, it is a duty of the
Native Indian Community, through
the facilities set up by the community,
to do everything to prevent the distur-
bance from becoming a permanent —
state of mind.
Finally, as most adoptions are
handled through Childrens Aides
Society or Human Resources, or the
Catholic Children Aid Society who
place children in adoptive homes,
there is no direct Indian participation
in the procedure. Chiefs and Counsel-
lors and members of the Band who is
giving a child up for adoption should
be granted the right to place the child
and to review applications of persons
wanting to adopt such children; and
the Indian ancestral factor must be
regarded as important in agency
placements. e
{ The B.C. Native Women’s Society presented this evidence to the UBCIC )
General Assembly that the Provincial Government is in fact committing an act
of genocide. The Federal Government is opting out of its responsibilities for
Indians as stated in the BNA Act. There is no Federal Legislation that protects
Indian children and their rights. The Society’s paper was unanimously adopted
by the Assembly. It was then resolved by the Assembly that the UBCIC will
support and work with the B.C. Native Women’s Society towards changing
existing legislation by hringing in an Indian Children’s Service Act that will
protect the future generation from cultural genocide,
(Editor’s Note: The B.C. Native Women’s Society will = a to hold various
workshops on Indian Children’s Rights.
For more information please contact The B.C. Native Women’ s Society
AG 315 Yellowhead Highway, Kamloops, B.C. or UBCIC Health Portfolio
S
UBCIC NEWS 10 —
A}
pers rE
= =< os ui
ra .
S =
“ADULT EDUCATION IN SAANICH
AO ee
by Marie Cooper
of Saanich Indian School Board.
Recently, an article appeared in
Victoria newspapers indicating that
the Indian peoples of this region have
‘decided to take over adult education.
This, however,
-mation because the Saanich Bands
have been working at developing an
adult education progam for some
time.
- Under the auspices of the Saanich
Indian School Board (which repre-
sents the four Saanich Bands in the
field of education), an adult educa-
- tion program has been in the planning ~
stages for over two years. In the
Spring of 1978 an in-depth proposal
was published which planned out our
adult community education needs for
five years.
After the proposal was developed,
we went to the community to seek
their support and advice regarding
adult education. Originally it was due
to the advice of the community
members that we had gone ahead with
the proposal. With a few exceptions,
there was a lot of strong support for
the proposed plan of action.
Next, we gathered support from the
various Indian organizations who
_were involved in the field of educa-
‘tion; the Union of B.C. Indian
Chiefs, the National Indian Brother-
-hood, the United Native Nations, and
the United Indian All Tribe Federa-
tion.
At this point we were ready to app-
‘roach DIA and obtain our funding.
It is very important that we obtain the
core funding from the federal govern-
ment and not the provincial govern-
‘ment. We felt that this would. re-
-inforce our existing relationship with
‘the central government and would not
jeopardize our long standing rights
“under the BNA Act.
_ After some negotiations with the
Department, we were able to obtain
roughly one half of the monies we
UBCIC NEWS 12
is misleading infor-
requested for the establishment of an
alternate program for drop-outs in
our area. The number of our students
dropping out of high school is a
serious problem and we felt that their
needs had top priority. .
Unfortunately, there were some
disputes that came up in our commu-
nity just as we were about to begin the
program. The result has been that
DIA has withheld our monies.
Many of our students remain
outside of any educational system
because there is no real alternative
available for them. Many others will
drop out this year without employ-
-ment or educational alternatives.
Fortunately, we have a good work-
ing relationship with the local non-
Indian school district. In fact, we
om
: pisog jooyas uBIpUy yalueEes :ojoug
even run some of our programs in
their schools. Therefore, it will be an
ideal situation to have our alternate
school located on our land; it will be
close to the local public schools which
have agreed to allow us the use of
some of their facilities and equipment
that we can’t afford. It will also allow
for the extensive use of our Elders
and other community members, while
at the same time making it easily
accessible for our students.
We hope that our alternate school _
can be started in the near future. This
will partly depend on how: much
support is available from a ‘newly
elected council in Tsartlip. With their
support we will be successful. With-
out their help, it will be a very
difficult task. es
DIA JOINT COMMITTEE
The intent of an opting-out
clause is to serve notice to all con-
cerned that those Bands who so
wish have the legal federal right to
local control and _ parental
responsibility in the education of
their children. The adoption of a
final opting-out clause will depend
MASTER TUITION AGREEMENT
OPTING OUT CLAUSE: UBCIC/
on the ratification by B.C. Bands.
Therefore the committee will be
releasing information bulletins to
keep Bands informed. The joint
-UBCIC/DIA committee have set
terms of reference and have agreed
_that by December 14, 1979 or
before, the Addendum Clause will,
be agreed to by both parties, and.
that there will be no discussion
with the Provincial Government
on any aspect of these discussions.
=
WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE
LOCAL SERVICES AGREEMENT?
Since the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs sent out the first
draft Local Services Agreement accompanied by a letter
from George Manuel stating the intention of this first
draft, a new draft Agreement has been negotiated with
stronger changes recommended by the Bands we have met
with so far. This in itself is all part of the negotiating
process for getting the fairest agreement for oneself.
Recently, however, the Department of Indian Affairs
District Offices appear to have been pushing that first
draft. Bands should be aware that another draft is in
discussions with the DIA. This new draft is the result of
the recommendations from the District Councils and
Bands through workshops where we discussed suggested
improvements and incorporated them.
NEW LSA CAN STILL BE NEGOTIATED IF BAND
HAS ALREADY SIGNED BUT NOT SATISFIED |
Any Band who has already signed an Agreement and is
not satisfied can still negotiate a new Agreement, which
will supercede anything they have signed in the past.
~ In the Lakes District, the District Council has an
Agreement with the District Office not to approach the
Bands or begin negotiations until the District works out
an Agreement that they can recommend to the Bands in
their District.
At the request of the Lakes District Council, the
UBCIC has held two workshops on the Agreement and
the District Council has now formed a committee to work
with their Bands on their Agreement. Other workshops
have been held in Kamloops, Lillooet and the South
Island.
The UBCIC has developed a team of people to go out
and discuss the Agreement, things like:.The Draft
Agreement that the UBCIC has organized; Organization
of Government that the Federal systems require we
should put into place; financial reporting; and control
aspects; management aspects of the agreement; legal
interpretation of the Local Services Agreement.
L.S.A. JUST AN INTERIM AGREEMENT
The whole Local Services Agreement centres around
the purposes and conditions by which Bands receive
monies from the DIA to meet the various needs of their
communities. The Treasury Board decided there has to be
an Agreement between Bands and the DIA covering
monies turned over for local administration. Therefore
this Agreement becomes a contract between the Bands
and the DIA as to how the monies are to be used and
reported. As far as we are concerned, this is an interim
arrangement. The long term objective is to develop strong
Indian Governments to provide the Indian people with a
fair share of the Canadian resources to provide for our
people’s needs. But in the meantime, Bands are getting
their money through the DIA and this Agreement is. the
legal contract for that transaction. ,
DIA’S OBLIGATIONS MADE LEGALLY BINDING
IN NEW LSA
With the LSA we are not dealing with Indian
Government; just an interim agreement by which we get
monies. Up to now, Bands and the DIA considered the
LSA as a way of putting control on the Bands as to the
use of these monies. However, the new draft agreement
does also have clauses to require the DIA to carry out
their responsibilities in a more fair and efficient way. If
the DIA does not fulfill its obligations, they can be sued
by the Band and be forced to adhere to the Agreement.
he LSA forces the DIA to meet deadlines for
disbursement of monies and it provides a fair arbitration
procedure in case the Band or the DIA can’t agree on
funding levels and responsibilities.
Up to now, the DIA had the upper hand, so the new
LSA gives both parties legal equality.
THE NEGOTIATING IS UP TO EACH BAND
The UBCIC is negotiating with the DIA a draft |
Agreement that the UBCIC considers fair and this will be
ready and sent out to all Bands in December, 1979. But it
is only a suggestion. Bands are responsible for their own
negotiations with the DIA. The UBCIC draft is only a
suggested guideline.
The UBCIC is prepared to provide assistance during
negotiations for Bands that request this, but it is up to the
Band to decide what it is prepared to agree to. Some
“people have understood that the UBCIC Agreement was
binding for all Bands. It is not.
FINANCIAL ADVISORS UNDER BAND CONTROL
In order to negotiate and argue one’s planning, budget
proposals more strongly, it is necessary to thoroughly
understand one’s Band’s planning and budget. The
Gitskan Tribal Council have negotiated their own
financial advisor, the Central Interior Tribal Council
‘wants positions for Band financial advisors. The
Government Band Financial Advisors are so inefficient
and more concerned with looking after the Government’s
side of things that they don’t provide the help that Bands
require. However, District Councils should be looking
for negotiating that these kinds of positions be under
District Council or Band control.
If Bands want to hold workshops or require assistance
with planning and budgetting, or negotiations, they
should contact Willard Martin, coordinator of the
UBCIC Local Services Agreement Workshop team. ®
UBCIC NEWS 13
AFTER THE ASSEMBLY:
General Assemblies are the most
important event in the life of any
responsible organization. Held yearly,
they make it possible for the people to
instruct their elected representatives
and their organizational workers on
the direction they will take in the
coming year. The 1ith General
Assembly of the Union of British
Columbia Indian -Chiefs held in
Vancouver October 15 to 18 marked
an important moment in the life of
this organization. It was significant
that this year there was far less talk
about ‘‘rights’? and far more talk
_ about ‘‘responsibilities’’. It was as if
the debate about rights had been
settled in the minds of the people: we
have rights, now how do we go about
putting them into practice?
MORE SPECIFIC DIRECTION
‘*There was an urgency to do things
that need to be done and stop talking
about it,’’ commented South Coast
Vice-President Philip Paul. ‘‘It was
significant that there was a real life to
the conference: more on the issues
than the politics that usually goes on.
I think the discussion around Indian
Government, what it really means,
preserving their culture and doing
something about the language, seeing
the land again, the way it was meant
to be, how important land is for the
continuation of our culture. It was a.
very positive conference. It seemed to
be a pay-off for all the struggles that
- the Union has been through.’’
MORE WORK AT COMMUNITY
LEVEL
_ Vice-President Saul Terry, re-elec-
ted by acclamation to represent the
Central Interior region, said: ‘‘Look-
ing at the resolutions that came out of
this Assembly, it appears there are
many more specific directions. It
gives us a better idea of our mandate.
I think this is due to the fact that the
Union has more contact with the
communities now. Questions are
being dealt with out there so that the
resolutions at the Assembly could be
‘fewer and more specific. It was an
indication of the real work being done
that there was no antagonism or con-
frontation. As for the organization of.
the Assembly, the talking session on
the first day, indicated to me, that
returning to a method of communi-
cation by speaking out through the
has got a lot of people acting on ’ oratory used in the past-is fundamen-
tal to Indian Society. I sensed a
reluctance on the part of some people
to get up and speak their mind, others
seemed to be confused and sometimes
the points had to be forced. But it
seems to me that we have to begin to
incorporate the fundamental values
of Indian Society into our meetings.
During the Talking Sessions we were
taking the hardly used aspect of
verbal communication. I think too
often we are too technical and we’re
suffering for it. But it was a start, a
beginning towards more trust, work-
ing together on common goals.’’
MORE ACTION ON REAL ISSUES
Newly elected Vice-President for the
North Coast Region, Archie Pootlass:
“The new format of the Talking
Session allowed for the participation
by the Elders and Observers as well as
the delegates. The ceremonies, danc-
ing and social events in the evenings
gave a renewed sense of Indian
Nationhood for all the communities.
The General Assembly showed me
that the Union has been successful in
developing the concept of Indian
Government to the point where it is
far more feasible or possible than say,
A constitution is a beginning
towards re-establishing Indian
Government. It’s a legislative base.
We did have an Indian Govern-
ment until just a few years ago.
After the war, Indian Affairs
became a real part of our lifestyles,
taking away our responsibility to
govern ourselves. We gave up most
of our responsibilities, for exam-
ple, in education, developing an
economic base, and other areas.
Bands want to get away from that
now.
One way to do that is to have a
\ constitution: a guideline for the
UBCIC NEWS 14
BAND CONSTITUTIONS: THE NEXT STEP?
Band in whatever areas they wish
to take responsibility for. A
constitution outlines the method
for electing the Chief and Council
and gives them the general terms of
reference for their positions. It
calls for a General meeting of
Band members’ annually’ or
bi-annually to give the Chief and
Council and the Administration a
mandate.
A Constitution also outlines the
various areas of jurisdiction the
Band wants to govern such as:
education, health care, fisheries
management, etc., etc. Then there
~
are areas we haven’t begun to work
on but wish to begin working on
like Indian Religion. Those new
areas should be outlined in the
Band Consitution as well.
The Aboriginal Rights Position
paper, adopted by the 11th
General Assembly adopted by all
the member Bands of the Union
provides a base for the develop-
ment and implementation of
policies and laws to regulate any
Band’s chosen responsibilities, so
that they can truly function as
governments—Indian Govern-
ments. e 4
WHERE DO WE GO
FROM HERE?
VICE PRESIDENT ELECTED IN |
N ORTHERN REGION |
On November 16, 1979, delegates
Jrom the Williams Lake, Fort St.
John and Lakes Districts met to elect
a Vice President for the Northern
Region of the Union of B.C. Indian
Chiefs in Prince George, B.C.
Eddy John, the interim vice presi-
dent, chaired the-meeting. The suc-
cessful candidate was Mr. Dennis
Patrick of the Nazko Indian Band,
who is also the Coordinator for the
Cariboo Tribal Council. His accept-
ance speech was business-like:
_ “Thank you for the confidence you » ae
placed in me and the opportunity to
serve you. I’ve listened closely to
comments made regarding the prob-
lems of this region. I suggest that we
form a Steering Committee today, to
do the following:
—develop a definite strategy to
assist Bands in working at problems
Ce
two years ago in Penticton. I think
from my first observations that there
still has to be a lot of work done at the
community level. Especially in the
north where it seems communications
has broken down. At the political
level with your elected Chief and
‘Council, I think they have begun to
understand Indian Government but
there has to be a lot of work done
with the memberships and the admin-
istration in line with Indian Govern-
ment. Since the General Assembly
we’ve had three, four Council meet-
ings discussing our Indian Govern-
ment and direction we’re going.
Instead of scrambling and reacting
continually to Indian Affairs, we
have to establish long term develop-
ments, administrative changes, what
have you. I think a lot of Chiefs and
Councils are beginning to understand
Dennis Patrick )
—to develop a work plan to ensure
that we begin the task of problem
solving
what is necessary to re-establish our
spiritual base through our past.’’
=
MORE EMPHASIS ON SPIRITUAL
BASE -
To senior Vice-President, Philip
Paul goes the last words: ‘‘The whole
breakdown of Indian people has been
in the area of mind, body, and spirit.
The foundation of our culture is
spiritual. We have to respond. We’ve
been dealing with the physical frus-
trations but the whole foundation of
Indian people has always been a
spirituality based on the land. That
has to be promoted even more
strongly in the months and years
ahead. The conference was spiritually
based because any time you have
truth and honesty coming together,
something is bound to give. That is
—to act as a committee to evaluate
our progress
—to provide ongoing advice to
myself on developments in these
districts.
This group, along with the Chiefs
and Council members, would form a
positive and reliable work group so
that all the problems are not neglect-
ed.
The importance of the work to be
done is more than personal goals, and
I pledge myself to understanding the
difficulties and working towards im-
provement of the situation.
In this Region there are many good
leaders who have not or are unable to
run for this important position and I —
promise to try to involve them for
their expertise and assistance. I also
realize that some leaders prefer to
work at their own Band level and I
ask their assistance in the future.
what happened in the last two or three
years of the Union. There has been a
lot of truth and honesty and dedi-
cation and hard work going into what
is happening. Any time you have
those forces working together they —
are spiritual. To get back to the value
structure we were talking about at the
Assembly, requires a lot of hard-—
nosed decisions about how we treat ©
our lands and how we respond in
dealing with the land we now have. If ©
we are really going to retain our
culture, then there are some pretty ©
hard decisions that have to be made. |
The tough days of Indians doing ©
things for themselves, really express-
ing themselves, are now upon us.
Self determination means dealing with
the toughest of situations and using —
all our resources to do it regardless of —
how difficult it is.’’ e
UBCIC NEWS 15
INDIAN
CHRISTMAS
A story by Beth Cuthand
“‘Christmas makes me sick,’’ says Canute, ‘‘us running
around spending money, doing all the things the white
people do; cutting trees, buying fancy foods, expensive
toys. What for, Toes?’’
“It’s a good excuse for a big celebration, I say,’’
answered Two Toes.
‘“No, Toes, I’m serious. Christmas is the Whiteman’s
celebration. It’s their God, their way. We’re Indian,
Toes,’’ said Canute, holding his friend’s arm real hard.
‘“‘Look at my family. Sammy, over there by the skis—it
scares me to see the greed in his eyes.’’ Two Toes didn’t
say anything for a while, just looked around the store at
the fancy decorations, the busy people, busily buying big
presents that would take months of fried bologna to pay
back.
“*I wish wé didn’t have Christmas at all. This is going
to be the last time,’’ Canute went on. ‘‘Every year I get
mad that we have to do these things. It’s the kids, Toes. I
do it for the kids. Why? What for? It’s not our way. I
feel.;....”’
‘“‘Compromised?’’ said Two Toes, who knew a lot of
big English words.
“Yes Toes, I’m going against my own ways, my
‘beliefs.’”? Canute looked real serious. Sometimes Two
Toes worried about his young friend. Canute’s thoughts
made the old man uneasy. Two Toes was thinking hard
now, trying to ease his friend. ‘‘I go to Church with my
Grannie eh? Ever wonder why Canute?’’
Canute nodded and looked intently at his old friend.
Two Toes continued. ‘‘I always used to fight it because I
thought it wasn’t Indian. A medicine man helped me sort
it out. I met him ata gathering and for some reason sat by
him. We were quiet for a long time and then he turned to
me and looked me right in the eye and said ‘If you asked
me to go to your church and pray with you, I would. I’d
kneel and pray with you if that’s how you prayed. I’d
_ stand and sing with you, if that’s how you sing. But when
I prayed, 1’d pray in my own way to the Good Creator.
You wouldn’t know because you would be praying too: in
your own mind, in your own way. But we would be
worshipping the same Being together. You would call him
“*God’’ and I would call him ‘‘Good Creator.’’ I would
worship with you in your church, if you asked me to.’
That’s all he said, Canute, but it stays with me. I go to
Church with my Grannie because she asks me to. I’m not
sure how, but that man’s message has something to do
with your problem, Canute.”’
Canute was disappointed, angry. He didn’t say
anything, just turned and walked away. Two Toes
watched after his friend. He had an overpowering urge to
go hunting. A deer or moose would be nice for the
celebration, he thought.
UBCIC NEWS 16
When Two Toes came home a week later, he found a note
from Canute asking him to come to a family meeting on
Friday to talk about Indian Christmas.
Two Toes felt relieved. ‘Canute must have figured
something out,’ he thought. ‘I think today is Friday. I’d
_ better go see Grannie and phone him.’
Grannie was 96. She lived alone in a little log house
next door to her grandson Two Toes whom she always
called by his given name.
“‘Norbert, you’re just in time,’’ she said as Toes
clomped into the house. ‘‘Take your boots off.’’ Grannie
stood by the kitchen table nearly hidden by a giant bowl
into which she was busily mixing nuts, carrots, candied
fruit, raisins, spices, flour and the occasional splash of a
nameless liquor. ‘“Canute has kept coming by every day,
ranting and raving about Indian Christmas. Young fool
thinks he’s just invented it!’? Grannie took a swallow of
the liquor and continued mixing, mixing the dough. _
‘“*I didn’t know you drank alcohol,’’ Toes said in
surprise.
“ “There’s a lot of things you young people don’t
know,”’ said Grannie to her 60 year old grandson. She
wiped her hands on her apron. ‘‘Sit down Norbert,’’ she
said kindly, taking his big rough hand in hers. She poured
two little glasses of the dark brown liquor. ‘‘Don’t look
so surprised. You’re old enough to share a little drink with
the Old People. Alcohol is not a bad thing as long as you
don’t lose your dignity. The Evil is in the indignity.’’ Two
Toes took a little sip and looked soberly at his Grannie.
“‘I buy a small bottle of this rum every year at this time to
put in my Christmas cake. A long time ago before you were
even born, when I was a young woman, I thought and
decided to bake a Christmas Cake like the white ladies
do. I got all the baking goods together. It cost a lot of
money and grandfather had to sell four beaver pelts to
help pay for them, even though he didn’t think much of
it. He thought I was trying to be something I wasn’t. The
recipe which I got from the minister’s wife called for 1
cup of rum. Your grandfather wouldn’t hear of it.’’ The
old lady chuckled and sipped her drink. ‘‘I mixed up the
Christmas cake on Stir-up Sunday as the white people call
it, 6 weeks before Christmas. I wrapped up the cakes and
put them away to season. Do you know what happened,
Norbert?’’? Two Toes shook his head.
“‘Come Christmas day, I brought the cakes out and
unwrapped them. My children were all excited, especially
your mother, Norbert. She always loved sweets. Your
grandfather was excited too. You see, he knew that cake
was a gift. I was giving away something that I had put a
lot of love into. Even though it was foreign, your
grandfather could respect that.’’ Grannie’s eyes were
misty and far away. Two Toes held her old, frail hand
and waited for her to continue.
“The cakes were spoiled, Norbert,’’ she said softly.
‘‘They were mouldy and dry. All those expensive fruits
and nuts were spoiled. You see, my son, the rum was
supposed to be there. It helps preserve the cake and
makes it moist.”’ .
‘‘Was grandpa mad?”’ asked Two Toes.
‘*No,’’ the old woman replied. ‘‘He felt guilty. Ever
since that Christmas, for as long as he was alive, he
always bought me a small bottle of rum. Every year, he
would help me stir the cake and we would sit together
afterward, as we are doing today. We would enjoy this
drink together as the cake baked in the oven. It was a time
when we would discuss the things that we would give ©
away to our children, our relatives and our friends.
You'd better hurry now,’’ she said, once more ae and
bustling about. “Your good friend needs you now.’
Two Toes hurried over to Canute’s house, thinking
about what his Grannie had said. He felt a big lump in his
throat and a tinkling laughter deep inside. Canute met
him at the door looking defiant and willful.
**I thought you weren’t coming,’’ he said. ‘‘Come in,
the meeting is about to start.’’ Everyone was sitting at the ,
table. The girls looked glum. Sammy looked resentful,
Mary Anne bewildered and John Henry sober and
dignified as usual. Canute’s Grannie sat serenely with a
slight smile playing on her lips. Two Toes sat down beside
Grannie, trying to arrange his face to look supportive and
serious but the tinkle wouldn’t go away. |
—T’ve been doing a lot of thinking about Christmas,”’
Canute began. ‘‘Every year we all get uptight and worried
over nothing. Every year all I hear is ‘I want, I want’ until
it drives me mad.’’ Canute was getting wound up. ‘‘This
year things are going to be different!’’ Canute thundered,
striking the table with his fist. ‘‘We’re all Indian, right?’’
Eight heads nodded up and down. ‘‘Well we should act
like Indians, right?’’ Eight heads nodded up and down.
‘“‘This year, we’re going to celebrate Christmas. . .”’
The kids breathed a collective sigh of relief and Canute
looked intensely at the family around the table. ‘‘But -
we’re going to celebrate it the Indian way. Christmas is a
good excuse for a celebration. Toes told me that last
week. Well, we’re going to celebrate. We’re going to give
thanks for all the gifts the Creator has given us. Each one
of us will have a give away on Christmas Day as a way of
giving thanks for our own gifts.,»Do you understand?”’
Canute was more relaxed nowhe went on. ‘‘And the
special meal we eat will be a fest for our relations who
have gone before. They ae part of us too and we must
always remember them.’
yh
Illustrations by Donna Flett.
Canute began to pace across the kitchen floor. He was
thinking aloud. ‘‘Since the whiteman came, Christmas
has become a part of our lives. We can’t make it go away _
but we can give it the respect that it deserves in our own
way by our own beliefs. Will you try it this way Canute
appealed to his family.
‘You mean we’ll give away prints and towels and
scarves. and things like that?’’ asked Melinda, looking
doubtfully at her sisters. ‘‘And you wouldn’t get mad?”
“It’s up.to us, we have to discuss it,’’ said Canute.
“‘That’s why I called this meeting so we could decide
together. After all, we all have to live with it and be
comfortable. What do you think?”’
Two Toes sat beside Canute’s Grannie, as the family
discussed the upcoming celebration. Once in a while he’d
catch her eye and they’d chuckle softly for no reason that
could be said in words. :
UBCIC NEWS 17
- On September 27, 1978, David
Spinks from Lytton B.C. was charged
with unlawful possession of three fish
and unlawfully fishing by means of a
net. The same defence was available
in the Spinks court case as the defence
arising from the Bradley Bob deci-
sion. This case upheld the reserve
right to fish, but found that there was
a legal area in law for the Federal
Government to regulate fishing for
the purpose of conservation. As a
result of this, it was necessary to
approach the Spinks case from a
different point of view.
On November 8, 1979 in Lillooet
court, the UBCIC. Legal Advisors
argued that the statement made by
Spinks to the fisheries officer at the
time of his arrest was involuntary.
While on trial, 19 year old David
Spinks admitted he had been scared.
He had told the officer he didn’t
know the area was closed to fishing.
The officer asked, ‘‘Whose fish are
these?’’ There was no reply from:
David or his brother who was with
him at the time. The officer said, ‘‘If
you don’t tell me you both could be
ee: *? David then said, ‘OK,
~ FRIDAY
OVERNMENT
OAM - 4: SOP)
HER OFFICES |
2 NO ~
they’re mine.’? He made further
statements after the officers said
they could be taken into custody.
The Legal Advisor said, ‘‘The
judge didn’t agree with us. We put
David on the stand and the judge
found that part of the statement was
involuntary but the part of the
admission which was damaging came
before there was any pressure put on
him.”’
by the Indian people in the case was |
one of great importance for the
Indian people.
The Advisor said, “David Spinks
case was sort of like that of the
Bradley Bob case and Spinks had
been through a great deal in coming
to court and having his case put over
so long to see what would happen
with the Bob case. The judge was very
sympathetic with that position and so —
he gave Spinks a discharge.”’
After the long five hour court case,
Spinks said, ‘‘I’m glad it’s finally
“JUDGE DOESN’T THINK CON-
FISCATED, FISH WILL BE RE-
TURNED
The same day in Lillooet court,
Frank Link from Shalalth Indian
Band also appeared. On July 16, 1978
he was charged by a fisheries officer
with illegal fishing. Four fish and one —
net were confiscated from him.
However, the Federal Fisheries De-
partment dropped the charges against
- Link. The judge said it was certain his
net would be returned before next
spring, but unlikely that the fish
would be returned. e
"RESERVE RIGHT TO FISH |
lee
Sam Mitchell, , left, never misses a
fishing case in Lillooet.
-UPHELD
**So all the Crown prosecutor had
to prove is: David was fishing with a
net and he was fishing above the CP
Railway bridge at Mission on the
_ Fraser River. He proved all of these.”’
—->™~
The judge said it was hard to come
to a decision but ‘‘the defendent is
P. guilty as charged.’’ The Legal Advi-
-- #
= ee"
® the Bradley Bob case, we argued he |
UBCIC NEWS 18
sors gave a submission that Spinks
should be given a discharge because
he was helping out his family by
: fishing for focd.
Frank Link’s case was dropped but
he’ll probably have to wait some time
for his net.
*‘Also because it arose out of some . J
of the 1978 charges along the lines of
should be given a discharge. The >
judge agreed with us and gave him a
conditional discharge of six months.’’
The Legal Advisor said the reason |
= why the judge gave a conditional dis-
"2 charge was because of the Bradley —
Bob decision, and the position taken ~~
BELLA
On our central coast, the Bella Coola
Indian tribe has opened their own fish
processing plant, which will focus on
the smoking and vacuum packaging
of fish. Sam Moody, a Band member
who worked a long time towards
getting the plant established, gives
this report of what is happening with
the Bella Coola Smoker Plant.
In Bella Coola we now have our
own processing plant where we fillet
fish, and smoke it and vacuum pack it
for marketing in the North American
market. It is primarily salmon right
now. The bulk of the work involves
_ the actual filleting. It can be tiresome,
but then that is an art in itself.
Weare planning to buy fish directly
from the fishermen this year, our own
Band fishermen and through the
services of a chartered packer boat.
But we’re going to be open to
everybody and anybody: we want as
much fish as we can get. We’ll also be
negotiating with a couple of fishing
companies in Vancouver to do some
custom smoking during the slack
periods.
Right now, our capacity is roughly
8,000 pounds a week. That’s going
-with two shifts and depending on
what kind of filleting we do. The
- filleting is done by two women, Grace
Hans and Gloria Tallio. Joey Nappi
and Peter Siwallace are the shop
foremen and I’m the product man-
ager.
For the smoking, we ordered a
smoke unit from Hull, England. The
- machine controls the temperature and
the amount of air that’s getting in.
You can recycle the smoke. It cooks
with an automatic smoker unit, where
fish is put into the smoker unit and
COOLA
SMOKER PLANT
Pssssst. ..Wanna buysome smoked fish?
the smoke is applied on a continual
basis. It requires very little mainten-
ance. One person can operate it for an
eight-hour shift, and in that time we
can smoke roughly 350 to 400 pounds
of fish, depending on the filleting.
We are also marketing our own
chips. We have an agreement with the
Department of Forestry to acquire the
alder wood for chips. We purchased a
ten thousand dollar chipper and we’ll
be marketing chips to the lower
mainland and up to the interior. The
alder chips are used for smoking. We
chip them, age them, then semi-dry
them. They are the ideal wood for
smoking.
ping. In the future we’d like to get
somebody to undertake and manage
the chipping operation from the
Band. We’re trying to work in
conjunction with Forestry, in what
they call cutting/clearing. Our chip-
per crew would work on a contract
basis to make it easier and I guess it.
would be to the advantage of the
Department of Forestry, because in
the practice of cutting and clearing,
the alder and the other deciduous
woods are just dropped and left there. |
Our chipper crew could chunk it up
and haul it out, but right now it’s just
too expensive to Forestry to do this
type of operation.
The Chiarel riabhine'i isa sini rei thie Snboker plant and soon will ve a
business in itself.
We will be sending them to other
plants; we’ve had quite a few inquir-
ies about our chips. That’s more or
less a spinoff from our smoker plant,
and it’s going to be a full time
operation within‘tself.
It’s quite a tedious task to get wood
from the actual site and do the chip-
Forestry can go in, drop the trees
and finish their project within their
time period, and when they’re out of
there and we go in and clean up,
cutting the branches off, quartering
the alder and hauling it out. On other
sites the tree would just be dropped
and quartered and left. Forestry
UBCIC NEWS 19
would rather see the Bands haul the
wood out. We have a supply for the
‘next fifty years at least; it’s a rotating
supply. The Forestry Department is
about 25 years behind in their cut and
clearings but we’d like to concentrate
on just smoking. We are just prepar-
ing a proposal for the upcoming year.
_ We have received some good news
- just this month. We got our process-
ing licence. Earlier, before we applied
for our licence, we were testing the
food fish done by the people on our
reserve. We did a lot of testing: we ~
would ask the people to get the fish
and we would smoke it for them. All
we were doing was trying to perfect
our technique. Then Fisheries came |
along and asked us if we had a
processing licence, at the time we
were just about to apply. They said if
we didn’t have a licence we couldn’t
smoke any food fish.
_ There were so many things we
‘didn’t think of! We found it very
difficult right at the beginning be-
cause everybody was preoccupied
with their own work: they changed
project offices and officers within the
LEAP Canada Manpower right at the
beginning of the project. There were
all kinds of foul-ups and I was ready
to give up, but we held in there. We
got a lot of support from our Chief
Councillor and from the staff.
UBCIC NEWS 20
We established a Board of Direc-
tors, all Band members, but I would
like to get some points of view from
professional people like bank mana-
gers and company managers. In April
when we start in full operation
commercially, we'll be competing
with the bigger companies, and in
order for us to succeed I think we
need some outside information.
_ The Federal Bank seems to be
really interested in what we are doing
right now and the Special Arda. We
need some sort of professional ad-
vice.
The actual planning of the process-
‘ing plant started back in 1975.
Actually the idea came to me when I
was working with the Indian Fisheries
Assistance Program and I knew this
Band was struggling hard to try to set
up an economic base here. It was
obvious what sort of resource you
could tap to set up an economic base;
either forestry or the fishing industry. |
It finally materialized during 1978; we
actually got funds in mid-March,
1979 and. we started operations
then, preparing everything.
Right now we are looking at a lot of
fish sitting in Vancouver in freezer
plants. The market isn’t too strong
right now because there is no fish
being sold at present. You can only
keep frozen fish for so long and then
they have to do something with it. We
can smoke it. Once it’s smoked,
and vacuum packed there’s not too
much problem with spoilage; it can be
put into a refrigeration unit, and it
will store indefinitely.
We will be experimenting with
smoking herring and ground fish such
as black cod, ling cod and rock cod.
We are now negotiating supplies
and soon we’ll be able to do custom
smoking for other Bands and com-
panies. It just depends on our
capacity to get raw products. What
we plan to do, as part of our
marketing, is to get a supply of
salmon solely for samples from our
smoker.
There is some concern that we’ll be
shipping all our salmon out of the
valley but we hope to supply a local
store and maybe set up our own Band
store. i
Everything was touch and go for
- quite a while, but I think we’re in the
right groove now. The one thing that
‘was really. good was our Chief
Councillor asked us to smoke salmon
for the feast during the UBCIC
General Assembly. We sent roughly
300 pounds down. We got a lot of
- good compliments which we all take
the credit for! ®
ie a ew
_ over twenty years.
Reynolds Blanchford, also known
as Buck Thomas, and his wife Ellen
live on IR 17 at Lytton. Living two
miles from the ranch has caused
hardship but D.I.A. refused to build
anywhere else but there. Reynolds is
founder of the Lytton Range Patrol
and president for first two terms,
president of the Lytton band’s Cattle-
man’s Association, a member of the
Lillooet Livestock Association and
Band Councillor.
The ranch is located on 12 acres of
land in the Bothanie Valley and has a
little apple orchard in it. The terrain
makes it difficult and sometimes even
dangerous to cultivate with a tractor;
a team of horses for year-round use is
more practical.
Ranching began as a hobby some
twenty years ago and Reynolds
Blanchford remembers the first five
calves he had. He now has.a breeding
stock of Hereford, Angus and short
Horns, totalling forty five. ‘‘At the
sale in Kamloops, I got top prices for
twenty two calves. That’s really good
considering all the other ranchers’
competition. I think that’s something
to stick my chest out for.’’ To totally
appreciate that statement, one must
be fully aware of the background.
UBCIC NEWS 22
Reynetd Blanchford and his rife Ellen have ‘been ranching in ie 8 yttor or
Of all the difficulties besides tour-
ists, vandals, predators and ‘ustlers,
the greatest frustration faciig Band
members who farm and ranch in
Lytton is the business of Weter Rights
and Water Licences. Wager licences
are issued by the Proviscial Water
Rights Branch, supposedy to control
yer use, to ensure that everyone has
equal share and opportunity.
There are Priority Licences to ensure
i at a bottom or low ranch in a water
stem gets water first but in this case
{t hasn’t worked. There is no way to
‘monitor amounts of water taken by
‘the big ranches who sometimes use
if over 100-120 sprinklers, allowing
little or no water to reach the bottom
line. To add to their difficulties, St.
George’s School on Lytton Reserve
has been leased to a white rancher for
$100 per month and he feels he’s
entitled to share their water licence
rights because he’s living on the
reserve. To top matters off, DIA,
who holds the Band’s water licences,
has already transferred two water
_ licences to the lessee in 1978. When
DIA is questioned, their response is
they are ‘‘researching’’ it. Reynolds
said, ‘‘The non-Indian ranchers
should make their own ditch. We
have no water now. Why should they
come and take what little we do have.
If they use our water, they should
compensate us for 20 years of work
that kept the water coming.’’ :
Buck Tiomas got top prices for his calves this fall.
,
These flumes, built nearly 70 years ago, bring precious water to the
Blanchford farm.
It took eight Band members fifteen Regulating the water supply to make
years to build the ditches for irriga- every drop count.
tion in their spare time around the .~ >
early 1900’s. It was built without any ©
professional engineering skills, tech-
nology or machinery. The first (top) eS
ditch is all open but some water is lost we %
because of seepage. The second ditch
runs along the bottom through some
pretty steep hillsides and flumes are ».
then used in these areas. There are
- constant disruptions to the flow of
water: pine needles, huge boulders,
branches, leaves, and sand must be
constantly cleared at all times. A dam
- breakdown means dropping every- |
thing, and could happen at any time §
of day but can’t be ignored or else !
water is lost. These ditches have been
maintained, solely and independently
by the individual users of the ditch.
Still, other farmers and ranchers have
the audacity to accuse them of |
_ wasting water. _
The irony of the situation is that all 2,
this work doesn’t bring water at %
times. The Blanchfords had a poor »
growing season this year with only —®
200 bales. He needs at least 3,000 © ee da
bales and had to buy some locally. a
“If they just leave our water alone,
instead of hogging it, we would be am)
self-sufficient. Then this neighbour
has the nerve to sell me hay, which
ae had been rained on. It was raised with
/“ our own water: boy, that really
=i burned me up.’ The Union of B.C.
Indian Chiefs Legal Task Force is
now looking into the Water Licence
—_ business. .
About four years ago, Reynolds
suffered heavy losses to cattle rust-
lers. The stories sound like a western
‘ novel come to life. One night, he
relates, a van was parked, hidden
from view and so suspicious that he
» sawed a tree.across the road and sent
. someone to report it to R.C.M.P.,
while he investigated. He challenged
1 them, at which the men became
extremely angry at first and refused
any explanation, yelling they were
going to report it: until they found
out that it was already being reported.
The intruders cooled down. This is
how the Range Patrol began.
with the achievements, considering
the size, terrain, hardships created by
the water situation and share the
rewarding feeling when he received
top prices for his calves. ‘‘I like what
I’m doing, that’s why I’m raising
i cattle.” . e
UBCIC NEWS 23
One cannot help but be impressed
Albert Dunstan has a small
farm high in the mountains
above Lytton, facing ‘‘The
Woman Who Always
. Sleeps.’’ He still lives in the
house his parents built, with
no electricity, but in a truly
beautiful setting.
_ Nine years
ago he renewed his interest
in the family ranch, got a
loan, bought machinery
and cultivated the land. He
paid back that loan and also
bought cattle. He now has
twenty-five breeding cattle
(that’s the calving barn on
the right); and has about 50
_ head of cattle in all.
Water for irrigating forage:
crops and market condi-
tions are the main topics of
conversation (with WIAC
Sieldworker George Saddle-
man here) and the major
worries of a _ mountain
rancher.
‘PREGN/ NCY TESTING IN Cows _
Dy, 7 udith Joe
Throughout the Nicola Valley, the © 9 9 =
Okanagan and other ranching areas,
machines are being used to determine
pregnancy in cattle. This preg-testing
operation is sponsored by the West-
ern Indian Agriculture Corporation.
_ The cow pregnosticator is made by
_ Animark Incorporated, in Aurora,
: polorade, USA.
_. The detection of pregnancy can
save money. Early pregnancy detec-
‘tion enables you to cull non-produ-
cers, thus saving feed and main-
tenance costs. This also enables you
to sell early, before the market is
saturated, and results in higher pro-
fits.
The cow pregnosticator detects
pregnancy externally, quickly and
accurately, with ultra sound waves.
Pulses of sound are transmitted
through the body: you use the same
principle as sonar or radar. Cows may
be checked in a shute with a single
operation in as little as thirty seconds.
Dairy cows may easily be checked
during milking. In dairies, the cow
_ pregnosticator is also proving valu-
able for keeping records. It permits
accurate culling and replacement,
based on early pregnancy detection.
The use of the instrument enables
breeders to keep cows producing
longer and from missing cycles, also
to cull open animals. It is useful in
detecting false pregnancies that are
indicated by infections, post abort-
ion, uterus disturbances, cystic ova-
ries, hormone therapy and usual
phenomena such as mummified foe-
tus, surgical scars and adhesion from
old pregnancies.
The cow pregnosticator is 100%
accurate in what it shows. The
accuracy rate is more than 90% at
forty days after breeding your herd.
External pregnancy testing shortens
the time it takes to test a herd. The
cow pregnosticator takes much less
time than palpation and eliminates
the heavy physical demand. It is easy
an penet=
eeepc at .
re
Pa
to use and you can check animals at
your convenience. By preg-testing,
one cuts costs, increases productivity
and increases efficiency, resulting in
higher profits. Preg-testing work-
shops have been held throughout the
Nicola Valley, the Okanagan in
Vernon and Enderby arid in Hazelton.
Judith Joe has cattle of her own.
She is ranching with her father in
Merritt. About two months ago,
W.I.A.C. was having a preg-testing
workshop in her area and she
happened to be interested. She went
down to Colorado with other field-
workers to complete her training and
is now in business with her own
machine.
Indian farmers or Bands who
are interested in making use of this
early detection service should contact
Judith Joe directly at Box 1, Merritt,
B.C., Tel.: 378-5603, or through
W.I.A.C., 440 West Hastings, ee
couver, Tel: 684-0231.
bl
Ne
Judith Joe, below at a recent preg-
testing workshop. Using the new 7
pound machine, seen here hanging
around her neck, Ms. Joe can check a
cow for pregnancy in. as little as a
seconds,
UBCIC NEWS 25
At the St. Mary’ 's Reserve Christinas trees are brought from the Band’ 's tree farm thd 4 are aRTonTEE at he Wee yard Mop
trimming, tagging, and baling.
Pay Tee TEE FARE
The St. Mary’s Indian Band is in
the process of shipping out this year’s The Christmas trees are tagged, in preparation for the long haul to Mexico.
crop of Christmas trees to the United
States and Mexico. Dan Gravelle,
W.1.A.C. fieldworker in the Koote-
nays, showed our reporter around the
farm and explained how it came into
being and how things work.
The St. Mary’s tree farm takes up
14,000 acres of the Band’s 17,000
acres. The tree farm was started in
1974 by the Band. Before that,
companies would come in each year
and cut away at the Band’s natural
forest for the Christmas trees: over’
forty thousand trees were cut and
sold, but the Band received a very low
price.
The tree farm is managed by the
Band and all the cutting, pruning and
bailing is done by Band members.
The Band supplies the hand tools and
trucks for the cutting and. hauling.
UBCIC NEWS 26
Rye eae: [Fee a
The St. Mary’s Band realize they =~ a ,
must develop their young tree farm
into one that will produce excellent
trees every year. The Band is focusing
on a true development program so the
trees will need to be pruned each year.
It is all part of proper forest
management.
_The Christmas tree comes from the
Douglas fir. In order to grow
properly they need a semi-arid cli-
‘mate. Compared to coast trees the
Douglas fir grows continuously
throughout the year. They are mature
enough for a Christmas tree at age
five.
%3 Up to 1974 there was no control
over who bought the trees because
each year a set price was put on by big
corporations. Emerald and another
tree company, Poffer, would get
together each fall to settle a price.
Each Band member is paid 5 cents a
tree and their day is from dawn to
dusk: about 28 men show up daily, in
the months of October and Novem-
ber.
This year’s Christmas tree season
started October 15th, 1979. Before a
Douglas fir tree can be cut and
trimmed, it must have at least two —
heavy frosts. The second heavy frost
freezes the tree, making it safe for the
cut. The trees are first of all pruned
# eS
=
Band members work long hours as one member is in the process of baling the
trees together.
by cutting away the Christmas tree
from the top, but there must be a live
branch left to carry on a cycle of
cutting the tree away, and letting
another grow. After the trees are cut
down to various lengths they are
hauled down to the tree yard where
they are graded or measured. The
Christmas trees come in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
and 12 feet lengths. The trees are
trimmed and ready to be put into
bails’ or bundles and are tagged
Once the trees are ready for shipping, Band members observe everything is in
order. 5;
according to the size of the Christmas
tree. Once the tagging and bundling
process is done the trees are ready for
shipping.
The St. Mary’s Band decided there
must be a way of getting a better price
so they released shipments of trees to
Phoenix, Arizona, and to other
buyers further down in the States.
Now the competition for the trees is a
lot steeper. Now such firms as
Emerald Christmas Tree Company
and Poffer Company have cut down
their orders to a minimum because of
all the competition there is from
Christmas tree firms in the Arizona
- area and Mexico is ordering large
amounts of Christmas trees.
The Band at this time is in the midst
of marketing an order to Mexico. The
order is for 30,000 Christmas trees
and there are other orders going to
various Christmas tree firms in the
States.
The St. Mary’s Christmas tree farm
is rich in Douglas firs, and other trees.
With the new forest management, the
farm will no doubt go for a very long
time producing Christmas trees each
and every year, and supplying an
important part of the Christmas spirit
to places in the United States and
Mexico. ° e
UBCIC NEWS 27
playing a big role in information exchange among people.
If someone wants to go into farming, then they can go
IN THE A I i: : D listen to somebody else and recognize some of the areas |
oo where they’re lacking information and go from there.
The Western Indian Agriculture Corporation has been
growing fast during its first year in operation. The main,
and most effective communications with Indian farmers
and Bands interested in or involved in agriculture are
through the field workers. There are now nine fieldmen
stationed throughout the Province. We talked to Chester
Douglas of the Cheam Band who is fieldman for the
Lower Fraser Valley:
What is your main purpose?
My job is to create awareness that most Indian reserves
have a land base that they’re not using, or that somebody
else is using, and that there is an agricultural potential
here. Then it is a question of just relaying to them any
information that I have on any agricultural programs that
are available.
How do you go about this?
For students in the area I’m going to set up workshops.
It is very important to give them an idea of the
opportunities in the field of agriculture. I feel that this
part is important because a lot of individuals that are
working now have a land base but they are too set in their
ways and have a kind of psychological block that
prevents them from getting involved in their land and
going into some kind of farming for themselves.
What kinds of training do you discuss with students?
Well you can get a good training out of the school
system if you program your studies to a management type
of program. That’s what agriculture is now—it is really
mainly management and economics. If you’re going to go
into agriculture, some science courses would be quite
useful. Biology helps because it gives you an idea of what
is happening when your crop is growing, the breakdown
of the soil and the producing of the crop. It helps but you
don’t really need to know that. You can grow a good crop
of corn without knowing that the soil is breaking up,
because all that information is available to you if you
follow the recommended management practices: for
instance, taking a soil sample and shipping it off to the
Department of Agriculture. They’ll send you back a form
they have and it’s got all the components in the soil and
what is lacking.
There’s a lot of help available, then?
Oh sure. It’s just a question of contact. That’s what
we’re here for: to relay ideas to individuals, and the
information that is available. Then the workshops come
in and they learn how to find and use that information.
What kind of workshops have you planned in your area
As yet they haven’t started in my area, but they will be
UBCIC NEWS 28
The first workshop is for Financial Planning. Then the
Home Garden workshops are popular, to get more people
growing home gardens and having people realize the
amount of dollars that you save by doing that. We talk
about the common problems that occur with gardens—
like when the bean leaves get discoloured, some people
just leave the crop—when they could correct it or prevent
it by putting the right dust on it. And we talk about what
Pruning workshop at Mount Currie last winter.
can be done to prevent the bugs and what you can do to
put off the bugs if they do get in there. That’s what it is
all about: just to let everybody know that something can
be done about it. There will be an AI workshop (Artifical
Insemination) mainly directed towards cattlemen.
And who would give this workshop?
The Milner staff. This is the B.C.A.I. Centre and they
set up the special courses. It’s a five day course and it
goes through all the recommended procedures of
artificial insemination.
Could someone who took this workshop go home and
practice in their area?
No, there would have to be a follow up course. I think —
one of the Regional Colleges has a special course for AI
technicians. The worksho will give the participants the
basic knowledge of how to do it, but there ar
government restrictions that won’t let them do it On
anybody’s herds but their own.
Then there is the LAND TENURE WORKSHOP.
That’s different from area to area in B.C., but the land
tenure setup on Indian reserves is particularly sticky. You
have Certificates of Possession, Notice of Entitlement,
Rights of Use and Occupation and they’re all restricted in
the different ways in which you use land in your
possession.
This leasing is something I don’t understand yet and
that’s one of the reasons I’d like to get this workshop
going on this really complicated subject. A lot of people
could use more insight into this.
-~Fhere are a lot of workshops in all kinds of subjects,
ranging from beekeeping to beef herd management:
financial planning, machinery maintenance, irrigation,
fieldcrops, farm planning, land clearing, forage
harvesting, range management. If enough people are
interested in one subject, the fieldman in the area will
plan out a workshop on it. So it’s up to the fieldmen to
listen to the questions we’re asked,and see the main areas
of interest.
Can a Band approach the fieldman with specific
instructions for a workshop? |
# Oh yeah, that’s open to all Bands. If they want any
- workshop on a subject that is agriculture-related then
we’ll become involved.
Who pays? And who gives the workshops? ©
WIAC sponsors the workshops, and we have two
agrologists in the office—those are the highly technical,
specialised guys. We’ll also go to the Provincial Ministry
of Agriculture, Agriculture Canada and Research
stations and we’ll try and get resource people from there.
For the most part they’ve been fairly co-operative.
Hope Band talked of your being able to conduct training
there according to their needs. How does that work?
Hope Band is a prime example of a Land Tenure
Mix-up, so we have to work out that whole question. The
Hope Band has been attending a whole lot of workshops,
picking up all sorts of information and ideas. They will
sort these out and approach us with more detailed plans
and then we’ll go again from there.
What about College Courses? Can WIAC sponsor
anyone .
All we can do is examine the courses and help
individuals choose the best programs for their needs. It’s
important that individuals there design their courses
around their home operations.
Do you each have your own field of expertise or interest?
Like you always talk of the management side of things.
I don’t know. I would think it depends more on
regional differences. Like in the north where Jimmy
Quaw works, they can’t grow corn but we do in the
Fraser Valley. But we don’t grow much hay in the Valley.
And we don’t have the cow/calf operations that they do
in the Interior. Down here, it is more diversified. There’s
fruit and vegetable operations. There’s contract cropping
_. where a Band or individual can contract with a
onions for sale to a company.
Dan Gravelle in the Kootenays is mostly into ranching
and for Mike van Joseph i in Lillooet, there is eras Hes
and. ranching, but his Pemberton area there is more
open. They are exploring all kinds of alternatives up
there. Some people are checking out beekeeping. Cecil
Louis is in the Okanagan which is ranching and some
Bands are getting into orchards. Jimmy Quaw is in the
Fort St. John/Dawson Creek area. There are two new
fieldmen coming in, one to serve the Island where there is
everything, from beef and dairy herds to vegetable co-ops
and berries. The other new fieldman will be going to the
Northwest. Doc Walkem is in the Williams Lake area.
George Saddleman is in the Merritt area. These two are
mostly ranching:
Do you see your roles changing as WIAC becomes more
established
I think we’ll get to know the whole procedure better.
This is a new company just a year old. There’s new
_ employees. We started with only four fieldmen and more
are coming in the whole time so it’s a learning process for
the fieldmen as well. In time the role of the fieldmen will
become more efficient. Whether we’ll be looking for any
bigger goals I’m not too sure.
What got you interested in agriculture? Ss
I like the business of farming. I think a lot of
people could if they just recognize the economics of it. I
like to see the crop grow from there to there. I like to seea
crop harvested. It’s kind of nice to watch a calf grow toa
large animal. I don’t know if I had any real expectations
when I went into the field of agriculture but I felt it was
something I wanted to do.
Finally, I think it is important that Bands must have
something to offer to young people after they complete
their training, in whatever field. I think Bands should try
and provide work opportunities for young people who
persevere and get training—or why should they bother
committing their time? e
*
f ‘
WIAC WORKSHOPS SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY
1980.
Jan. 11 Coqualeetza Financial planning
Jan, 14 Merritt Calving
Jan. 16 Kamloops Calving
Jan. 18 Chase Calving
Jan, 21 Lillooet B. Hall Bee Keeping
Jan. 21 Coqualeetza Home Gardens
Jan. 22 Vernon Equipment
Maintenance
Jan. 28 Mt. Currie 4H / Irrigation
_ Jan. 29 Lytton Range Management
dan: 30° 4 Kamloops Range Management
Jan. 31 Merritt Range Management ©
UBCIC NEWS 29
FOUNTAIN:
Eleven years ago, the Fountain
Band valley in the Lillooet area was
sage brush, bunch grass and ditches.
Now it is a successful ranching
operation.
No one was really into farming or
ranching other than one Elder, who
had 35 head of cattle. Some other
people had two and three acre
spreads, but Sam Mitchell was the
only one working the land.
.
7
BAND
RANCH
Fountain ranch runs 250
cattle on 600 acres of pas-
ture. They’re excited
about ‘future plans for
another 150 cattle and 200
acres of irrigated land.
Victor Adolph, Chief of the Foun-
tain Band, saw the land was good for
development and convinced the peo-
ple with small land holdings to put it
into one operation. The Indian
Affairs Economic Development De-
partment funded them to purchase
ranch equipment.
UBCIC NEWS 30
With this and money from the
Band itself, they bought the necessary
equipment to till over 400 acres of
rugged land. They bought a 12 foot
wide swather called a conditioner to
cut hay, two balers, a wagon and
truck, three tractors, ploughs with
attachments and a Brillion Drill for ©
seeding.
They got a bulldozer and levelled
all the ditches, pulled out the fence
lines and then chopped the sage
brushes to the ground. In the first
year, the land was green and the
children were really happy because all
the reserve land was green.
Today with a helping hand from
eight men in the summer, they run a
250 head cow/calf operation on 600
acres of cultivated pasture, starting
from the Fraser River to Sallis Creek
and up the valley to Fish Lake.
The ranch has Domino bulls from
Chataway Ranch and their cows were
bought from B.C. Livestock in
CROPPERS
Kamloops. They crossed their cattle
with Swiss Simmental. ‘‘The Swiss
Simmental mothers are milkers and
so the calf grows faster in the summer
and they still retain the Hereford
colour.’’
Chief Adolph explained the cow’s
cycle: ‘‘You have to watch how you:
calve the cows. You time the mating
of the bull and cow! If you put them
together early, the mothers calves too
soon. Then you do your branding and
-castrating; you put your ear marker
on and turn them out on the range
about May 15th.’’
SHIPMENTS OF HAY HAVE
BEEN 25 TONS SINCE TIGHT-
ENING BALES
In the winter, they put their cattle
in a fenced pasture and haul hay to
them. The calves get pneumonia if
it’s too cold and icy. If anybody’s |
looking for an area to winter their
cows, they should be placed on the
sunny side of a land bank or bush.
Special pens were built for emer-
gencies. ‘‘If we have any indication of
illness, we have a pen where our boys
innoculate cattle for whatever cause.
They went to Dawson Creek and
Se to train in innoculating
; aeattles:
Aged cows are sent to meat
markets. ‘‘Late calves calve even
later so we send them for beef to
Kamloops. Depending on the number
of sales, a liner will haul about 85 -
cattle but if we sell 10, we can haul
them ourselves.””
The Band pays lease money to 48
locatees, the people who own land
under Band custom. They pay so
much an acre and it increases every
year according to productions. Things —
are going well. ‘‘I think in about five
years we will be debt free. The only
one we are obligated to pay now is
Indian Economic Development.”’
The ranch raises their own horses
for range riding in the mountains.
They have Straight Quarters and
Morgan Arabs. ‘‘The Morgan Arabs
_ got the spirit and the Quarter horses
have the strength.”’
Their hay is sold to one reliable
company. ‘‘One thing a_ rancher
doesn’t want to do is sell hay and
have to chase all over to get his money
so we deal with one broker. To our
neighbors we sell small volumes or
whatever they need because they
don’t have large herds.
Horses are raised for.range riding
Before, we were getting about 16 or
17 tons for a double semi-load so we
tightened up our bales and lengthened
them a bit. and we filled our truck.
Now our shipments are 25 tons of hay
and we sell whatever we can in
volume.”’
The Fountain Band has four Senior
Councils of Elders who act as
advisors for the ranch operation.
They have plans for a future irrigated
pasture of 200 acres. Enough, says
the Chief, to support 150 head easy.
‘‘We’ll start on the irrigated pas-
ture next year. That will be with co-
operation with Special Arda. Because
we can’t run as many head here as we
can up on the mountain range, we’ll
develop the bottom land where the
water is and rotate them from one
pasture to the other. Last summer it
was dry, sO our cows came down in
the first part of August.”’
FARM RESUR-
RECTED AT
DEADMAN’S
CREEK
From the advanced Fountain
Ranch operation, we went to Dead-
man’s Creek Indian Band near Kam-
loops, where individual families are at
different stages of eaeens their
agriculture.
The Band at one time, in the
1940’s, was famous for their fruit
orchards and vegetable gardens, but
then production dropped right off.
Now there is a regrowth in agriculture
and in land development.
There are 12 individual land hold-
ers in ranching and gardening. The
lots are large and designed more to
sustain horses and cattle. In 1974, the
cattle industry was in a slump and
anyone who was into agriculture was
just ‘hanging in.’ Now conditions
have improved again, the land hold-
ers raise cattle on the reserve and sell
to -buyers of their choice. They
usually find an agent who knows the
best price for cattle.
The Band got a loan to buy
swathers, ploughs, balers and a
Massey Ferguson Tractor. Last year
they went into cutting, baling and
stacking hay on a share basis. A piece
of their land was seeded about six
years ago and yielded 35 acres of»
UBCIC NEWS 31
a
ALASKA HIGHWAY GAS PIPELINE TERMS
ee
AND CON DITION S HEARINGS ee
_ THEYHEARBUT
_ THEY DON’T LISTEN
The stated purpose of the Terms -
and Conditions Hearings in the
Northeast is to make an opportunity
for the people to express their views
about the proposed pipeline through
their area. The proposed route is to
bring gas from Alaska, through the
Yukon and northeastern B.C. to join
the Alberta links with more pipelines
to the United States.
The Hearings opened in Fort St.
John on November 19th, and moved
to the communities next day: to
Blueberry River Reserve on
November 20th, Doig River Reserve
on the 2ist and Halfway Reserve on
the 22nd. Hearings are planned in
East and West Moberley on the 24th,
_ Lower Post on the 26th, Fort Nelson ©
on the 28th and Prophet River on the
29th November.
HEARINGS OPEN IN FORT ST.
JOHN
Bands in the northeast have been
preparing for these hearings for over
a year. All traditional and present
land use was documented to support
their information and arguments.
This final Land Use Study was
presented on the first day of the
hearings. The northeast Bands were
supported by groups from other areas
affected by the pipeline. Maggie
Stone, Annie Boya, Roy Abou and
Andrew came down from Lower
~_
Post. Wilf Jacobs, Pat Gravelle and
Lexine came from the Kootenay Area
Council.
The representatives from the
companies who would be involved in
the construction of any pipeline
assured participants that their drafted
terms and conditions were just a draft
and information and _ opinions
coming out of these hearings would
be definitely considered in their final
draft. However, their attitude at thisd
first day’s hearing was more of giving
information on what they proposed
to do and offering token reassurances
rather than listening to what anyone
else had to say.
UBCIC NEWS 33
BLUEBERRY RESERVE
Feeling of frustration, of not being
taken seriously, was increased at the
first Community Hearing. Pipeline
officials seemed deaf to the evidence
being presented by the Elders who
remembered the signing of the Treaty
§ guaranteeing the right to hunt and
trap. They don’t want to be fooled
any more. ‘‘Fooled’’ was a word that
came up over and over: fooled by
promises made in the Treaty, fooled
by the officials who sold Reserve 172;
fooled by promises made by Kildonan
and the scare when the gas well
leaked.
The old people were firm. They
didn’t want money compensation.
Dollars will be spent away: the land
will stay. If the pipeline comes in, the
Elders stated, the game will go away
for a long time and they will die
before the land heals itself. They
want a piece of land that no one else
can use for hunting or trapping,
UBCIC NEWS 34
accessible only to their own people.
The feeling that the pipeline people |
hadn’t heard or understood the
evidence given by the Indian people
was expressed by Kenny Apsassin
who had been sitting quietly all day.
He stood up:
*‘You are just laughing, especially
the big shots. When all of this is
over, where is this going to leave
us?’’
-Clarence Apsassin summed up the
feeling of the Hearings at Blueberry:
_ ‘None of you guys can support us
the way these traplines have. What
do you care? A few dollars means
nothing. All the time you planned,
we were left out. You came, not to
listen, but to tell us the pipeline is
coming. We could tell you over and
over again but you still don’t hear
what we say.”’
The Northern Pipeline
promised a second hearing.
Agency
DOIG RIVER RESERVE
As the people arrived for the
Hearings at the Doig Reserve, they
passed Margaret Attache, Linda
MacAdahay and Beatrice Harding in
the process of tanning a hide. There
was evidence of meat being dried.
Charles Dominique, an Elder,
spoke:
“It’s going to affect our grand-
children. I won’t live much longer
but I really fear what the pipeline
_ is going to do for the game. It’s
_ going to drive the game away.
- What future is there then for my
grandchildren?”’
_ The young people spoke very strongly
against the pipeline. Barbara Davis,
eighteen years old, spoke up:
“It will destroy our way of life.
There won’t be as many animals.
This is my home no matter how
much you try to cover over damage
and return things back to normal.
White people have done a lot of
damage.””
The Hearings closed with no answers
and many assurances from the pipe-
line officials that did not put
anyone’s mind at ease.
- HALFWAY RESERVE
The little hall at Halfway Reserve
was warm and the smell of
moosemeat greeted the people at the
door. Thomas Hunter, the eldest was
the first to give evidence:
‘‘The white man has money in the
bank; our riches is the furs and the
meat. The land is the Band and as
long as the land is there and the
game is there, we will never be
hungry.”’
Everyone feasted on moose meat,
rabbit and bannock and there was
singing of the traditional songs by
some of the Halfway men as pipeline
officials prepared to leave.
As they were leaving, one
WestCoast Transmission official
asked his colleague: ‘‘Do you think
they’ve learned anything?’’, ‘‘they’’
being the Indians. They still feel it is
the Indians who should be learning
something. Earlier that day, the same
official had admitted that ‘‘We didn’t
even know you people were here. We
didn’t know the price you put on your
hunting and trapping.’’ They will
always claims that they didn’t know
and we will always fear what they
may do out of ignorance.
HALA 018? bee
IOIAN HUNTING AREAS ano Te
UBCIC NEWS 35
AND THE URANIUM HEARINGS
ARE STILL GOING ON
Since the last update article on the Uranium Inquiry,
the Royal Commission has been focussing on the actual
methods of uranium production. A number of major
points have been identified during testimony and
cross-examination.
Only one company, Norcen, is at the moment seriously.
developing plans to mine uranium. Many others are
exploring, but these companies have not yet presented —
any information which indicates that they have reached
the mining stage. The Rexspar company which has a
deposit near Clearwater on the North Thompson, River
appears to have put its mining plans on hold, since its
testimony was that no work has been done on mine
development since 1977.
Solutions to many of the problems of uranium mining
have not yet been developed. This is admitted by even
those who favour uranium mining. However, these
proponents ‘of uranium mining believe that future
research will solve these problems and that the hazards
can be adequately contained until solutions are found.
Opponents of uranium mining argue it is foolish to put
this sort of trust in future research and that uranium
mining should not be permitted until the mining
companies can demonstrate that their activities pose no
risk to the environment or to health.
Waste materials produced during mining and milling
present the greatest hazard from uranium production.
These waste materials are normally stored in areas called
- tailings ponds. Problems occur when these materials are
introduced to the water system of an area. Ammonia and
acids are used in the milling process and these are very
destructive to fish. However, the greatest hazard exists in
the radioactive nature of much of the waste rock stored in
the tailings area. These tailings remain radioactive for
thousands of years and present a potential hazard to the
environment and to health for untold generations. Yet
_ the experts agree that there is as yet no means to dispose
of this hazardous waste and can only suggest that the
waste be stored until a means of disposal is discovered.
The government agencies in charge of protecting the
public and the environment have a policy that radiation
exposures and the release of pollutants to the environ-
ment should be ‘‘as low as reasonably achievable.’’ It
became clear during the hearings that this means that a
protection measure is ‘‘unreasonable’’ if it puts a
uranium mining company out of business. Instead of
asking, ‘‘Is uranium mining safe?’’; the government
agencies are asking, ‘‘Can the company afford to mine if
it is required to protect the environment?”’
The results of this policy can be understood by looking
at the devastating impact uranium mining has had on the
Serpent River Band of Northern Ontario. Before uranium
UBCIC NEWS 36
mining was introduced onto their tribal lands, the Band
fished and trapped extensively in the Serpent River Basin.
Today no trapping or fishing is possible and in the early
1970’s the Federal Department of Health told the Band
not to eat the fish or to even drink the water from the
Serpent River. And the testimony of a representative of
the government agency in charge of controlling uranium
mining was that these results were foreseeable when
uranium mining was permitted to go ahead. However, the
Band has not been compensated for its losses and both
the government and the uranium companies refuse to
accept any responsibility.
HEARINGS SCHEDULE EXPANDED
In response to pressure from the U.B.C.I.C. and other
public interest groups, the Royal Commission has
expanded the Inquiry schedule. Technical Hearings will
be scheduled until the end of June and Community
Hearings will now be held in September and October. The
Commission has indicated that it is willing to hold
hearings on Reserves and any Band interested in this
happening should contact the Energy and Resources
Department of the U.B.C.1.C.. o-
12th Annual Sr. Men’s
Native Invitational
Moccasin Hockey
Tournament
* February 2nd & 3rd
Saturday & Sunday
| 1980 | )
Location: Merritt, B.C.
10 Teams
Prizes
Trophies
Entertainment
Dances
- EVERYONE WELCOME
_UP-DATE—
GITSKAN CARRIER SECOND ANNUAL TRIBAL
CONVENTION
The Gitskan - Carrier
Tribal Council’s Conven-
tion was held at Kispiox on
November 7, 8 and 9. The
theme was Education:
‘*Learning Today, Leading
Tomorrow.”” — :
Reports were presented
on Council business such as
Outreach, Courtworkers,
Alcohol program, Fisheries
m study and Land Claims.
- Resolutions were passed on.
—— education, unemployment
Learning Today, and Unemployment Insur-
Leading Tomorrow ance.
Speakers at the Convention included Keith Jamieson
from the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians, Phillip
Paul from the UBCIC and Gordon Reed. The speeches
were all well accepted by the people there.
The main presentation went to Gordon Reed, the
Indian Principal of the John Field Elementary School in -
District 88. The presentation was to recognize the fact
that he is an Educator and has worked his way to the
Principal of the School.
A feast was held during the Convention. Traditional
dancing made the occasion memorable and enjoyable.
[Report from Bill Blackwater and Mel Bevin]
ALERT BAY HEALTH ENQUIRY
A health enquiry has been granted to the Kwakwelth ©
District Council in Alert Bay B.C. Newly appointed
Co-ordinator for the council, Ernie Willie, says the
nature of the enquiry is still unclear and is to be
negotiated between the Kwakwelth District Council with
National Health and Welfare Minister, Dave Crombie
and his personnel.
The Alert Bay District Council would like to have
health care under their control and are aiming at the -
middle of January, 1980, for the enquiry. The enquiry,
said Willie, will be reviewed in the fairest manner possible
for the delivery of health services to Indian people. He
said the enquiry is a good beginning but not yet the
solution. .
MURIAL JOE’S BLOCKADE
Murial Joe is still meeting with Duncan City Council
over the rights to her land. There is a new mayor in
Duncan who is familiar with the issue.
Her blockade is still standing declaring that is her land.
The U.B.C.I.C. News would also like to apologize to
Murial. Please read in the October issue on page 9 that
Murial’s family name is Whinams.
FOUNTAIN BAND MEETS DIA MINISTER
Fountain Band Chief Victor Adolph met with Indian
Affairs Minister Jake Epp on November 8, 1979 at the
‘Hotel Vancouver to talk about the fishing problems his
Band is experiencing.
‘*We were pleased with the meeting because of Epp’s
sincerity that he was going to go and talk with James
McGrath, Department of Fisheries Minister, and Lorne
Greenaway, MP, at some time in the near future.”’
» Chief Adolph says they are expecting to meet with
them in the, first week of December. ‘‘This will be a
preliminary meeting to go over the conditions and
by-laws to determine to what extent we can make
amendments to the present act regarding Indian food
fishing for the Indian Band.”’
He said the Fountain Band wants control over their
reserve land. ‘‘It was agreed in 1976 that the Department
of Fisheries does not have the authority to issue permits
to anyone outside the Band, without first having a permit
from the Fountain Band Council.’’
He said, ‘‘The Federal Fisheries has been trespassing
and these are some of the. things we want resolved.
There’s no way the fisheries act can’t be amended. It can
be amended.”’
‘“We are prepared to talk over the winter months but
only at the ministerial level. Two metings won’t resolve it,
possibly the third one. Epp agreed fully that there must
be something resolved before the next fishing season.”’
UBCIC NEWS 37
UP-DATE
BEAVER REPORT ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVEL-
OPMENT REJECTED BY NIB AND PTO’S
The National Indian Brotherhood called a meeting
of Provincial/Territorial Organization representatives
for November 15 and 16 in Ottawa. The main purpose of
the meeting was to review the context and value of the
Beaver Report on social and economic development of
Native people in Canada.
The representatives present were quite unanimous in a
decision to recommend rejection of the Report by the
Executive Council of the National Indian Brotherhood.
It was generally felt that if the report was accepted in
its present form, it would have certain negative effects on
Native social and economic development throughout the
land.
The group immediately sought alternatives for
recommendatiens to the Executive Council.
WATER CONTROL ON RESERVE LAND
A follow-up meeting on this issue has been scheduled
for Tuesday, 27 November, at 10:00 a.m. in the
U.B.C.I.C. Boardroom at 440 West Hastings, Vancou-
ver.
The purpose of this meeting is to begin concrete action
on the various problems Band representatives raised at
the first meeting in October.
Band representatives are invited to attend to discuss the
action they need on their reserves with the government
officers responsible for the programs available in this
field.
The Western Indian Agricultural Corporation has
appointed a fieldworker to deal with specific Band
situations over the winter.
court hearings, as the fish themselves are in fact not
illegal, unlike drugs for example. So there is no real
reason for confiscating the fish in the first place.
Ralph George’s case which he won in Chilliwack court
March 16, 1979, is a prime example of unfair dealings by
the Fisheries department and the courts.
The case has become precedent-setting in that it will
determine exactly what the responsibilities of the
Fisheries department will be in future instances. The
decision will determine what will happen in the other
cases of confiscated fish, such as the Larry Ned and
Donna Villeneauve cases.
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs on behalf of Ralph
George has sued the Attorney General of Canada, the
‘Queen, represented by the Department of Fisheries and
the individual Fisheries officials involved. The suit is for
damages and negligence in the treatment and handling of
the fish and for the return of the fish. The Task Force
issued a claim on November 6, 1979 and is waiting for the
opponents to file a claim before the trial can begin. This
might take a couple of months.
«March 27, 1980
CONFISCATED FISH: RALPH GEORGE SUES
FEDERAL FISHERIES
_ Up to now, when Indian fishermen are confronted by
Fisheries officers, the accused upon his arrest has had his
fish, net and sometimes his vehicle confiscated by the
Fisheries Department. In the 34 cases that the UBCIC has
dealt with this year, there have been approximately 510
. fish and 3 nets seized by Fisheries. These confiscated fish
have been either left to be freezer burnt, given away or
sold to charity institutes for $1.00.
The reason the Fisheries department gave for selling
the fish was that they were unable to keep the fish for
long periods of time without it becoming inedible.
However, the fish are not needed as evidence during the
FISHING CASES
December 16, 1979 McKay Jr. from Lillooet, B.C. for
unlawful possession of fish.
Mr. Peters from Hope, B.C. He’s
being charged with unlawful posses-
sion of fish.
Chester Douglas of Cheam for
unlawful possession of fish.
Herman Thomas: the Crown has
appealed in this case.
January 17, 1980
February 8, 1980
HUNTING CASES
January 8, 1980 Noeh Shotnanna from the Grasmere
Band was charged for possessing an elk
on September 26, 1979. His case was
held over from October 31, 1979.
January 24, 1980 | Acase involving Charlie Jack. It is
an appeal case out of Victoria. The
Jacks maintains they have the right
to hunt for religious purposes
A hunting case involving Mr.
Gregory. He is being charged with
hunting out of season. .
February 5,6, 1980 A hunting case in Alkali Lake. In
this case the Band is trying to
establish the reserve right to hunt.
February 4, 1980
UBCIC NEWS 38
sys peers
“ >
This ‘*heritage program’’ has meant
looking for prehistoric activity sites
within the traditional areas of the
Kluskus Band. Archaeological exca-
vations at an old camp site locally
_known as Tezli, has dated occupation
of the site at about 4500 years ago.
. We are also looking for prehistoric
houses, villages, old fishing sites and
hunting stations. The old houses are
easiest to recognize as their remains
appear as large pits or depressions.
You have probably, at one time or
another, come across these kinds of
pits in the bush. Their size ranges
from 1m x 1m x 50cm. deep for small
storage pits to houses ranging from
4m to 9m in diameter, at times 2m in
_ depth.
SAVING OLD SITES FROM
LOGGING OPERATIONS
_ Uptonow, over 250 archaeological
sites have been located, mapped and
registered with the Provincial Gov-
ernment. More importantly than this
great numbers of heritage sites, was a
program run last year in the Kluskus
Lake area which will enable a person
to estimate the expected number of
prehistoric houses and/or storage
pits located around a lake. We hope
. similar studies will be carried out for
stream corridors, stream confluence
UBCIC NEWs 39
— ar the f ere 1We ‘ears ihe Kluskus from Vanna , Ic
- Band has been coordinating a pro- Chief Councilor } Roger , rane Bie
‘Bram Sigh oh pelea oe Members pits Hicks: are Chan: =
_ by
information will also help all future
+ aS
bite as .
ats ae
areas and random locations in dense
forest. The purpose of such a study as
this is that now the Kluskus Band will
be able to provide Forestry with an
estimate of archaeological sites within
any particular area which is expected
to be logged. With this kind of
estimated information, many sites
could be saved from being wiped out
the logging operations. This
cultural impact studies that may be
required.
MACKENZIE GREASE TRAIL
PLANNED WITH NO.BANDS’
oe snysn[y :oj}oyg
and assessment’ program was direct-
ed to prepare a preliminary list of
resources instead of planning an
Alexander Mackenzie Grease Trail.
This park concept has been talked
about for some time. A hiking trail
has been cleared between Bella Coola
and Gilles Crossing near Quesnel. A
provincial government feasibility pro-
ject has been completed for the trail
concept and a glossy covered trail
guide is expected to be produced
before this coming spring. For all this
work which has been done on the
Mackenzie Trail concept, the Kluskus
Band has not been asked for eueee
ment input.
The main purpose of this project
was then to further understand and —
document the Band’s heritage and to
inform the government and other
agencies involved in planning a
Mackenzie Trail that our heritage
must be respected. This project, was
also interested in locating historic
sites pertinent to Band history and
marking of Band land use areas on
maps. This winter the Band will draw
up the position of the Band concern-
ing their heritage resources and the
planned development of the Macken-
zie Grease Trail. A history program
will also be run in conjunction with
this winter’s® project. This history
program is to include interviews with
Band Elders and the gathering of old
photographs. In this way we hope to
CONSULTATION better understand where we have
come from and plan where we are
This summer a ‘heritage inventory going now. _@
' HELP WANTED
ASSISTANT MANAGER, ence and/or already enrolled in the
FINANCE (TRAINEE) C.G.A. or R.I.A. program.
A long-range growth opportun-
ity exists for a young Native person
with the ability, desire and deter-
mination to become a professional
accountant and financial manager
for a diverse group of Native con-
trolled enterprises.
Applicants must* be qualified
(University entrance) and willing
to enrol in, and complete, a six
year course of study. Preference
will be given to those with one to
three years of appropriate experi-
The position offers a variety of
work, a salary commensurate with
experience and a full range of
fringe benefits.
Applications should include a
full resume of education and
experience and both personal and
work references.
Replies to:
A.R. Girven, C.G.A.
Burns lake Native
Devel t
Corporation
PO Box 1030. Burns Lake. BC VOd 1EO
Telephone /604) 692 3188
- FICTIONAL
‘SHORT STORY
PROMOTING THE _
WORKING DISCUSSION
PAPER
Kids were now screaming as they jumped in and out of
the puddles that the gravel road normally had all year
round. Sure enough, the mothers perking their heads out
of their house windows, were yelling at them to hurry on
to school. Instead of the nightly ghost town one could
smell the morning breakfasts in the breeze of the gentle
wind. Another morning had become alive.
*
Before the Band office door opened fully a voice
screamed, ‘‘Good morning big heap-um business man!’’
Bill, the Band Manager, started laughing as the woman
walked in. These two would always start the any at the
office with some funny line.
“‘Did you make coffee. . .”’ before she let him answer,
the secretary continued, ‘‘. . . boy does that smell fresh. .
. who made it, you or the big chief?’’ At that moment the
Chief stepped into the office and shivered a bit when the
warm air hit him.
‘‘Did you read that paper last night? Hey Fred, did you
read that forestry paper last night?’’ Bill apparently
jumped at the Chief at the first opportunity. The Chief
shook the cold feeling that came into his spine from the
UBCIC NEWS 4n
warm air and walked directly into his private office
without replying to the Band Manager. At this moment
Bill began shuffling about with accounting journals on
the desk while mumbling, ‘‘Damn books, I thought they
were straightened out last night.”’
“What is this paper you’re talking about?’’ the
‘secretary normally got curious with documents in the
ad
office. She is qualified for a higher position but the Band
is so small in per capita the Council could offer the job of
secretary.
‘‘Remember the Union’s last General Assembly in
October? Bill by now had the desk in proper order.
“‘Oh, yeah, was this paper in with all those others in
that big red book? The one the big Chief brought back?”’
she asked further.
‘*No, it was separate and handed out later. . . at least
that is what I was told. Anyway, the difference between
that paper and a lot of others in any assemblies is that it’s
a basis of discussion. . . I mean it does not drown you
with information about. . . about. . . it just gives you the
basic idea and provides you with the opportunity to talk
about any given area in the paper at any given time.”’ By
now Bill was getting carried away.
~ “You mean it’s not written to be read and discussed
later. . . you know, after you read it.’’ The secretary was
now setting up her typewriter to do a few letters.
‘‘Well. . . basically it’s written so that your discussions
will be a factor in making it a paper to be read then
discussed later. . . it’s a working discussion paper.” One
could see that in Bill’s face there was no other way to
explain, but he continued, ““This forestry paper is meant
for us, at this level, you know, the Band level, to talk
‘that seem important to us...
-a sawmill. . .
about such things as. . . harvesting or cutting.
reforestation. . . you know. . . the priorities in forestry
here. . . look outside and
see all those trees. . . look at all the big companies moving
in on us.”’
The secretary couldn’t continue with her typing now.
*‘Yeah. . . but how is a paper like that supposed to help
us. . . we can’t take ic aud use it oa the government
or the big companies.’
*“You’ve got to understand that it is just a basic
working discussion paper, it’s written so that we can start
a basic discussion between ourselves. . . maybe if we can
really take forestry serious. .. you know. . . logging. . . or
or even tree planting and all that other
reforestation stuff. . . we could start the whole process
right here. We could do it if we wanted to. . . but we’ve
got to do it with precaution. . . it’s a learning process. . .
this paper just might start that process. I don’t know.”’
The Band Manager began to pour himself a cup of
coffee. ‘
_ The Chief came out of his office with a cup in hand,
saying, ‘‘What is all this muttering about? That forestry
paper. . . that paper that was handed out in the last
General Assembly?’’
Bill responded quickly, ‘‘Yeah.
discussion paper.’’ |
The Chief smiled as he spoke jokingly,
discussion paper. . .
Woodlot Licences. . . the Small Business Program of the
Timber Sale Licence. . .
the Forest Licence and Tree-Farm Licences. .. aah... the
government or even the Department. . . it would take
years and years before any government agency would
believe that our Band is capable of doing any type of
forestry operations. The porane runarounds are
getting pathetic!’’
‘‘What about the sections dealing with the forestry
priorities for Indian Bands in terms of socio-economic
basis. . . don’t you get tired of going through all these
procedures and guidelines of these short term projects. . .
or even the long term welfare programs. . . I don’t
' know,’’ the Band potec’ was getting Soman hal
ws
emotional now.
‘Discussion papers all seem the same. . .
discuss this one with the members. . .
accomplish?’’ the Chief retorted.
‘*At least we’ll get the whole process rolling. . . at least
we’ll be thinking in terms of a long term socio-economic
base. .. maybe someone in our Band is capable enough. .
what if we did
what will we
or has a far better knowledge of forestry than we have
now. .. maybe we can get this person to do something. . .
this way we’d at least get away from the short term
projects and long term welfare way of thinking.’”’ The
Band Manager appeared to have said his last speech.
“‘Okay. . .If you suggest that we discuss this. . . let’s
hear what the other Councillors say first. . . we’ll have a
Band Council meeting soon.’’ The Chief entered his office
and closed the door.
that working f
“That Sam
the ideas about opportunities in ~~ “Se
or even the Contractor Clause in ‘==
ee
~ wee ed °
The secretary, in surprise as she apparently was
thinking quite heavily to herself, stood up and smiled
while asking the Band Manager, ‘“‘How many copies of
this working discussion paper shall I make?’”’ -
“*One for each Councillor! I don’t think we’re having a
meeting this week. Maybe if the Councillors get a copy
earlier they’ll be familiar with it. Now I think I’ll carry on
with these accounting journals.’? The Band Manager
entered another room and closed the door. The secretary
began typing the many draft letters, Band Council
Resolutions, minutes of a recent meeting and so forth, all
of which were piled on her desk.
Outside the Band Office, all that could be hota
seemed to thousands of birds singing and the mighty roar
of the river beside the small village. Then a logging truck
of the nearby logging company, as a mandatory safety
precaution for the school children, blew his horn as he
sped on the backroad behind the village. The kids, quite
content, were listening to their teachers, or on the other
hand, were making him really do overtime on his job.
The mothers beginning their morning cleanup after
countless cups of coffee with other women. A few of the
younger adults, who were finished or not in school,
moved slowly on to their on-reserve project jobs. The
morning was well into the on-going day..
Clifford Hanuse
UBCIC NEWS 41
©The Ehattesaht Co-op’s timber
licence at the present is-a spin-off
for about sixty people employed at
Barr Creek.
e The re-organization of the Co-op
was done without any further
financial assistance from funding
agencies of the Federal Govern-
ment.
e The Co-op is paying off its debt
from proceeds of the contract with
Pacific PanEnis, ,
The DIA staff and other fuihiifle
agencies should look at the manage-
ment expertise it took to save the
Co-op from bankruptcy after Ottawa
had instructed the Receiver to liqui-
date all assets of the Co-op. Gra
_ Today the Co-op is in full opera-
tion due to the hard work of the
Board of Directors and the efforts of
the Co-op solicitor and the chairman
of the Ehattesaht Band Timber
Committee and cooperation from the
Minister of Forests.
Be es ol - woes st If this isn’t good management eae
Ef Fir 9 “ a" ewes s “i ee - - ee ee say what E
BS
eee
EHATTESAHT ~ FORESTRY CO-OP
Tresmceaicooreaiveene SETTING THE RECORD _
prise began in 1969 and was estab-
lished in 1974. At the present time puRé AIGHT by Earl Smith
they are in full operation, employing my.™; gh arate
48 people on the production side and i bay Rage
12 support staff. There has been a
persistant rumour going around am-
ong Indian people and the various §
federal government agencies that the
Ehattesaht Co-operative Enterprise,
which owns timber sale licence A02055
in the Nootka P.S.%4U., is bankrupt
and out of business.
The Co-op has been constantly
used as a bad example by the DIA to
other Bands that wish to get involved
in the forest industry. Bands have
been informed by various parties that
the Co-op is bankrupt due to mis-
management. It is therefore very
important that the a be set
straight.
e The Ehattesaht Co-op i is not bank-
rupt, but in full operation under an
agreement with Pacific Logging to
log T.S.L. A02055.
=
UBCIC NEWS 42
TRAPPERS HAVE RIGHTS
TOO
A number of trappers are facing loss or destruction of
their traplines across British Columbia. You should be
aware that you have the right to protect your trapline and ©
to receive compensation for any loss of income.
In a number of areas forestry development is occurring
on land where people trap. When most of the land has
been logged over, it is no use for trapping for a long time
to come. However, this does not mean that the trapper
does not have any rights when this happens.
The policy of the forest service is: logging companies
must meet with holders of registered traplines before
moving into an area. They are required to discuss their
logging plans with the trapper. At this time the trapper
| how to be at ease when being intervieWed, and how to
has the right to negotiate with the logging company. He
has the right to appeal to the Forest Service to have the
logging plan changed to avoid areas of high value for his
trapline. He also has the right to negotiate with the logging
company for compensation for the loss of income he will
face once the logging has been completed. The trapper
may not be able to stop the logging company moving into
his area; however, he is still able to negotiate for the best
arrangement possible.
Therefore if you are faced with logging in your
trapping area you should
1) Meet with the logging company as soon as possible
and obtain all of the details of their cutting plans.
_ 2) Prepare some information on the income you have
received in the past from your trapline. Also identify
those areas which are most ees to be affected by the
logging.
3) Request a meeting with the logging company and the
Forest Service to discuss the logging plan. Be prepared to
suggest exclusion of certain areas in your trapline from
the plan. Ask the logging company for a payment to
compensate you for reduced income you will have after
the logging is completed.
4) Contact the Union office if you require assistance to
prepare for defending your trapline. Our staff can meet
with you to help you work out a plan of action.
Presently the law is unclear about trapping rights
| compared to the rights of logging companies. There has
not been a case where a trapper has gone to court to try
| and prevent a logging company from moving onto his
trapline. Therefore it is not certain whether you could
prevent logging altogether. However, trappers do have
certain rights which can give you some strength when
negotiating with the logging company and the forest
service. e
If you work for a Band newsletter, and would like to
learn how to interview and talk to people in order to
gather information and news, or
If you are a member of a Band Council or are a local
spokesperson for your people and would like to learn
establish solid links with the press,
| Contact Commissions Portfolio, U.B.C.I.C., 440
West Hastings St., 3rd Floor, Vancouver, B.C.
ae for a special workshop. e |
UBCIC NEWS 43
“KNITTERS AND WEAVERS
FORM ASSOCIATION TO
PROTECT AND PROMOTE CRAFTS
An association is being organized for Indian knitters
and weavers to deal with the problems many of us face
every day.
Are you getting a fair price for your goods?
Do you want to choose your price and choose your
_ buyer?
Others are getting rich from our crafts: in Japan a
genuine Cowichan sweater sells for $360.00. What are
you getting? $50.00? $60.00? $70.00?
In Vancouver there are several groups who are ripping
off the Indian people by selling fake Indian sweaters and
calling them by our name. Some of these sweaters are
machine knitted, others are knitted by non-Indians and
they are made of unspun yarn that falls apart.
Stores in Vancouver are selling these sweaters and
calling them Cowichan sweaters—they are selling them
for $85.00-$145.00 and people don’t know what they are
buying.
Some of the knitters and weavers have been meeting
over the last few months to talk about setting up an
association. If you want to:
- — choose your buyer
—sell your goods overseas
—make sure you get a fair price
—improve your supply of wool.....
We can do this by working together as an association.
There are laws which can be used to protect Indian arts
and crafts. An example is the Cowichan trademark case
that is being fought now by the Cowichan Band. Yarn
Barn Holdings, a Vancouver Company, now has control
of the name ‘‘Cowichan’’ and they can use this name to
sell sweaters, patterns and yarn. They can stop anyone
else from using the name—including the Cowichan
people. The Cowichan Band is suing the Yarn Barn on
behalf of all of the Coast Salish knitters, to get the name
back under Indian control.
The name ‘‘Cowichan’’ is a trademark—it identifies
high quality goods. Once we control the name
“*Cowichan”’ we can stop non-Indians from using the
name and we can protect the high standards of the
Cowichan sweater. |
The UBCIC Legal Task Force has put farecites a
booklet explaining the law of copyright and trademarks
and how to use these laws to protect our crafts. It is being
sent to all of the Bands and Indian Cultural Centres in
B.C. and it will be available for anyone to use.
UBCIC NEWS 44
Would you like to have workshops or speakers
in your area on copyright, trademark law and the
. association? CALL US at:
684-0231 (Millie Nickason) —
or 271-1475 (Gladys Edward)
Copies are also available at the UBCIC office and it is
called: Protection of Indian Intellectual Property.
These laws are not as helpful as they could be. As an
association we can lobby the Governments to have these -
laws improved. .
Please support this association by:
—Writing letters of support to:
The Association for Indian Knitters and Weavers
c/o Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
440 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6B 1L1
—by sending the names of knitters and weavers for our
mailing list. We can then send you information and
let you know when the next meeting will take place
(send a representative from your area) e
- For immediate information contact:
ANNOUNCEMENT
The National Indian Brotherhood of Canada
is pleased to announce
a
- NATIONAL
INDIAN EDUCATION
CONFERENCE ©
April 22-25, 1980
Vancouver, B.C.
Your Provincial or Territorial Indian Organizations ~
or
The National Indian Brotherhood
Education Program ‘
102 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5N4
(613) 236-0673
(I THINK. ..
For a moment just take time out to THINK about
One year ago, Wayne Christian and Derek Wilson lee)
to visit and study in Tanzania, an independent African
nation. Chief Christian wrote this letter to the citizens of —
Spallumcheen to tell them why he was going to such a far
away country. ;
- your life all the good times, all the bad times; the
births, the deaths; the Indian ways, the white man’s
ways. If you think about it long enough you will find
tears starting to build up inside of you, for like most
Indians you probably have lived a very hard life, filled
with sorrow and hate. When you think about it, it’s a
bloody wonder that we are still living.
The white people have caused the problems that we
have now; they destroyed as much of the Indian ways
as they could; they beat our language out of us at
_residential schools; they took our land, fishing and
hunting grounds; they forced us to live in reserves;
they forbid us to gather; they said that if we became
like the whiteman our problems wouldn’t exist; they
- lied to us, cheated and killed our people; they gave us
alcohol to ease the pain of the whiteman’s ways; they
_ forcibly took children from parents and grandparents
because they said we didn’t know how to raise
children; they paid white people to make those Indian
children into little white people; the white people are
slowly killing the Indian ways and the Indian.
The only way that we can develop a -
strong community is to work together: remember we
all have to live together, we should be able to criticize
and take criticisms without feeling that the other is out
to get you. We are a small community and we should
get along because the lives of Elders and those not yet
born depend on us doing something constructive for
their futures. For us and only us can change our ,
community into a better place for the Elders and
children. Remember that you were once a child and
that you will become an elder in the future.We have to
be able to see into the future. We have to be able to see ;
what other communities are doing to help themselves
- and to use their experiences to help build our
community into a strong one; in places like Africa
they have successfully taken full control of their lives,
the people decide what they want and their leaders
provide them with the services the way people want the |
services.
We, the Indians of Spallumcheen are allowing the
white people to control our lives now, because if you
watch the band meetings and the people in the band
office you will see that you, the people, listen more to
the white people than you do to your own people. If
things keep going the way they are going we might
even have a WHITE chief in the near future.
All over the world the whiteman has said that he
is the superior race and all Indian people should
Ke
become like him. I say BULLSHIT to that idea, the
whiteman does not understand the Indian and never
will. We have a tie to the land and nature that has
allowed us to survive through all the bad times since
aaa
the arrival of the whiteman. Now it is time that we take
control of our lives once more and build our
community into one where our children will find
comfort and happiness. We as young people, parents
and Elders have to take that responsibility back into
our community, we have to accept that responsibility
and the mistakes that we make, but at least the
mistakes will be ours and not someone else’s..
We have to sit down as a group of friends and
eriemies to talk seriously about what type of Indians
do we want to be in this day and in the future. We have
to decide what:we want and once we do that we can
develop a plan on how to get there. Remember if we
don’t do anything about our community nobody else -
will do it for us. What do we want for our children,
their childrem ourselves; is it money or is it to live
comfortably as an Indian in this modern society? Do —
you want your children to understand that as Indian
people we are special and that we deserve special
treatment or do you want your children to learn to
become a white man not knowing their historical
background? WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR
COMMUNITY TO BE LIKE?.
Yours in recognition of Aboriginal Rights.
_ Chief Wayne M. Christian
Spallumcheen Indian ae
UBCIC NEWS 45
THUNDER-
BIRD
CULTURAL
CENTRE
A respected worker for Indian rights in B.C., Chief Bill Roberts was proud to see the
te Yt
ygvets
oa
Sulfillment of his band’s efforts to make the hall a reality.
The Campbell River Indian Band
officially opened their new Hall on
Saturday, November 17.
This is a day that will be memor-
able to the band leaders and Band
residents who witnessed the ribbon
cutting and a speech by Chief Bill
; Roberts. The new Thunder Bird
UBCIC NEWS 46
Cultural Centre once open filled
quickly. Within the hall the people
watched as the Campbell River Band
performed their traditional dances.
There were various dances displaying
beautiful traditional customs, some
of the costumes used were museum
displays at one time.
Many of the dances were of great
rejoicing and the ceremonies were
done in the customary way their
ancestors had opened a long house
many years ago. Everyone from child
to Elder showed a lot of pride in being
a part of the celebration. Band Chief
Bill Roberts spoke and commented on
the dances saying each dance has a
story originating from past beliefs of
tribes in the area. The cannibal Bird
The young people led by the elders,
contributed to the
keeping a cultural event alive.
importance 0,
Dance in which the great mask’s beak
came to life with its loud clapping,
was one of the dances featured.
What caught my eye was the
involvement of the chidren in the
ceremonies as they danced proudly
UBCIC NEWS 47
arond the gymnasium floor.
The recreation complex gymnasium
floor measures 70 feet by 100 feet and
will accomodate such sports as basket-
ball, volleyball and other sports. It
Photographs from Upper Islander _
Traditional costumes were featured in Indian color and design.
With the beating of the drum, the great masks gave forth a sense of
coming to life. |
also includes a meeting room and an
office. Outside there is a parking lot
capable of holding 300 cars. The Hall
will mark an important phase for the
community: bringing together the
people spiritually and physically. ¢
UBCIC NEWS 48
RESPECT elders
Respect must be Experience with —
Earned not Long life and are
Sold or bought. Dear to us. We must give them
, Excellent treatment and great
NA) Respect which they deserve for years of
“8 Service to us and our children.
People can earn respect by Z
Extending ahelpinghandand 4
Care for those who need it (' é
Though it may be your enemies. , if
| ALCOHOL |
; Alcohol is dangerous, you can
‘ Land up in hospital, family break up,
Commit crimes you
FRIENDSHIP
Friendship is another thing like
Respect must be earned.
It can never be bought WON NR ‘a ~ # Of course pay for later
- Earning friendships is a a 5 , pee ' Have the strength to turn
Never ending process '' Off Alcohol and
Don’t stop Live a Happier Life.
Share yourself and friends
Help others less fortunate
_In your area meet new SING A SONG
People and develop new fpendstiPs ay Sing aSong.._.
In Indian
Never make a
Game of it, listen
At all times.
Sing a Song
Of the Indian way
Not one with no
Good meaning.
WISDOM
Wisdom is our Elders,
Intelligence gained through
Such things as experience.
Don’t forget this wisdom
Our Elders have
Make sure it is passed on.
By Victor Michell
Lillooet, B.C.
“RESOURCE CENTRE.
Book Review — Fiction by Bess Brown
Kinsella, W.P. Scars. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1978. -
There have been countless books written about the
Indian people of North America. The majority of the
literature available is historical or cultural: there are
comparatively few fiction or non-fiction books. Of this
material there is only a small percentage which can be
categorized as comedy. Scars, a collection of short stories
by W.P. Kinsella, is one of the rare exceptions.
It is a welcome change from the usually dry, though
undeniably important historical and cultural material.
As with most comedies the personalities of the
characters are not developed to any great degree. The
only character we come to know is the storyteller, Silas
Ermineskin. Though he works periodically, he is more
often unemployed or attending a career training class
being sponsored by the Department of Indian Affairs. He
is also being trained to eventually replace the medicine
woman, Mad Etta. Silas is the type of individual who
believes there is some good in everyone, that is, in Indian
people anyway. His opinion of white people, however, is
quite the opposite. Of the relationship the Indians and
RCMP share, he says ‘‘Indians and RCMP be like oil and
water, don’t mix at all.’ He does, however, give them
some credit; in one of the stories, ‘‘Canadian Culture,”’
he writes ‘‘them white people ain’t so dumb as you would
think.’ These feelings typify the attitudes held by the
Indian people in Scars.
The Medicine woman, Mad Etta is another character
who appears in a number of stories. Mad Etta is quite an
extraordinary character. Her physical appearance can
only be described as unusual. Her dress is made from five
flour sacks; when she is with a ‘‘patient’’ she also wears
fur leggings and fox tails on the sleeves of her dress. In
addition to this she also has war paint on her face. Mad
Etta is quite a large woman. The hotel which she
frequents has made a chair especially for her. ‘‘They got
two chairs wired together and braced with two-by-fours
so that Mad Etta can drink beer and not bust up the
furniture.’’ Though her appearance is unusual, Mad Etta
adds much to Scars. She displays much wisdom and
understanding when helping someone in need.
_ However, Scars also includes a number of serious
stories. One of these is the Black Wampum. Through this
story Kinsella reveals how Indian people today can, and
often do, revert to the traditional ways, in order that we
may better cope with the many dilemmas created by
today’s fast-paced society. In this story an Indian man
accidentally kills the young child of his white employer.
In the traditional ways, it would be necessary to replace
the dead child with one of his own children. As he has a
young child he now must decide if he will honour the
ivaditional ways and give up his child or live by the
coutemporary values and keep his child. In the end we are
able to see how both he and his wife turn to the
traditional way of life to cope with this unfortunate
situation.
*‘Canadian Culture,’’ on the other hand, is one of the
more humorous stories in Scars. Its subject matter deals
with a group of white people who would like to make a
film on the Indians of Hobbema. The white people have a
very set idea of what the Indians are supposed to be like.
They are extremely disappointed to find that they are not
the savages they had read about. Silas and his friends
make the filming as hard as possible on the film crew.
The first day the crew arrives, their car is destroyed. They
are given incorrect instructions by the Indians and land in
a slough and in their (Indians’) half-hearted attempt to
recover the car, they manage to completely demolish it.
Eventually the Indians agree, for a price, to act like the
savages they are supposed to be, but at the same time they
still manage to get a small measure of revenge against the
film makers.
"\ “NOW... IN THIS SCENE, YOU GUYS ARE GOING-T0
), HAVE-TO TRY AND ACT LIKE REAL INDIANS”.
Scars for the most part is light and enjoyable, but it
offers some excellent serious stories. Though the stories
differ from one another in many aspects, they all share
one common element: each contains a moral or offers a
somewhat philosophical comment on life. Fors
Though Kinsella is not an Indian, he provides much
insight into the relationship shared by the Indian people
and the white people.
Kinsella has also written another book titled, Dance
Me Outside. — e
UBCIC NEW > 4%
INDIAN MINI-CROSS _ This diagram contains some terms relating to Indian Government; just find and circle them
in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal, backward or forward, but consecutive line. Each name
has at least one letter in common with another.
NOtMHDKAZAHMAM AON
Amacom oOOoOnVUaSmM> ome
NODHOURMZAWAKDHOHEaS
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Indian Government
Sovereignty
Independence
Aboriginal Rights
Authority
Jurisdiction
Self-determination
Constitution
Nation
Policies
B.N.A. Act
Indian Act
Administration
Procedures
Citizenship
Institution
Termination
Declaration
Resolutions
Indian Matching Game
hawWN =
_A________ representing the _____. (Tlingit)
AS ra cree hat representingia citer ee
_A_______ tattoo. (Haida)
WA Pri seyepresenting the tis 12: = (Kwakiutl)
WORD LIST
A. mask B. hawk C. dancing D. killer E. duck .
F. wolf G. mask
ANSWERS:1.A&B _2.C&D 3.E 4.F&G
(1) 2) 3) @)
UBCIC NEWS 50
-whale. (Tsimshian)
ORDER FORM
A) Pen & Pencil Set
fine point, black with silver imprint
B) Licence Plate Holders:
.is Indian Land...
. You are on Indian Land...
C) Indian Government Crests
D) 1980 Action Planners
E) Key Chain Ring
F) Hasty Notes — 10 in package
G) Indian Government Flags — 20x26”’
3°x5’6”’
Floor, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 1L1
Enclosed find cheque or money order of $
Name:
ea.
ea.
ea.
ea.
ea.
ea.
ea.
ea.
ea. $30.00
To: Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, 440 West Hastings, 3rd
Quantity
$8.00
$3.00
$3.00
$1.00
$6.00
$3.00
$3.00
$2.00
INDIAN EXPRESSIONS
FOR CHRISTMAS
UO
a Ea i
Street or Box No.
Town Province
Postal Code
Part of Our Indian World - volume 2, number 7 (November – December, 1979)