Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Newsletter (July 1997)

1.06-01.08 Union of BC Indian Chiefs Newsletter

1.06.-01 Newsletters and bulletins sub-series

July 1997

english

1.06-01.08-08.03

20

IN THIS ISSUE...
2. President's Message
3. Sacred Rainforest
4. World Leaders Conference
on Trade
5. A Constitution for
Corporations
6. EG Celebrates
7. Chilean Indians, Activist
Protest Licensing of Dam
8. National Chief of the
Assembly of First Nations
10. Resource Centre Update
11. Indigenous Peoples at the
United Nations
12. UBCIC's Press Releases
14. Specific Claims Update
15. Hydro Reviving Great
Whale Proposal
16. Letter from Innu People to
Queen Elizabeth II

Chief Saul Terry

Maude Barlow

Chief Stewart Phillip

Tanien Ashini

periodical

Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs NEWSLETTER JULY 1997 Provincial Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs wants to eliminate the tax exemption of status Indians. 7 he provincial Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs', composed of members from all parties in the Legislature, released its Recommendations. While the Standing Committee was originally supposed to seek public input into the Nisga'a Agreement in Principle, their Recommendations explore a wider range of issues. If the province adopts the Recommendations, aboriginal title and rights will be increasingly threatened, as the recommendations impact not only treaty negotiations, but all areas of Indian peoples' rights and title. While many Indian people were horrified at the manner in which the Nisga'a AIP drastically increased provincial interference and authority over Indian matters, the Recommendations want to cut back from the standards established in Nisga'a. Some of the main points of the Recommendations are: IN THIS ISSUE... 2. President's Message 3. Sacred Rainforest 4. World Leaders Conference on Trade > 5. A Constitution for Corporations 6. EG Celebrates 7. Chilean Indians, Activist Protest Licensing of Dam 10. Resource Centre Update 12. UBCIC's Press Releases 14. Specific Claims Update 15. Hydro Reviving Great Whale Proposal 16. Letter from Innu People to Queen Elizabeth II Eliminate the tax exemption for status Indians. Indians should pay income tax, sales tax, and GST regardless if we work or purchase goods on reserve. Money For Nothing and Tricks For Free > 8. National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations 11. Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations administration which includes: taxation, business licensing, zoning, public works, policing, financial administration, marriage, adoption, local health and local education. Making Indians into Tax Paying "Citizens" > Master's of Our Own Poverty Eliminate the Indian Act for a form of "self government" which translates to the administration of social programs which Indian governments selffinance. Self government will be a form of self > Creation of a "Cash for L a n d " formula to simplify the sale of Indian lands to the provincial Crown through treaties. The province should "focus its resources on those bands in the treaty process but continue to talk to those outside the process so as to keep the door open to their participation". > Approximate size and location of the settlement lands [which will be to a maximum of 5% of an Indian community/nation's traditional territory] should be identified early in the process so that development can proceed over the rest of the land. > A l l treaties should include "certainty language" which clearly establishes that the " F i r s t Nation" involved in the treaty clearly agrees to recognize underlying provincial title and jurisdiction over all non-settlement lands. Continued Page la JULY J997 1 UBCIC NEWS Tricks Continued > > > > > > > from Page 1 The B C T C should offer incentives to encourage "numerically larger groups of First Nations to negotiate" To speed negotiations the provincial government will offer financial incentives, including time-dependent loan rebates, to those "First Nations" willing to negotiate quickly. Any future treaties should not include a commercial allocation of a fishery, unless a particular group has gone to court to prove that they have a right to a commercial fishery. Annual fishery allocations should be decided by the federal and provincial governments. The province should have ultimate authority for the management of wildlife, including the ability to allocate game to Indian peoples. Where the province is willing to acknowledge Indian jurisdiction to manage resources, this is usually only to the extent that Indian standards "meet or exceed" provincial standards or do not contradict provincial laws. Treaties should be ratified by a free vote in the provincial legislature. > > > > Under Their Thumb A l l self government agreements will be subject to the Canadian Constitution, Charter or Rights and Freedoms, and the Criminal Code. The A B C ' s of Treaty Making: Coming soon to a Grade School near you The B C T C should step up its public information campaign, including working with the Ministry of Education to develop school cirriculum. Look who came for dinner! Third parties should develop a compensation package for any third party legal interests in Crown land as a result of treaty settlements. While offering monetary compensation to third parties the province should offer an apology to Indian peoples for the past wrongs done by the province. Third party interests should have greater input and involvement in treaty negotiations. This could include paying the travel expenses of third parties to enable their involvement in negotiations. B.C. Treaty Commission 1997 Annual Report: Troubled By D e f i n i t i o n of "First N a t i o n " and Selling Secret Negotiations The British Columbia Treaty Commission (the " B C T C " ) recently released its 1997 Annual Report. Several issues highlighted in the Annual Report are troublesome. In particular, die "public information" campaign which has been launched by die B C T C in classrooms across the province, the definition of "First Nations" which are involved in the B C treaty process, and the criteria of "openness" in treaty negotiations which dramatically reduces the information available to Indian peoples about the deals that their "First Nation" governments and negotiators are making on their behalf. Public Information Campaign: The B C T C has decided that it needs to sell treaties to British Columbians and will assume an "expanded role in public education". The B C T C has hired a communications manager and is "working in cooperation with educators to ensure there are appropriate information materials on the B C treaty process in the classroom.'' The B C T C has plans to actively encourage media interest in treaty making and distribute a video of their version of the treaty process to all school resource centres and libraries in the province. As part of its "public information" campaign aimed at building public support for treaties in B C , the B C T C has worked on a handbook entitled "Understanding the B.C. Treaty Process" with the First Nations Schools Association, Tripartite Public Education Committee (First Nations Summit, BC, and Canada), B.C. Teacher's Federation and the B.C. Treaty Commission (the "Handbook"). la The Handbook will be used to teach all children within the British Columbia school system, including Indian children, about Indian peoples and our rights. Our children are our future, and i f we allow B C children to be taught this information, what sort of future can we look forward to? The Handbook strongly promotes the B C Treaty Process as the only solution available, does not give an accurate or full description of the extent of Indian rights and title to the land and reduces our aspirations for self determination into a stunted form of self administration where Indian people have permission to deliver "culturally appropriate" social services. The Handbook states that treaties may involve a small portion of provincial Crown lands the title of which will be handed over to a "First Nation", the starting point of the Handbook is that Indian peoples do not have title to our homelands, and that the only legal title Indians can achieve is that which we bargain for through treaties. Continued Page lb JULY 1997 UBCIC NEWS Definition of "First Nations": Who is Canada and B C willing to negotiate with to gain access and ownership of your lands and resources? The Annual Report touches repeatedly on issues such as overlap (both with other Indian nations, and also within one nation where only Band/First Nation has entered treaty negotiations) where Canada and the province are negotiating with "First Nations" with dubious authority to treaty over lands which they do not hold exclusive aboriginal title and jurisdiction over. The Annual Report "recognizes the need to remain flexible in determining what is a First Nation for treaty purposes. The challenge is to be fair, and yet reinforce the concept of nationhood to preserve the integrity of the process.'' It is obviously impossible to establish "certainty" and ensure that the province has gained possession of a piece of land where there are overlapping Indian claims to a portion of land and only one Indian community or nation is willing to make a deal. The reason that the federal and provincial governments are willing to enter into treaties is the fact that Indian peoples have legally recognized aboriginal title and rights to lands and resources. From the government's perspective this creates "uncertainty" in that their own jurisdiction and tenure over unceded Indian lands is uncertain. However, when "First Nations" enter into treaties they do so on the basis that title to aboriginal lands and resources ultimately rests w i t h the Crown, both federal and provincial, and are negotiating for title on the province's terms. So long as Indian people have not surrendered their lands or entered into treaties with Canada Indian tide over the land continues to exist. Legally and morally, Indian people have not given their surrender or their consent to the possession of Indian lands and resources to any outside government. While the B C T C is careful to say that they do not "extinguish" aboriginal tide or rights, they "define" the extent of aboriginal rights and interest in lands. When something is exhaustively defined and set out it is limited. Any aboriginal tide and rights not specifically listed in die agreement will, for practical purposes, cease to exist. In signing a treaty agreement which defines aboriginal rights all rights not specifically set forth within the agreement will be effectively surrendered. This is an issue which obviously concerns the B C T C greatly, as it illustrates the illegitimacy of die entire B C treaty process. As a result of these concerns, the B C T C has spent a considerable amount of energy in defining "First Nation" as "an aboriginal governing body, organized and established by aboriginal people with a mandate from its constituents to enter into treaty negotiations on their behalf with Canada and British Columbia". The B C T C ' s definition of a First Nation includes those Band governments set up under the Indian Act. A Band is not an Indian Nation, it is simply one community or tribe in a larger "Nation" of people. Negotiating with a Band is the equivalent of negotiating for the rights of die country of Canada with the province of Prince Edward Island. As all JULY 1997 resources and lands within a Nation belong to the People of the Nation as a whole, no one community has any right to alienate or bargain away die rights and entitlements of the entire Nation. The lack of legitimacy of this process is obviously a point of concern for die B C T C . Openness: The only good negotiations are carried on in secret. Part of the "public information" campaign of the B C T C is to stress die need for secret negotiations. Closed negotiations would seem to be in direct contradiction with Indian government which operates on a consensual decision making model. Small teams of negotiators or leaders do not have die authority or capacity to make binding decisions which will forever alter the rights of our future generations. If negotiations cannot be carried on under the full view of the members of an Indian community, how valid are they? "Open sessions work well in framework negotiations [the "table of contents" section of treaty negotiations] and in the early stages o f a g r e e m e n t - i n - p r i n c i p l e negotiations....However, once the negotiations advance, the difficult task of finding solutions begins. If the only forum for negotiations is open there will be little opportunity for the parties to have a safe environment in which they can explore options and look for innovative solutions." Negotiations done in secret are defined as "safe", which implies that the negotiations would not be safe if people whose rights are being negotiated had full knowledge Why is the appearance of openness, but not actual openness so important to the success of the B C treaty process? The B C T C identifies two stages to the treaty making process: (1) developing a mandate and (2) negotiation. The message of the Annual Report is that it is impossible to develop support for the treaty (the mandate) without openness, yet there can be no successful negotiations with too much openness (if die people actually know what is being negotiated, they will no longer support the process). UBCIC WORKSHOPS The UBCIC is developing workshops to inform Indian people and communities about the impact of the B.C. Treaty process on our Aboriginal Title and Rights. We are prepared to offer this workshop to interested community groups, bands, tribal councils etc. For more information please contact the UBCIC Vancouver office: 5th Floor - 342 Water Street Vancouver, B.C. V6B 1B6 Tel: (604)684-0231 Fax: (604)684-5726 E-Mail: ubcic@bc.sympatico.ca lb UBCIC NEWS Message From The Chief Saul Terry, X'wisten What is investigative journalism? Is it a book review of a current book on Indians? Is it coverage of Royal commission reports commissioned by the governmental on pipelines, fishing, forestry, and water resources? Or is it found in newspaper columns under a tenured journalists by-line? I pose these questions because it seems to me that virtually all investigative reporting in Canada on "Native Issues" is limited to these kinds of articles. For the most part, however, good investigative reporting on Indian issues is not undertaken by journalists, not asked for by editors, and not published or broadcast by owners of the mass media. This is true nationally — and it's particularly the case here is British Columbia. So-called "ethnic" or minority groups in B.C. see in this state of affairs more than just a predetermined choice of issues, values or "voice" by the white mainstream media. In general, it raises a fundamental issue for a democratic society: majority power versus protection of minority rights — especially the right to be heard and understood, without which the rights of free speech and expression are meaningless. For us as Indian people today, the mass media's treatment of our lives and the issues 2 President UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS Investigative Journalism and Indian Rights that are most important to us is a cause for concern and even outrage. In B.C. we see the media not simply affected by bias but burdened by the values and ideology that justify the racist history of this province and its, relations with our First Nations. When issues affecting the lives of Indian people are by the Canadian government. This documentation can show that under the co-opted rhetoric of "Indian Self-Government" Canada is revitalizing its historic colonialist policies of assimilation and termination of Indian identity. These policies have always been genocidal in their ultimate objective, and never more so than Indian life is never pursued. It is in the political arena where the root causes of our people's distress lie and where, in the end, solutions must be found. Has the press, radio and T V been totally co-opted by die economic, political and bureaucratic forces aligned against our people? The absence on journalistic investigation of the Buffalo Jump of the 1980's and subsequent policies indicates "When it comes to Indian stories there is a fine, to me that this is indeed the easily-crossed line between editing and censorship- case. censorship that invariably serves the interests of the To illustrate my point, I government and the economic power-brokers in cite an investigative report published in 1987 by the Arizona Canada and this province." Republic, the daily newspaper of Phoenix with a circulation of examined by the news media, 3000,000. The article, "Fraud today. There is an important they are usually treated in isoin Indian country: a billion dol¬ story here. Politically this is lation from the ongoing politilar betrayal," investigated the critical for our Indian Nations. cal struggle of Indian Nations U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Yet the story in Canada is in B.C., in Canada, and indeed and located "Indian problems" largely ignored by the mass throughout the world for recin the political arena where media. Why? ognition of our Aboriginal T i they belong. For six months, a The formidable and untle, our Right of Self-Governten-person investigative team precedented challenges faced ment, and our Right to a share gathered statistical data from by Indian Nations in British of the economic benefits that across the United States. The Columbia today are truly newsothers derive from unceded reports documented gross misworthy and cry out for in-depth Indian lands and resources. management by the Bureau investigation by die mass mefrom top to bottom. They exdia. But instead we see a conIn British Columbia, our posed the corruption which tinuation of stories which senpeople struggled for survival crippled Indian communities sationalize and stereotype Inon a daily basis against the as a whole, from lands and dian people (in die guise of concerted efforts of the provinresources by way of trusts, to "human interest") or which cial government, the federal health, housing, education and superficially examine their sogovernment and its Department social assistance. The report cial, economic, or health conof Indian Affairs to extinguish concluded that the Bureau of ditions. Research and analysis aboriginal rights. Much like Indian Affairs was the cause of of die political dimensions of ten years ago we can document the political aggression being MESSAGE F R O M THE PRESIDENT (Continued on page 7) waged against Indian Nations JULY J997 UBCIC NEWS LONG RUNNING RAINFOREST BLOCKADE ENDS WITH 24 ARRESTS HEREDITARY CHIEF AGAIN A R R E S T E D FOR PROTECTING SACRED RAINFOREST ( K I N G ISLAND, BRITISH C O L U M B I A , C A N A D A ) - JUNE 24, 1997 - Twenty four people were arrested this morning in one of British Columbia's longest running and most effective protests to stop clear-cutting of the province's ancient rainforests. The blockade by Nuxalk First Nation and four environmental groups, stopped all clear-cut logging by international Forest Products (Interfor) at Ista on King Island for a total of eighteen days. Forty members of the R C M P descended on the blockade at 6:45 this morning, and arrested 24 people who were preventing Interfor contractors from clear-cut logging Ista. Nuxalk Hereditary Chief Qwatsinas (Edward Moody) was immediately arrested at die blockade for the second time in two years, along with five other members of the Nuxalk Nation. Other arrestees included 13 Canadian, five Europeans and one from the US. A l l arrestees refused to sign a 'terms of release' form at the site, and have been flown down to Vancouver to appear before a Supreme Court of Canada judge on Wednesday at 10 A M . The R C M P climbing team was also on site, and scaled a large tripod built from logs erected at the edge of a 37 hectare clear-cut, (the size of 74 football fields) removing a Nuxalk and Belgian woman. The R C M P also cut away a Canadian and German woman who were locked onto a grapple yarder - a large piece of logging equipment used to load logs from a clear-cut. " M y mother has been arrested for protecting Ista. M y grandfather was arrested too." Said Colette Schooner, 16, of the Nuxalk Nation who has been sitting in the tripod for 11 days. "Now I am here for the youth and future generations to stop the clear-cutting of this sacred rainforest.'' "Having witnessed die huge clearcuts at Ista, I am surprised and shocked that Canada still allows this kind of logging to take place." Said Patricia Fromm of Germany, who was locked to the grapple yarder. The blockade site Ista on King Island is sacred to the Nuxalk Nation. It is the place, according to die Nuxalk creation story, where the first woman descended to the world. The Great Bear Rainforest, of which Ista is a part, is of extreme ecological importance because it contains die world's largest remaining areas of temperate rainforest in the world. The King Island blockade began on June 6 after eight hereditary chiefs o f the N u x a l k N a t i o n i n v i t e d environmentalists to the area to participate in an effort to stop the clear-cut logging. "We are thankful that our allies have responded to our invitation to stop the clear-cutting of our territory by Interfor" stated Head Hereditary Chief Nuximlayc of the Nuxalk Nation. Ista was the site of 22 arrests in 1995, 17 of which were Nuxalk first nations peoples. Now in 1997, there have been JULY 1997 more arrests and still the clearcutting of Ista and many other rainforest valleys continues. "Instead of riling up the people of B C with his antienvironmental rhetoric, Glen Clarke would do well to start listening to the people of B C , who have today given up their rights and freedom in defense of this locally sacred and globally important rainforest.'' commented Gavin Edwards, spokesperson for the Forest Action Network. Meanwhile, a second logging protest has begun further south as six Greenpeace activists boarded a fully loaded log barge laden with old growth rainforest, unfurling a banner reading "Don't Buy Rainforest Destruction." The log barge, carrying trees cut by Interior, has just made its way to Port Hardy on Northern Vancouver Island. R C M P officers are currently on the scene. For More Information Contact: Gavin Edwards FOREST A C T I O N N E T W O R K Box 625, Bella Coola, B C , Canada V 0 T ICO TEL: (250) 799-5800 F A X : (250) 799-5830 1997 North American Indigenous Games VICTORIA, BC, C A N A D A A U G U S T 3-10, 1997 Celebrate the Circle The North American Indigenous Games are a truly unique event. Unlike most major Games, the emphasis on culture is equally as strong as the emphasis on sport. The reason for this is rooted in Aboriginal philosophy which teaches that the four spheres - the spiritual, physical, mental and emotional must all be present for balance and harmony. The Elders teach us that in order to achieve good health and wholeness, sport and culture must be part of each other. They form an Indivisible Circle with no beginning and no end. This is the spirit of the NAIG, to Celebrate the Circle! For More Information Call 250-361-1997 3 UBCIC NEWS WORLD LEADERS CONFERENCE ON TRADE On November 18-26, 1997 the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation will meet in Vancouver to discuss trade and investment opportunities. The reason the Asian Pacific countries formed an alliance is because the World Trade Organization is a monitoring and dispute resolution body, and the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (or A P E C ) wants to build a powerhouse to sidestep the powerful World Trade Organization (or WTO). A P E C wants to eliminate global tariffs for at least 15 new economic sectors and move quickly to identify specific products and services for which they can eliminate duties and quotas instead of waiting for another round of negotiations on global free trade at the World Trade Organization. Once a large number of A P E C countries agree on the outline of a deal, negotiations can be moved to the WTO which has 13 0 member countries (the last group of global negotiations took seven years to complete). WTO agreements are binding and subject to dispute settlement. The United States and Canada have been pushing for A P E C to gain more prominence because they believe it's easier to get deals among a smaller group of countries that are large enough to carry enough weight to intervene on the world scene. Critics of A P E C are concerned that deals reached through A P E C will not be subject to the same scrutiny as those negotiated through the WTO or the North American Free Trade Agreement known as N A F T A . One example is the fact that Canada is rich in minerals, energy and forests and will attract investment in these sectors. This will certainly place a lot of pressure on the lands and resources of Aboriginal Peoples. The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs joined The Issues Forum of The 1997 Peoples Summit and sits on the Vancouver Steering Committee. We are there to assist in providing a forum for Indigenous Peoples. UBCIC PRESS RELEASE Robert Manuel's Candidacy for AFN National Chief V A N C O U V E R , B.C. - July 3, 1997 - Chief Saul Terry, stated today, that the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs is pleased at the announcement that former Chief and President Robert Manuel is putting his name forward to serve as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Chief Terry had these comments: " T h e challenge of the position is to maintain, protect and enhance the aboriginal and treaty rights of all Indigenous Peoples. Our unceded lands in British Columbia need to be protected and we need a strong National Chief to do this. His local, regional, national and international political experience, along with the knowledge of the treaty and aboriginal rights principles gives Robert Manuel a solid foundation to launch a substantive political position. The position of National Chief is a very difficult one, and I applaud all candidates who have the courage to vie for this challenging position. Indian Peoples can only benefit from having these six leaders willing to give so generously of their time and effort in their committment to Indian Peoples." (Excerpts regarding APEC & WTO was taken from L. Eggertson article in the Globe & Mail, May 12th issue. Update on the Peoples Summit will be given in each UBCIC Bulletin) -30- Quesnel Chief Nominates Robert Manuel Bella Coola - Lhtako Chief Frank Boucher, Jr. of Quesnel has nominated Robert (Bobby) Manuel for National Chief. Speaking from Bella Coola, Chief Boucher said: "I believe Bobby Manuel will listen to the grass roots people. He has strong ideals and good character which I can attest to as I have known him a long time." Chief Boucher and Bobby Manuel both attended Camosun College together in the 1970's. "The Assembly of First Nations needs to be restructured to regain its role as the voice of all First Nations within Canada. I believe Bob Manuel has the qualities to achieve the goal," said Boucher. In the past few years, the A F N has been made into a service delivery agent while they have been bypassed by Ottawa on political issues. 4 "With over 25 years of political experience, Manuel has the ability to see that Ottawa's assimilationist agenda is exposed, " said Boucher. "Our inherent Aboriginal rights are strong - we must not negotiate them away." Frank Boucher, Jr. has been Vice-President of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs for the past four years and Chief of Lhtako (formerly Red Bluff) for the past 23 years. Boucher is a Southern Carrier of the Athapaskan Language group while Manuel is a Secwepemc (Shuswap) of the Salish language group. Contact: Chief Frank Boucher Jr. Lhatko office: (250) 747-2900 -30- JULY 1997 UBCIC NEWS A Constitution For Corporations While concerned citizens everywhere go about fighting the erosion of rights in every facet of their lives, out of sight of the world's public, two powerful processes are under way to remove most of the remaining barriers to, and controls on, the global mobility of capital. Most Canadians know nothing about these process, which will entrench rules of global investment in favour of transnational corporations and grant investors the unrestricted right to buy, sell and move their businesses at their discretion. The World Trade Organization set up a working committee at its December 1996 meeting to study a Multilateral Investment Agreement — the M I A — after developing countries slowed the push by the US and Europe to fast-track the process. Although the group is mandated to report back at the next W T O meeting in two years, Director General Renato Ruggiero made it clear that, in time, die M I A will be the centrepiece of the WTO. "We are writing," he said, "the constitution of a single global economy.'' Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is planning to ratify the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) at its ministerial meeting in May of this year. The stated objective of the US is 'to obtain a highstandard multilateral investment agreement that will protect US investors abroad.'' While there are some variations between the proposed treaties, the O E C D process is designed to establish the ground rules and precedents that will then be incorporated into the larger venue of the WTO. The purpose of both treaties is to reduce or eliminate the capacity of national and sub-national governments to limit die degree and nature of foreign investment or to impose standards of behavior on investors. They would sharply restrict die ability of government everywhere to shape investment policy to promote social, economic or environmental goals. The M A I minces no words. It wants to "outlaw" national practices that limit access of foreign capital to government contracts and privatization programs, demand that foreign companies hire or purchase locally i f they are allowed to operate inside die country and protect key sectors of their economy, such as transport, energy, real estate or financial services. Noting that "to conquer a market one needs to be present as a producer", the M A I includes a "general commitment to grant the legal right for foreigners to operate and invest competitively in all sectors of the economy.'' It proposes free, unregulated access for global investors and investments and national treatment rights for transnational corporations that would prevent any nation from favouring local industry, farmers or resource companies. The investment treaty would grant corporations the' 'freedom to make financial transfers", wipe out national merger control and anti-trust legislation enforcement measures and even address national " taxation, labour or environment policies.'' The M A I is calling for a "standstill" commitment so that countries could not introduce any new restrictions on foreign capital in the future and a "roll-back" commitment to eliminate all current measures that " r u n counter to liberalization." Most distressingly, the M A I would confer on private investors the same rights and legal standing as national governments to enforce the terms of the treaty. Under this provision, M A I violations by governments could be challenged by private investors through a binding dispute resolution system using economic sanctions. As well, the M A I could prevent governments from distinguishing between foreign investors or foreign targets based on countries' human rights, labour or other records and preempt strategies for restricting corporate flight to low-wage havens. This treaty would amount to nothing less than a global charter of rights and freedoms for transnational corporations in every nation of the world. Canadians have already had a taste of what this would mean, as these same rights exist for the corporations of our continent under the North American Free Trade Agreement. As many of us predicted, free trade has left Canadian industry, culture and resources totally vulnerable to takeover by American business interests and profoundly undermined our ability to maintain our own social, cultural and environmental laws. Yet the Canadian government has become the world's foremost cheerleader for economic globalization and is acting as a stalking horse for the US in its campaign to promote these investment treaties. That Canada is any part of this should bring shame to all Canadians. For the government of Jean Chretien, who ran against N A F T A and corporate domination and promised to protect Canadian resources, social programs and culture, it is an act of stunning hypocrisy. Reprinted with permission from Canadian Forum by Maude Barlow "VOICE O F T H E P E O P L E S " GATHERING 1 JULY 1997 TO REAFFIRM OUR ABORIGINAL TITLE AND RIGHTS JULY 11 & 12 1997 Cayoose Creek Campgrounds Stl'atl'imx Nation "Building Indian Government Together as Nations" Co-hosted by Cayoose Creek Indian Band, Stl'atl'imx Nation and Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Contacts: Cayoose Creek Indian Band - Chief Perry Redan (250) 256-4136 Stl'atl'imx Nation - Tribal Chief Mike Leach (250) 256-7523 Union of BC Indian Chiefs - Mildred Poplar (604) 684-0231 5 UBCIC NEWS INSTITUTE OF INDIGENOUS GOVERNMENT CELEBRATES A n historical event for First Nations people! On May 23rd, 1997, families, friends, students, faculty, staff and onlookers applauded as two Associate of Arts degrees and two Certificates in Indigenous Government Studies was awarded. Shauna-Leigh Moloney and Theodore Andrew Francis were the first in history to receive an Associate of Arts degree from Canada's first autonomous degree-granting First Nation PostSecondary institution. Certificates in Indigenous Government Studies were awarded to Melanie Elizabeth Gladstone and Randolph G. Timothy. Congratulations to the students, families and the institute!!! Hosted at the Open University, an Institute partner in learning, the convocation highlighted the importance of inter-institutional co-operation in achieving First Nations' educational needs Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of B C Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and Chair of the Board of Governors, proudly witnessed the historical moment in Indigenous culture and education. It was six years ago that a resolution was passed at the UBCIC's Annual General Assembly to establish the Institute of Indigenous Government. ' 'The success of each student at the IIG is therefore a success for our Nations as a whole. With strength, courage, determination and hard work, our Grand Chief Bernard Charles and Resident success is inevitable.'' Elder Nirkuschin (Glen Douglas) Stated by Grand Chief Bernard Charles, President of IIG, "We have come together as a way to remember this day in history, the first time in Canada that an independent Indigenous post-secondary institution has granted a degree. This was a dream of our visionaries and an element that is carried forward in the diversity of Indigenous experiences and values represented in our student body and faculty.'' Addressing the Graduation class, Judge Alfred Scow reflected on his own education and on the question of relevance that followed Shauna-Leigh Maloney him throughout the non-Indigenous system. " I learned as a boy, he said to tend cattle when I saw all around me people who harvest fish! Today, these students have a means to learn without giving up the culture and tradition that is so much a part of them.'' The Dean of Academic Affairs, Dan Gottesman, noted the standards of excellence that the IIG's first graduating class had established. 'The work of these students is part of this Institute. They have both completed a program and helped to make it what it is. The have created academic as well as personal benchmarks for those who follow them. The ceremony was punctuated by the thoughtful words and actions of IIG Resident Elders, Nirkuschin (Glen Douglas), Kla-lelweik (Flora Dawson), and Simoigit Ha 'g be gwatxw (Ken Harris). In addition, Tsimalano (Vincent Stogan Theodore Andrew Francis Sr.) performed a Calling of the Witnesses Ceremony, welcoming all to traditional Musqueam Territory. If you would like more information on how you can be apart of this exciting educational opportunity, contact the IIG at (604) 602-9555 or fax (604) 602-3432 or visit our Web at http://www.indigenous.bc.ca. Applications are being accepted for the Fall 1997 and the Winter 1998 semesters 6 JULY 1997 UBCIC NEWS PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE (Continued from page 2) the problems that were mani-fested in Indian communities. It was further evident to the press that American Indian victims could not overcome their oppression by the American government and the B.I.A. without help from an informed American public. So the story was published in the newspaper. Today those Indian people are pursuing a class action suit. Now the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs knows that similar and at times identical problems exist in British Columbia and Canada. And we have made available documentation and analysis that could be used to expose, corrupt and destruct government policies and assist in bringing about the dismantling of the Department of Indian Affairs and put in its place alternative options. But my experience with news journalists tells me that reporting in this country is a one way street. That is to say, reporters phone my office regularly to inquire "what's new?" and I am expected to supply Indian news or elaborate upon some Indian story they may wish to develop. This exchange is always onesided, however, without exception, journalists do not pursue the political "news" I give them as President of the UBCIC. They do not go after the additional documentation and interviews that would verify our Chiefs' considered view that the politicians and bureaucrats deliberately frame Indian Affairs policies to oppress Indian people and further entrench their dependence and poverty. Could it be that we do not have proper investigative journalism in this country because media ownership is monopolized by business interests that work hand-in-glove with government to maintain the status quo? Or perhaps the media moguls believe that we live in a just society, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary when it comes to the lives of Indian people. When it comes to Indian stories, there is afine,easily-crossed line between editing and censorship — censorship that invariably serves the interests of the government and the economic power-brokers in Canada and this province. Morrisseau vs. Bennet T V . Fish Story: It is my experience during my terms in office as President that the media has not offered the public much in the way of in-depth reporting and political analysis. What makes matters worse, however, is that, as the political offensive against Indian Nations and Indian lands in B.C. rolls forward, it becomes increasingly difficult for our political organization to obtain financial support for professional research an analysis — ammunition that is essential for us to campaign effectively in the political arena and ensure the survival of our people into the 21st century. So it is very important to us that journalist take every opportunity to seriously investigate and report on Indian Issues in B.C. and Canada. More than ever, we need the statistical data and hard evidence uncovered to enable us to better protect our people, our lands and our resources. But this is not just an Indian story. In the long run, I believe that everyone in society will benefit from a renewed commitment to dig hard and deep into the political strata of Indian life in B.C. If the news media fully informs and educates the public — I am confident that truth will be served and justice done by our people. In this event, British Columbians as a whole will benefit spiritually, politically and even economically. For colonialism victimizes both the colonizer and the colonized, and ultimately the welfare of all depends on our respective mutual development. This is the public interest that should be promoted by investigative journalists in B.C., now and in the years of struggle ahead. Chilean Indians, Activist Protest Licensing of Dam SANTIAGO (Reuter) - Indians and environmental activists occupied Chile's indigenous affairs bureau and environmental protection board Tuesday to protest the licensing of a dam that will force hundreds of Indians off their land. The National Environmental Commission (Conama) Monday gave the green light to plan to build the $600 million Ralco dam on the Bio Bio River in southern Chile. Beating drums and denouncing Chilean "colonization," about 20 aborigines Tuesday took over the offices of the National Indigenous Development Corporation (Conadi) and unfurled banners from upper floors, including one reading "Indigenous Dignity -- no to Ralco!" ' 'The Chilean government has once again shown its colonizing mentality by not respecting our people or the law," said statement read by the occupiers, wearing ponchos and playing reed flutes. "Our grandfathers taught us well how to defend our lands and if it's necessary, 10 times we will return to shed our blood for our lands, but Ralco will not be built," they said. They demanded to speak with Conadi's director, a supporter of Ralco appointed by President Eduardo Frei's government early this year after it abruptly fired the previous director who was opposed to the dam. At the same time, about 30 environmental activists occupied the first floor of Conama's offices. Conama granted a license to private electric utility Endesa to begin building the dam and bring it into operation early in the next century. It will complement a smaller dam opened last year by Endesa downstream, which was also bitterly opposed by environmentalists. The dam will force up to 700 Pehuenche Indians off part of their ancestral lands and flood about 9,000 acres of farmland and rare temperate rain forest on tire river's upper reaches. In exchange for the license to build, Endesa will have to compensate the Pehuenches w i t h land of similar value and also buy 9,400 acres of land nearby for a wildlife reserve - an area roughly similar to the area that will be flooded. The dam's builders say Chile, w i t h almost no oil of its own and vast hydroelectric potential, needs Ralco and other dams to guarantee the country's booming economic growth into the next century. Endesa general manager Jose Yuraszech said Chile will need about 10 more dams the size of Ralco to be built between now and the year 2013 to satisfy energy demand, plus nine more power plants fueled by natural gas piped in from Argentina. Opponents of the dam, which has also attracted opposition from U.S., environmental groups, can still appeal in court but they said they had little chance of stopping it there. By Roger Atwood UBCIC (November 1987) JULY 1997 UBCIC (November. 1987) I 7 UBCIC NEWS National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations It is election time for the office of National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. This will take place during their annual assembly on July 28 -3 0,1997. There is also a proposal to restructure the organization including a name change. It is necessary to take a look at one of the original intent of such organizations as the National Indian Brotherhood. Organizations like this was formed by Indian people because they feared the loss of their lands and resources and that was the number one reason although there are many other specific reasons as well. Every Federal Government in power has been determined to provide a final solution to the Land Question and that is to extinguish aboriginal title and rights of the Indian Nations because they think it is good for Indian people to be assimilated into dominant Canadian society. The early settlement of Canada were active colonization years and the government was able to encompass this whole country according to their way of life. Years of strategies by the government have been instrumental in weakening the sovereign political position Indian Nations held and the Federal Government has been able to entrench their assimilationist agenda to settle the Land Question. The National Chief should provide strongleadership against continued colonization process and be more visible in the Field of nation-building at home and abroad. Are the Assembly of First Nations Declaration and the Treaty and Aboriginal Rights Principles to be taken seriously or not? The National Chief should adhere to these Declarations and Principles theyare the Code of Ethics for Indian Governments and how they do business. They articulate the Assembly of First Nations' beliefs, values and moral identity. At no time should Nations be encouraged to settle for less. The qualifications of a National Chief, at this point in history when the Federal Government is devolving its Trust Responsibilities to Chiefs and Council are: 1. To inspire the Indian people, provide Spiritual Leadership and be a role model; 2. To lead the Indian people as Nations towards their goal of self-determination rather than towards complete colonization; 3. To protect Aboriginal Title, Rights and Treaties of Indian Nations; 4. To implement unequivocally Article 1 of the A.F.N. Constitution; 5. To hold the Federal Government to the Spirit and Intent of all the Treaties negotiated to date; 8 6. To protect aboriginal rights to hunt, fish, trap and gathering harvest; 7. To teach the Indian Philosophy, not only to Indian communities but to the public at large; 8. To represent the sovereign postion of Indian Nations at the International level; 9. To build stronger ties with all Indigenous Nations throughout the world; 10. To communicate and warn Indian Nations of the Federal and Provincial strategies to extinguish sovereign aboriginal rights; 11. To build political ties on Aboriginal Title and Rights with the Metis and Non-Status or Off-Reserve Indian Peoples; 12. To work in harmony with Indian Organizations and Supporters to protect the Natural Resources and Environment of Indian Territories. 13. To seek financial resources for the work and development of Indian government. ISSUE: Can a National Chief fulfill the Principles of the A.F.N. Declaration if he or she comes from an Indian Band who is actively involved in the Federal Government's self-government process through which the Band declare they do not want to be under the authority of the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs then in a final agreement, relieves the Minister of the Trust Relationship? Can this National Chief truthfully fight for the Aboriginal Title, Rights and Treaties of Sovereign Nations when he or she is a party to the implementation of the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy of the Federal Government? The following is an official list in alphabetical order of candidates for the office of National Chief, to the Assembly of First Nations. Mr. J. F. (Joe) Dion C/O Tsawwassen Reserve 1257 Pacific Drive Delta, BC V4M 2K2 Phone: 604-943-2253 Fax: 604-943-6541 2) Mr. Philip Fontaine PO Box 209 Winnipeg, MB R3C 0M6 Phone: 204-956-0610 Fax: 204-642-0441 3) Ms. Wendy Grant-John 2nd Floor, 319 Seymour Blvd. North Vancouver, BC V6N 2C7 Phone: 604-987-2582 Fax: 604-987-6683 4) Mr. Robert (Bob) Manuel 899 Elder Road Kamloops, BC V2B 6K9 Phone: 250-679-3295 Fax: 250-679-3403 5) Mr. Ovide Mercredi Grand Rapids, MB Phone: 613-830-2211 Fax: 613-241-5808 6) Mr. Larry Sault RR No. 6 Hagersville, Ontario N0A 1H0 Phone: 905-768-1133 Fax: 905-768-1225 JULY 1997 UBCIC NEWS T H E A S S E M B L Y O F FIRST N A T I O N S IS P L E A S E D T O W E L C O M E O U R ELDERS, CHIEFS, GRANDCHIEFS A N D PEOPLE TO T H E 18TH ANNUAL G E N E R A L ASSEMBLY Helping Spirit Lodge Society 5th Annual Golf Tournament FUN GOLFERS WANTED! Sunday Afternoon, September 28, 1997 12:00 p.m. (Noon) E A R L Y PAID BIRDS GET B E S T T-TIMES! J U L Y 2 9 , 30 8b 3 1 , 1 9 9 7 Tsawwassen Golf Club VANCOUVER TRADE & C O N V E N T I O N CENTRE 999 C A N A D A P L A C E , V A N C O U V E R , BC EXIBIT H A L L A 1595 - 52nd Avenue, Delta, B C $75.00 per person (Includes golf game, and a donation of $15.00 to our First Nations Family Violence Center with it's intervention programs. Tax receipts available.) ELECTION FOR OFFICE OF NATIONAL CHIEF HELP US H E L P OTHERS!! Wednesday, July 30, 1997 P L E A S E C O N T A C T B E R N E WHITEFORD A T 8726649 FOR M O R E D E T A I L S ! For more information, please call the Assembly of First Nations at ( 6 1 3 ) 2 4 1 6789 or (613) 2 4 1 - 5 8 0 8 / 5 8 0 7 / 4 8 9 8 GOLF, H A V E F U N , A N D H E L P US F U N D RAISE FOR OUR FIRST NATIONS F A M I L Y V I O L E N C E CENTER WITH IT'S INTERVENTION P R O G R A M S UBCIC NEWSLETTER DEADLINE The deadline for the next Newsletter has been set for August 15, 1997. If you have any information that you would like to see in the next edition of the UBCIC NEWSLETTER, Send by mail or fax to: UBCIC NEWSLETTER 5th Floor - 342 Water Street Vancouver, BC V6B 1B6 Phone: (604) 684-0231 Fax: (604)684-5726 JULY 1997 Please note that as of May 1, 1997 the Tsimshian Tribal Council relocated to the Chatham Village Longhouse. Our phone and fax number will remain the same. The new address is: 138 1st Avenue West Prince Rupert, B C V8J 1A8 (250) 627-8782 Phone (250) 627-1938 Fax We are pleased to announce that CESO Aboriginal Services has moved to a new location. Our new address is: CESO Aboriginal Services Suite #212 - 1999 Marine Drive North Vancouver, B C V7P3J3 (604) 986-4566 or 1-800-986^566 Phone (604) 984-3584 Fax 9 UBCIC NEWS RESOURCE T CENTRE UPDATE he " A r c h i v i a " CD-ROM workstation was set up last month in the Resource Centre and it is being used frequently. Archivia - Aboriginal Peoples includes information relating to selected textual and machine-readable Canadian federal government records. While it does not include the records themselves, it provides the ability to keyword search important finding aids for Record Group 10 (Indian Affairs) Inventory, Indian Treaties, Surrenders & Agreements, Bands & Agencies and other files. The selected RG-10 finding aids cover most of die Black Series records for B.C. Our Resource Centre has one of die best collections of RG-10 microfilm in the province. The combination of our extensive collection and the print & electronic finding aids we have provides an important resource for researchers. If you would like to order a copy of Archivia - Aboriginal Peoples for your own office, it is available from National Archives for under $200.00. If you want more information about hardware requirements to run Archivia or contact information for National Archives call me or Lorraine Brooks here in the Resource Centre at (604) 602-9555. We were investigating die content of the 1881, 1891 and 1901 Census as it seemed some of B.C. was not included. The reels that we have do in fact include all available information for B.C. As suspected, some areas did not get included in some years because everyone was away fishing, the weather was inclement, etc. We do have a two volume index now which makes it easier to determine if you are likely to find what you are looking for on the Census reels. We have gathered a number of resources to help users with genealogy research. This type of research if usually time consuming and a great deal of patience and determination is required. You will often have to search in a variety of resources and at more than one site. If you are going get involved in this type of research make sure you can make the time commitment. Sarah Torsky, our Cataloguer, begins her maternity leave at the end of this week and Sarah Nighswander, our replacement Cataloguer has already started. Our two volunteers came and went rather quickly. Dorine Cyr got a full-time job and Alma Peters found die long trip in from the Mission too restrictive on her time. Thanks to a summer student grant, we have hired a Micmac student who is between her first and second years of the Library Technology program at Langara College. Linda Muise will be working on some important cataloguing projects for the Resource Centre. 10 If you would like to get a subscription to a good basic computing magazine for your office which will help with running your systems more effectively and take some of the mystery out of basic c o m p u t i n g , we can h i g h l y recommend PC Novice (Smart Computing in Plain English). To place an order contact Sandhills Publishing F A X (402) 479-2193. The annual subscription price is $29 U.S. funds for twelve issues. The Resource Centre will be open Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m. all summer long. After surviving the extensive building renovations and being under piles of debris last summer, we are looking forward to a clean, quiet July and August. We hope that you have a safe and enjoyable summer. JOB POSTING RESEARCH ASSISTANT The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs has an opening for a f u l l - t i m e Research Assistant i n its Specific Claims Research Program. Job duties for this term contract involve historical and archival research, and the preparation of detailed written reports. Salary will be based on qualifications and experience. Candidates should possess a university degree and some research experience. Superior organizational skills c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s k i l l s are r e q u i r e d . S o u n d knowledge of Indian governments, the goals of the UBCIC and the principles of the Aboriginal Title and Rights position are essential. Interested candidates should fax resume, references and samples of writing to the UBCIC Staffing Committee at (604) 684-5726 NO LATER T H A N FRIDAY AUGUST I , 1997. We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. JULY 1997 UBCIC NEWS COMMEMORATION OF THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF PARTICIPATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AT THE UNITED NATIONS To all Indigenous P e o p l e s , brothers and sisters, Respectful Greetings, In S e p t e m b e r of 1977, the Conference of Discrimination against Indigenous P e o p l e s of the A m e r i c a s took place in G e n e v a , Switzerland. 165 Indigenous P e o p l e s participated. It w a s the first international gathering of Indigenous P e o p l e s before the United Nations, an activity of the S p e c i a l C o m m i t t e e on N o n G o v e r n m e n t a l O r g a n i z a t i o n s ' S u b Committee on R a c i s m , R a c i a l Discrimination and Apartheid. There, Indigenous P e o p l e s from the Western Hemisphere gave testimony on the situation of H u m a n Rights of our P e o p l e s and the continuation of colonialism and genocide against us. This s u m m e r will mark the 20th anniversary of this gathering and the formal participation of Indigenous P e o p l e s before the U N in G e n e v a . This conference gave birth to a great consciousness raising at the international level on the situation of Indigenous P e o p l e s all over the world. Participating Indigenous Peoples made several recommendations to the U N , including the suggestion that there be a more widespread and systematic participation of Indigenous P e o p l e s at the U N level. This recommendation w a s taken to the S u b - C o m m i s s i o n on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which in turn r e c o m m e n d e d to the U N that the Working G r o u p on Indigenous Populations be formed. Another W o r l d C o n f e r e n c e took place in 1981, again in G e n e v a , and in 1982, the W o r k i n g Group had its first meeting. S i n c e the formation of the W o r k i n g G r o u p thousands of Indigenous persons representing hundreds of Indigenous Nations have participated directly in standard setting for the recognition and observance of the H u m a n Rights and Fundamental F r e e d o m s of Indigenous P e o p l e s , such as the U N Draft declaration on the rights of Indigenous P e o p l e s , the Resolution by the G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y declaring 1992 the year of Indigenous P e o p l e s , the subsequent Declaration on the D e c a d e of Indigenous P e o p l e s , important studies on the Preservation of Indigenous Heritage, the study on Treaties, and other issues of great importance to Indigenous P e o p l e s . The next s e s s i o n of the working Group on Indigenous P o p u l a t i o n s in G e n e v a , b e g i n n i n g 2 8 J u l y , 1 9 9 7 , will c o m m e m o r a t e this historic moment that marks the beginning of the Indigenous P e o p l e s of the world at the United Nations. For the International Indian Treaty Council, which had been formed 1974, and had participated intemationally to achieve this first conference and more ample and open Indigenous participation at the U N , this moment is of great significance and pride. Indeed, as the International Indian Treaty Council w a s the first Indigenous organization r e c o g n i z e d by the U N as a consultative status Non-governmental organization in 1977, this 20th anniversary is of great significance and pride for us in this respect as well. JULY 1997 W e would therefore invite those who are able to attend the next session of the W o r k i n g G r o u p where this important beginning will be c o m m e m o r a t e d . W e would especially urge those brothers and sisters who attended the first W o r l d C o n f e r e n c e in 1977 to attend, that they may be recognized in a good w a y . W e very much regret that our organization is unable to provide any financial assistance for those interested in attending. All will have to make their own arrangements. If your attendance is possible, we would remind you that it is important to bring traditional dress to this event, to again demonstrate to the U N the diversity of our P e o p l e s , Nations and cultures. If it is possible, please also bring traditions f o o d s for the Indigenous P e o p l e s ' reception, keeping in mind that Switzerland has regulations on the importation of meat. It is r e c o m m e n d e d that frozen meat be sent through diplomatic pouch via the e m b a s s i e s of friendly states. There will be three major events in the c o m m e m o r a t i o n : 1) C o m m e m o r a t i n g the march of Indigenous P e o p l e s in 1977, there will be a march of Indigenous P e o p l e s in traditional dress through the main gates of the U N , on M o n d a y , July 2 8 , at 10:00 a m , demonstrating, as we done in 1977, that Indigenous P e o p l e s cannot be denied entrance to the U N . O n c e inside the U N , prior to the beginning of the regular s e s s i o n of the Working Group, representatives of Indigenous P e o p l e s , c h o s e n at the preparatory meeting on Saturday and S u n d a y at the World Council of C h u r c h e s building in G e n e v a , will a d d r e s s the session, and exchange gifts with representatives of the United Nations. 2) Thursday, July 3 1 , Indigenous P e o p l e s will host a reception for representatives of the U N and the public in the evening at the U N B e a c h , where traditional foods will be s e r v e d . 3) The Lord Mayor of G e n e v a will host a reception on Friday, August 3 1 , beginning at 5:00 P M . This event coincides with the S w i s s national holiday and will be held in conjunction with their celebration at the P r o m e n a d e des Bastions a c r o s s from the P a l a c e N e u v e . This event is also of historic tradition, as it marks the reception given in 1923 by the Lord Mayor of G e n e v a , to D e s c a h e h , the C a y u g a Chief who, representing the Iroquois C o n f e d e r a c y , w a s the first I n d i g e n o u s representative to the L e a g u e of Nations. A n area for the sale of crafts has also been set aside for this event. If your presence is possible, and you need more please contact: information, Bill ( J i m b o ) S i m m o n s Kenneth Deer International Indian T r e a t y C o u n c i l S a n Francisco, California, U S , The Eastern Door M o h a w k Territory T e l : (415) 5 1 2 - 1 5 0 1 F a x : (415) 5 1 2 - 1 5 0 7 (514) 6 3 5 - 3 0 5 0 (514) 6 3 5 - 8 4 7 9 11 UBCIC NEWS Why did the B . C . T . C . hold a press conference to release their annual report? V A N C O U V E R , B. C . ~ June 26, 1997 -- Indian Peoples respond to the to the British Columbia Treaty Commission's (B.C.T.C.) release of their annual report: Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs had these comments: "The press conference was a non-event meant to assuage public fear and doubt that the treaty process is not working. The B.C.T.C. is preparing the public in case of confrontations with Indian Peoples this summer because opposition to the process is growing. They want the public to believe that all Indian Peoples outside the B.C.T.C. process are in the minority and are radicals. The fact is, even within the Bands involved, there are many people who do not support their leadership's involvement. How can Indian people consent when most of the negotiations are held in secret and behind closed doors? It's easy to sell the process when you don't see how it will affect the people in it. Openness closes down after Stage Three where the meat and potatoes are on the table. A l l that this report lists are the loan monies to Indian peoples which are 80% repayable. The public should be asking about the real costs involved. What about the monies spent internally by the Province and Federal government which do not show up in this report? Maybe the Reform Party should get on this. No matter how many millions they spend, no matter how many press conferences they hold, no matter how many reports they release, the B.C.T.C. is not working for Indian Peoples. " For information please contact: Chief Saul Terry 1-250256-4135 Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, Grand Chief Bernard Charles of Semiahmoo had these comments: "Everyone insists that because there is "no other game in town'' that every First Nation should opt in. This pre-supposes that everyone should make this decision despite the concerns that they might have about flaws in the B . C . T . C . If there is other ball game - we have to ask it we remain outside of the process at our peril? On important issues such as overlapping claims and third party interests it seems that you can only buy into the process believing all parties will behave honourably and not be guided by their own interests. No Nation should have been coerced or agreed to submit or even agreed to submit a letter of intent if there was no agreement in place regarding overlapping claims. This process is being driven by those that have the most to gain - honourable negotiation and agreements should have proceeded the process and not be left as an afterthought. It should not be those first across the mark who drive this cumbersome vehicle. Many long established principles of past leaders have been cast aside: recognition of title, continuing right to land and resources and proper compensation. The overriding pressure to settle long standing grievances is the driving force in this process. No one has given satisfactory answers to the questions of "Is this 12 the best or the only way to settle things - or is it merely the most expeditious way?" If we are prepared to settle for less than we are entitled to we need to do so only i f the overwhelming majority of our constituency supports such action. Consent is only as valuable as the informed nature on which it is based. Otherwise we are talking about sophisticated manipulation rather than consent. These are some of the failings of the B.C.T.C. process. Likely there are others. The glossy handouts are too similar to the White Paper policy of 1969. The only difference is that some First Nations members, if they are not actually driving the bus, are at least along for the ride. Many others prefer to walk rather than get on board the B . C . T . C . " -30 - Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Press Statement Federal Election Results: Where do we go from here? VANCOUVER, B.C. - June 5, 1997 - Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of B. C. Indian Chiefs, in response to the results of the federal election, stated: "The 1997 election results are a mixed blessing for Indian Peoples. The federal Liberals have lost their overwhelming majority and space has been made within Parliament for other parties who can add a balanced voice.'' "British Colombians voted in the Reform party, bringing into Parliament their ignorance about the true history of this country. Traditionally, the Loyal Opposition is a voice representing our interests in Parliament and holding the government accountable to their obligations toward Indian Peoples. But the Reform party cannot be trusted to do this because they are living in a major state of denial about our rightful place on tins Land.'' "The Prime Minister indicated that his government will "stay the course" on its policies. This does not bode well for our Peoples. We w i l l have to continue to convince the government of the dire need for political, social and economic solutions for our rapidly growing populations. The only solution we have is decolonization. The federal government paid millions of dollars for a Royal Commission to tell them this. We are prepared to work with Mr. Chretien to restructure our relationship, using the RCAP as a starting point. I hope that the new Parliament does not let die millions it spent on R C A P go to waste by leaving this report unused on their shelves." "The revived New Democratic Party has die opportunity to support our Peoples to bring about real political, social and economic change. The human costs are too great to continue with the status quo. To be effective a lasting solution will require our concerted effort nation by nation right across this country, and I believe it is achievable." FEDERAL ELECTION (Continued on page 13) JULY 1997 UBCIC NEWS FEDERAL ELECTION (Continued from page 12) "This is our country. Respect and recognition are the solution to the Indian problem. People who came to this country last week currently get more respect than the original peoples of this Land. We are not a special interest group, we are the original Peoples of this Land. We want to survive as Nations, not to blend seemlessly into the Canadian mosaic.'' " W e do not want a repeat of what took place at Gustafson Lake in B.C. or at Ipperwash in Ontario. The Liberal government arrogantly avoids and denies the substantive issues it must address to build a peaceful and lasting relationship with Indian Peoples. This is evident in their plans to convert our Nations to municipalities and our leaders to mayors. Our hopes and aspirations as Peoples cannot be squashed into the existing system. Real and immediate changes are necessary to recognize our rightful place on this Land. Hopefully, members of this Parliament will be courageous enough to work with us to achieve these changes." —30 — INDIAN PEOPLES AND PACIFIC S A L M O N TREATY TALKS VANCOUVER, B.C. - JUNE 10, 1997- The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs issued these comments about the Pacific Salmon Treaty talks which have lately received so much press coverage. In 1913 the C . N . Railway, while building its main track, caused a rockslide at Hell's Gate. The Fraser River was entirely blocked and twenty-two million salmon died. The Early Stuart run was decimated. The fishery survived because Indian people carried salmon over the rockslide enabling them to swim upriver and spawn. The H e l l ' s Gate slide enabled the Americans to get their boot in the door. The Americans assisted Canada with money to clear the waterway and in return Canada guaranteed the Americans a certain percentage of our fishery. Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, made these comments: "Canada and B.C. have no credibility when they are pounding the table and accusing the Americans of bullying tactics. Indian Peoples in the Province know all about bullying tactics over the fishery. We get it at home all of the time. Hour Peoples fish for food or if we sell a couple of salmon to our neighbour, we can be arrested and thrown in j a i l . " "Indians within Washington State are entitled to 50% of the total fishery catch of the state. Meanwhile, the Indian Peoples within B. C. are reduced to begging for a few fish to feed our families or to build our economies. "It is admirable that the Premiere and DFO officials have recognized the unfairness and inequity of a situation where outside forces control access to the fishery resource. Maybe now they can turn the insight onto themselves and act fairly toward Indian Peoples with regards to the fishery.'' -30Contact Chief Saul Terry, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, (604) 684-0231 JULY 1997 B.C. CHIEFS RESPOND TO TIMBER JOB INITIATIVES V A N C O U V E R - JUNE 19, 1997 -- the Chiefs of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs offered these comments on Premier Clark's announcement of the new Timber Jobs Initiatives Plan. The U.B.C.I.C leaders were concerned that the Indian Peoples had not been involved in the structuring of the plan, and raised concerns that the plan does not address ultimate ownership of the forestry resource or the manner in which forestry practices severely impact the aboriginal rights of Indian Peoples. Chief A r t Manuel, Neskonlith Indian Band and Chair of the Shuswap Tribal "There are interests who say that it would be racist to give one special group timber. Yet the Provincial government hasn't given one Indian one stick of timber in the Kamloops timber supply area. I consider that racist.'' "We need a serious plan to protect wildlife resources and values and not just jobs. We need to put in place a process to certify forest product show i f the products come from an area and through a process which is sustainably managed and developed. We need a process of certification which shows whether or not the forest practices respects our aboriginal rights. At present, the Forest Practices Code is shallow because it does not in corporate our aboriginal values.'' "I'm concerned about the definition of 'displaced forest workers' My People have been displaced by the forestry industry. Our traditional use, our hunting...we have been displaced. More respect needs to be given to that fact. Forests are very important to our Peoples and not just for wage jobs, but for immediate sustenance and food. The forest workers who worked 700 hours in the industry last year, should not get more respect and credence than our Peoples.'' Chief Cassidy Sill, Ulkatcho and Chair Southern C a r r i e r Tribal Council "I can see that their old habits are still there, current legislation, policy and programs exclude Indian altogether. They have already announced a dollar commitment to the I.W.A., we need parallel program dollars." Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of B . C . Indian Chiefs and Chief of Bridge River: "We need to work out ways to work together in a political process, to share the resources. We are looking for more than jobs. We are looking for a more meaningful role in terms of the recognition of the social and economic importance of the forestry to our Peoples. We want to participate in the economy in a meaningful way, and not only to have temporary jobs." "We are concerned about the past destruction of our forests. Some of our people are saying that they do not agree with this plan: that the very people who caused the destruction are being sent back out to repair the damage. We have to deal with the unfinished business of the Land Question. We are T I M B E R J O B I N I T I A T I V E S (Continued on page 16) 13 UBCIC NEWS U B C I C TO P U B L I S H C L A I M S RESEARCH GUIDE T h e U n i o n of B C I n d i a n C h i e f s R e s e a r c h D e p a r t m e n t h a s started p r e p a r i n g a m a n u a l o n land rights r e s e a r c h in British C o l u m b i a . T h e g o a l of this publication is t o a s s i s t n o n - p r o f e s s i o n a l , c o m m u n i t y - b a s e d r e s e a r c h e r s in a c c e s s i n g a n d u s i n g a v a i l a b l e r e s o u r c e s for their l a n d s r e s e a r c h projects. T h e m a n u a l will be p u b l i s h e d by the U n i o n of B C I n d i a n C h i e f s , a n d is s c h e d u l e d f o r S p r i n g 1 9 9 8 publication. CLAIMS POLICY R E F O R M DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE T h e A s s e m b l y of First N a t i o n s L a n d R i g h t s Unit a n d the C h i e f s C o m m i t t e e o n C l a i m s h a v e b e e n w o r k i n g with S p e c i f i c C l a i m s B r a n c h officials to identify f l a w s in t h e e x i s t i n g p o l i c y a n d e x p l o r e the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of a n e w I n d e p e n d e n t C l a i m s B o d y to be e s t a b l i s h e d through legislation. T h e s e discussions h a v e been proceeding d e s p i t e t h e lack of a f o r m a l p r o t o c o l c o m m i t t i n g the F e d e r a l G o v e r n m e n t in writing to p o l i c y r e f o r m . T h e r e h a v e b e e n a n u m b e r of m e e t i n g s o v e r t h e last f e w m o n t h s , a n d there are s e v e r a l m o r e s e s s i o n s s c h e d u l e d o v e r the next f e w w e e k s . T h e U B C I C h a s b e e n r e p r e s e n t e d at t h e C h i e f s C o m m i t t e e o n C l a i m s b y Neskonlith C h i e f and S h u s w a p Nation Tribal Council C h a i r C h i e f A r t h u r M a n u e l a n d W a y n e H a i m i l a , w h o brings to the task h i s e x p e r i e n c e with the J o i n t W o r k i n g G r o u p , t h e p r e d e c e s s o r of the C h i e f s C o m m m i t t e e on C l a i m s . T h e A F N ' s L a n d R i g h t s Unit will m a k e a d e t a i l e d report updating the s c o p e a n d d i r e c t i o n of t h e s e policy reform t a l k s at the A F N ' s A n n u a l G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y t a k i n g p l a c e in V a n c o u v e r at the e n d of J u l y . ABORIGINAL P E O P L E S CD-ROM T h e N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s of C a n a d a " A b o r i g i n a l P e o p l e s " C D - R O M is finally a v a i l a b l e . T h i s r e s e a r c h tool pulls t o g e t h e r in o n e p l a c e r e f e r e n c e s to a b o r i g i n a l p e o p l e in certain g o v e r n m e n t record g r o u p s at t h e N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s of C a n a d a . It is particularly helpful for sifting through the c o m p l e x i t i e s of R G 10 ( N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s of C a n a d a R e c o r d G r o u p 1 0 , c o n s i s t i n g of D e p a r t m e n t of Indian A f f a i r s R e c o r d s ) . H o w e v e r , R e s e a r c h e r s must still work t h r o u g h the R G 10 i n v e n t o r y a n d f i n d i n g - a i d s a n d they s h o u l d be a w a r e that not all R G 10 finding aids w e r e i n c l u d e d in the C D - R O M . R e s e a r c h e r s c a n c h e c k out t h e A b o r i g i n a l P e o p l e s C D - R O M a n y t i m e at the C D - R O M r e s e a r c h w o r k station in the U B C I C R e s o u r c e C e n t r e . Bill R u s s e l l f r o m the N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s , w h o h e l p e d d e v e l o p this r e s e a r c h product, will be h o l d i n g a d e m o n s t r a t i o n s e s s i o n a n d orientation at the U B C I C R e s o u r c e C e n t r e o n F r i d a y , A u g u s t 15th f r o m 9 a m to 12 p . m . See you there! Inco Attempts to Undermine Environmental Assessment of The Voisey Bay Project lnnu Nation calls for Rejection of Construction Plans During Environmental Review For the third time i n three years, the Voisey's Bay Nickel Company (a subsidiary of Inco) is attempting to build a road and airstrip at Emish (Voisey's Bay) this summer - despite the fact that the entire Voisey's Bay mining project is currently the subject of an ongoing public environmental assessment under an agreement between Canada, Newfoundland, the Labrador Inuit Association and the lnnu Nation. The lnnu Nation and the Labrador Inuit association fought earlier attempts by the company to proceed with construction at the site, and successfully negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Canada and Newfoundland which was intended to ensure a single, comprehensive environmental review of the Voisey's Bay Project. The M O U provides for a more rigorous examination of the issues associated with this project than would be the case under Canada or Newfoundland's E A legislation, and defines a more appropriate and accessible process for lnnu and Inuit participation i n the examination of the full scope of environmental, cultural and social effects which may result from the large large nickel mine that is being proposed on lnnu and Inuit land. Despite the fact that the assessment process is well underway, and that last fall, the company itself agreed that the entire project-including the infrastructure-should be subject to a comprehensive environmental review, Voisey's Bay Nickel has now submitted a separate registration for the infrastructure under the provincial environmental assessment process on 21 May 1997. They have reversed their deci arguing that their proposed infrastructure was not contemplated or included in the mine-mill project that was submitted under the current environmental assessment process being conducted under the M O U . According to the company, this new infrastructure proposal is merely intended to support advanced exploration activities by providing improved access to the site. However, the proposed road and airstrip are to be located in the same locations and are only slightly smaller titan the permanent road and airstrip being assessed under the M O U ! The lnnu Nation believes that Voisey's Bay Nickel is once again attempting to undermine the environmental assessment process and the work of the Environmental Review Panel under the M O U in order to accelerate the development of the mine and meet their ambitious production objectives. lnnu objectives, which include the settlement of a land rights agreement with government, the conclusion of an impactbenefits agreement with the company, and the completion of a comprehensive environmental assessment of the environmental and social impacts of the project are being undermined by Inco's desire for quick profits. The purpose of an environmental assessment is to predict and evaluate the impacts of a project before irreversible decisions are made, and use this information to make appropriate, informed choices in project planning. Roads and airstrips are irreversible decisions with real impacts. The lnnu Nation believes that the entire project must be assessed as a whole. The effects of individual parts of the project, like the road and the airstrip, can only be appreciated and understood in the context of tire mine they are intended to serve. The company's piecemeal approach to project development not only undermines the M O U process, which was VOISEY BAY PROJECT (Continued on page 15) 14 JULY 1997 UBCIC NEWS VOISEY BAY PROJECT (Continued from page 14) intended to review and assess the project as a whole, but it makes sense from a planning perspective. Proceeding with infrastructure development prior to the completion of the environmental assessment would make it nearly impossible for the Panel to make responsible recommendations about how the project should be planned in order to minimze the effect that it will have on the environment as much of the infrastructure will already be in place! There are still a number of difficult problems, such as the safe and permanent disposal of mine wastes, which must be resolved. Without a clear picture of the whole project, it is possible that decisions taken today will have to be changed later as these and other considerations are taken into account, which will result in impacts which might have been avoided with proper planning and assessment. The Innu and Inuit w i l l have to l i v e w i t h the consequences. FOR M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N : Innu Nation Tel: (709) 497-8398 Fax: (709) 497-8396. H y d r o Reviving' Great Whale Front page, The (Montreal) Gazette, Saturday, 7 June Seventeen months after the Parti Quebecois government shelved Phase II of the James Bay hydroelectric project, it's back on the table, and this time Hydro-Quebec has set its sights on diverting two of the largest rivers in northern Quebec. The plan was presented to Cree leaders in two meetings this week in Montreal and Quebec City. Hydro-Quebec and Cree officials say Hydro has proposed to divert and drain die water of the Great Whale and Rupert rivers into existing hydroelectric projects through a series of canals. Crees waged a noisy six-year international campaign against the original Great Whale proposal, which would have diverted several rives into a series of reservoirs built along the Great Whale River. The new proposal would not involve new dams in die north, but would reduce the flow of the Great Whale and Rupert rivers to a trickle. Cree opposition was a major factor in Jacques Parizeau's decision as premier to shelve the original project in December 1995 [note: it was actually November]. Cree leaders were shocked when they were informed of the plans this week. "It's going to be very difficult for the people to accept," said David Masty, an official of the Great Whale community, situated at die river's mouth. I think people sent out a very strong message on that already. It w i l l have the same impact as i f the river was dammed.'' Under the proposal, the Great Whale River would be diverted at its headwater, Lac Bienville, a lake about twice the size of the island of Montreal. The river's flow would be reduced by about 85 percent and the diverted water would flow southward through more than 10 kilometres of canals into the existing La Grand Hydro Complex. The Lac Bienville area is home to the world's largest caribou herds. Cree fears about the environmental and social effects of hydro development were at the heart of the acrimonious debate over the original Great Whale project. The new plan would also redirect the Rupert River, which flows through the heartland of Cree territory, northward JULY 1997 to the East mam and La Grande complexes, at least 20 km away. The two rivers provide drinking water to the communities of Great Whale and Waskaganish, and to dozens of hunting camps along their shores. Shirley Bishop, an aide to Resources Minister Guy Chevrette, at first denied knowledge of the proposal. Later yesterday she confirmed that two meetings had been held between Hydro-Quebec and Cree leaders, although she would not reveal what was discussed. "Hydro-Quebec hasn't talked to us about that," Bishop said. "When they want to do something like that, they have to ask the government first, and they haven't." Hydro-Quebec spokesman Steve Flanagan confirmed that the meetings were held to discuss possible projects along the Great Whale and Rupert rivers, but said the plan involves only the ' 'partial diversion'' of die rivers and no final decision has been made on whether it will go ahead. "These rivers, like many others in Quebec, have a potential and we will see whether there is an economic interest," Flanagan said. He said hydro-development in James Bay is back on the table because of a desire to export power to the United States and a rise in energy consumption in Quebec. Earlier this week, the utility announced it would divert four rivers into existing hydro projects on the Lower North Shore and Lac St. Jean. A US energy analyst said Hydro-Quebec has been selling ever-increasing amounts of power to the north-eastern states and is now desperate for more water to replenish its reservoirs, winch have fallen to dangerously low levels. ' 'It seems Quebec took a big gamble and ended up losing," said Ian Goodman, of the Goodman Group of Boston. Goodman has worked as a consultant to the Crees. ' 'HydroQuebec appears to have oversold die province's energy and they did so at less than what it costs to produce it.'' While Quebec has more than enough energy for domestic levels, its energy supplies have fallen to critically low levels because of its aggressive export program, said Goodman. The National Energy Board says Hydro's experts to the US have nearly tripled since 1990. Quebec exported five terrawatt-hours of power in 1990, almost all to the US. This rose to 17 terrawatt-hours in 1995 and fell somewhat to 13.9 terrawatt-hours last year. Internal hydro-Quebec documents reveal that Quebec's reservoir levels have fallen to 21 percent of their total capacity Le Devoir reported Wednesday. A battle appears to be brewing within the Quebec government over the river diversions already announced. Environment Minister David Clinche said Thursday that any new Hydro-Quebec projects will be subjected to the same environmental review as those of any other developer. But Chevrette said deregulation in die energy industry means information about water levels in reservoirs can't be made public anymore because it would put Hydro-Quebec at a commercial disadvantage. N A T I V E FOREST N E T W O R K Eastern North American Resource Centre (802) 863-0571 Phone (802) 862-2532 Fax 15 UBCIC NEWS Letter from Innu People to Queen Elizabeth II 26 June 1997, Nitassinan Madam, We would like to bring to your attention the fact that the Innu People of Labrador and Quebec - we call our homeland Nitassinan - feel gravely threatened by the way our rights are denied by the Canadian government. We believe we are entitled as a People to full ownership rights over the lands which we have lived upon since the glaciers retreated from this peninsula 10,000 years ago. And we believe that both natural justice an international law support our position. As far as the Canadian government is concerned, however, it is only prepared to discuss our land rights i f we first agree to surrender our ownership. This is manifestly unfair and unjust. It amounts to the bullying of a numerically small People into the surrender of their birthright by a large and powerful industrialized state. The history of colonization here has been lamentable and has severely demoralized our People. They turn now to drink and self destruction. We have the highest rate of suicide in North America. Children as young as 12 have taken their own life recently. We feel powerless to prevent the massive mining project now planned and many of us are driven into discussing mere financial compensation, even though we know that he mines and hydro-electric dams will destroy our land and our culture and that money will not save us. The Labrador part of Nitassinan was claimed as British soil until very recently (1949), when without consulting us, your government ceded it to Canada. We have never, however, signed any treaty with either Great Britain or Canada. Nor have we ever given up our right to self-determination. The fact that we have become financially dependent on the state which violates our rights is a reflection of our desperate circumstances. It does not mean that we acquiesce in those violations. We have been treated as non-People, with no more rights than the caribou which we depend and which are now themselves being threatened by N A T O war exercises and other so-called 'development'. In spite of this, we remain a People in the fullest sense of the word. We have not given up, and we are now looking to rebuild our pride and self esteem. We have many friends in Great Britain where thousands of ordinary people have spent many years supporting our rights. We would like to count, you You Majesty, as one of those friends. Yours faithfully, Tanien Ashini Vice-President, Innu Nation 16 The Penticton Indian Band is extremely grateful and very proud of the fact that many, of our adult Band members have made the decision to seek treatment for their drug and alcohol addictions. To date,over 200 adult members of our community have attended various drug and alcohol treatment centres throughout the Province. Our community has greatly benefited from the positive impact these individuals have had on our community. Due to the generational nature of drug and alcohol addiction, however, too many of our youth are currently dealing with their own drug and alcohol addictions . This problem is exacerbated by the fact that 75% of our populationis under 25 years of age. Further, this problem has undertaken a grave dimension given the proliferation of drugs and drug dealers/ bootleggers who have decided to expoloit the aforementioned circumstances. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate any and all copies ob bylaws, Band Council Resolutions, letters or notices which you may have prepared and used to prohibit drug trafficking and bootlegging in your communitites. In adition, we would also greatly appreciate copies of any bylaws or Band Council Resolutions you may have enacted or drafted to expel undesirable individuals from your communities. Sincerely yours Chief Stewart Phillip O K A N A G A N NATION TIMBER JOB INITIATIVES (Continued frompage13) dealing with the water quality, wildlife...harvesting from the forests to sustain our Peoples." Chief Alex Paul, Chehalis Band ' 'The current practices of the Ministry of Forests in dealing with aboriginal Peoples are insulting, degrading and pave the way for confrontation. We are tired of seeing logs rolling out of our territory day by day while our people sit on the sidelines collecting welfare." Chief Stewart Phillip, Penticton Band " I f this new initiative does not provide us with jobs and opportunities it is meaningless to us. If we are not meaningfully involved in the forestry industry: the Province will trigger a backlash within our community forcing First Nations to consider the formation of coalitions with environmental organizations such as Green Peace's involvement on King Island." Chief Frank Boucher, Red Bluff and Vice-President Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs "The forestry industry has unilaterally displaced a whole range of user groups, including our people, and has forced our people into towns and onto reserves. The Province takes a huge portion of its funding from the forestry industry. Indian governments at the Band level should be funded to the same degree that the Provincial government is. The forestry industry should be major contributor to our budgets, these are our resources." -30- JULY 1997 UBCIC NEWS MAP OF THE SOVEREIGN INDIGENOUS NATIONS TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES: JUNE, 1993 The Union of B . C . Indian Chiefs' map of the Sovereign Indigenous Nations Territorial Boundaries is the only contemporary map that accurately shows the traditional tribal territories of the 23 Indian Nations in British Columbia. The six colour map measures 28" x 36". The tribal territories are the homelands of distinct Nations, within which their respective peoples share a common language, culture and traditional forms of political and social organization. These homelands have been occupied by the Indian Nations since time immemorial. Up to the present, the Indian Nations in British Columbia have never surrendered their ownership of their homelands (aboriginal title), nor have they surrendered their original sovereignty as nations to govern their homelands (inherent jurisdiction). Information on the territorial boundaries was compiled by the Union's research portfolio and President's office between July, 1990 and April, 1993 from archival research and information provided by elders, chiefs, and tribal councils. Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union and a graduate of the Vancouver College of Art (now the Emily Carr College of Art and Design), prepared the working drafts for the map. Design and cartography for the June, 1993 map was done by David Sami, chief cartographer of Multi Mapping Ltd. in Vancouver, B.C., using a 1:2,000,000 scale base-map from the Surveys and Environment Branch of die British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. A l l territorial boundaries shown on the map are subject to further revision, as additional information becomes available. Contact the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs at (604) 684-0231 for ordering information. 28" x 36" / Scale: 1:2 000 000 / Six Colours JULY 1997 17 UBCIC NEWS UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS SUBSCRIPTION FORM NAME: FOR OFFICE USE O N L Y DATE RECEIVED: CHEQ/M.O. # : EXPIRY DATE: ADDRESS: POSTAL/ZIP CODE: PROVINCE/STATE/COUNTRY: 1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES NewsLETTER NewsCLIPPING Member Bands: Individual: $75.00 $35.00 Individual: $100.00_ T O T A L AMOUNT ENCLOSED $ Please make cheque or money order payable to: UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS, 5TH FLOOR - 342 WATER STREET, VANCOUVER, B.C., V6B 1A1 CHIEFS MASK B O O K S Owned and operated by the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs - 5th Floor 342 Water Street in Gastown (604) 684-0231 N O W S E R V I N G T H E INSTITUTE OF INDIGENOUS G O V E R N M E N T ARTS & CRAFTS -JEWELLRY - ABORIGINAL - POTTERY ISSUES - INTERNATIONAL - LAND -PRINTS INDIGENOUS - T-SHIRTS CLAIMS - LEATHERWORK -ART -MASKS - CHILDREN'S BOOKS ACCEPTED CONSIGNMENTS - FIRST NATIONS CONSIGNMENTS ACCEPTED BOOKS - BEADWORK - POETRY - POW WOW MUSIC CALL, WRITE OR DROP IN TODAY! 18 - AND MUCH MORE! JULY 1997  Union of B.C. Indian Chiets NEWSLETTER JULY 1997 Provincial Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs wants to eliminate the tax exemption of status Indians. 7 he provincial Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs’, composed of members from all parties in the Legislature, released its Recommendations. While the Standing Committee was originally supposed to seek public input into the Nisga’a Agreement in Principle, their Recommendations explore a wider range of issues. If the province adopts the Recommendations, aboriginal title and rights will be increasingly threatened, as the recommendations impact not only treaty negotiations, but all areas of Indian peoples’ rights and title. While many Indian people were horrified at the manner in which the Nisga’a AIP drastically increased provincial interference and authority over Indian matters, the Recommendations want to cut back from the standards established in Nisga’a. Some of the main points of the Recommendations are: IN THIS ISSUE... Making Indians into administration which the door open to their 2. President's Message Tax Paying includes. tasallOns participation’’ it Sacred Rati ‘*Citizens”’ business licensing, > Approximate size and aac a zoning, public works, location of the 4. World Leaders Conference » Eliminate the tax policing, financial settlement lands [which on Trade exemption for status administration, will be to a maximum % Aconstiniion ie Indians. Indians should marriage, adoption, of 5% of an Indian Corporations pay income tax, sales local health and local community/nation’s 6. IIG Celebrates tax, and GST education. traditional territory] . . 7 regardless if we work should be identified " waite ee or purchase goods on Money For Nothing early in the process pote ge UISeMS en ae ath reserve. and Tricks For Free so that development 8. National Chief of the > Creation of a “‘Cash can proceed over the Assembly of First Nations Master’s of Our Own for Land’’ formula rest of the land. 10. Resource Centre Update Poverty to simplify the sale of > All treaties should Vi. Jitieeneuel Peoples athe > Eliminate the Indian Indian lands to the include ‘‘certainty United Nations Act for a form of “‘self provincial Crown language’’ which 12. UBCIC's Press Releases Boverminent waneh jnrougn sear clearly establishes that 24, acai aan translates to the > The province should the ‘‘First : eas ™ peaks administration of social “focus its resources Nation”’’ involved in Whale: Propos4 governments self- treaty process but to recognize underlying 16. Letter from Innu People to finance. Self continue to talk to provincial title and Qos Elvan government will be a those outside the jurisdiction over all form of self process so as to keep non-settlement lands. oo BORER ESP 1 JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS Tricks Continued from Page I > The BCTC should offer incentives to encourage “‘numerically larger groups of First Nations to negotiate’’ > To speed negotiations the provincial government will offer financial incentives, including time-dependent loan rebates, to those “‘First Nations’’ willing to negotiate quickly. >» Any future treaties should not include a commercial allocation of a fishery, unless a particular group has gone to court to prove that they have a right to a commercial fishery. » Annual fishery allocations should be decided by the federal and provincial governments. > The province should have ultimate authority for the management of wildlife, including the ability to allocate game to Indian peoples. >» Where the province 1s willing to acknowledge Indian Jurisdiction to manage resources, this is usually only to the extent that Indian standards “‘meet or exceed’’ provincial standards or do not contradict provincial laws. > Treaties should be ratified by a free vote in the provincial legislature. Under Their Thumb > All self government agreements will be subject to the Canadian Constitution, Charter or Rights and Freedoms, and the Criminal Code. The ABC’s of Treaty Making: Coming soon to a Grade School near you > The BCTC should step up its public information campaign, including working with the Ministry of Education to develop school cirriculum. Look who came for dinner! >» Third parties should develop a compensation package for any third party legal interests in Crown land as a result of treaty settlements. While offering monetary compensation to third parties the province should offer an apology to Indian peoples for the past wrongs done by the province. >» Third party interests should have greater input and involvement in treaty negotiations. This could include paying the travel expenses of third parties to enable their involvement in negotiations. B.C Treaty Commission [997 Annual Report: Troubled By Definition of “First Nation" and Selling Secret Negotiations The British Columbia Treaty Commission (the “‘BCTC’’) recently released its 1997 Annual Report. Several issues highlighted in the Annual Report are troublesome. In particular, the ‘public information’’ campaign which has been launched by the BCTC in classrooms across the province, the definition of *‘First Nations’’ which are involved in the BC treaty process, and the criteria of “‘openness’’ in treaty negotiations which dramatically reduces the information available to Indian peoples about the deals that their ‘‘First Nation’’ governments and negotiators are making on their behalf. Public Information Campaign: The BCTC has decided that it needs to sell treaties to British Columbians and will assume an ‘“‘expanded role in public education’’. The BCTC has hired a communications manager and ts “‘working in cooperation with educators to ensure there are appropriate information materials on the BC treaty process in the classroom.’’ The BCTC has plans to actively encourage media interest in treaty making and distribute a video of their version of the treaty process to all school resource centres and libraries in the province. As part of its ‘‘public information’’ campaign aimed at building public support for treaties in BC, the BCTC has worked on a handbook entitled ‘‘Understanding the B.C. Treaty Process”’ with the First Nations Schools Association, Tripartite Public Education Committee (First Nations Summit, BC, and Canada), B.C. Teacher’s Federation and the B.C. Treaty Commission (the ““Handbook’’). The Handbook will be used to teach all children within the British Columbia school system, including Indian children, about Indian peoples and our rights. Our children are our future, and if we allow BC children to be taught this information, what sort of future can we look forward to? The Handbook strongly promotes the BC Treaty Process as the only solution available, does not give an accurate or full description of the extent of Indian nights and title to the land and reduces our aspirations for self determination into a stunted form of self administration where Indian people have permission to deliver *‘culturally appropriate’’ soctal services. The Handbook states that treaties may involve a small portion of provincial Crown lands the title of which will be handed over to a ‘First Nation’’, the starting point of the Handbook is that Indian peoples do not have title to our homelands, and that the only legal title Indians can achieve is that which we bargain for through treaties. Continued Page Ib la JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS Definition of ‘‘First Nations’: Who is Canada and BC willing to negotiate with to gain access and ownership of your lands and resources? The Annual Report touches repeatedly on issues such as overlap (both with other Indian nations, and also within one nation where only Band/First Nation has entered treaty negotiations) where Canada and the province are negotiating with ‘‘First Nations’’ with dubious authority to treaty over lands which they do not hold exclusive aboriginal title and jurisdiction over. The Annual Report ‘‘recognizes the need to remain flexible in determining what ts a First Nation for treaty purposes. The challenge is to be fair, and yet reinforce the concept of nationhood to preserve the integrity of the process.’’ It is obviously impossible to establish ‘‘certainty’’ and ensure that the province has gained possession of a piece of land where there are overlapping Indian claims to a portion of land and only one Indian community or nation is willing to make a deal. The reason that the federal and provincial governments are willing to enter into treaties ts the fact that Indian peoples have legally recognized aboriginal title and rights to lands and resources, From the government’s perspective this creates “‘uncertainty’” in that their own jurisdiction and tenure over unceded Indian lands is uncertain. However, when ‘‘First Nations’’ enter into treaties they do so on the basis that title to aboriginal lands and resources ultimately rests with the Crown, both federal and provincial, and are negotiating for title on the province's terms. So long as Indian people have not surrendered their lands or entered into treaties with Canada Indian title over the land continues to exist. Legally and morally, Indian people have not given their surrender or their consent to the possession of Indian lands and resources to any outside government, While the BCTC ts careful to say that they do not “‘extinguish’’ aboriginal ttle or rights, they “‘define’’ the extent of aboriginal rights and interest in lands. When something is exhaustively defined and set out it is limited. Any aboriginal title and rights not specifically listed in the agreement will, for practical purposes, cease to exist. In Signing a treaty agreement which defines aboriginal rights all rights not specifically set forth within the agreement will be effectively surrendered. This is an issue which obviously concerns the BCTC greatly, as it illustrates the illegitimacy of the entire BC treaty process. Asa result of these concerns, the BCTC has spent a considerable amount of energy in defining “‘First Nation’’ as ‘‘an aboriginal governing body, organized and established by aboriginal people with a mandate from its constituents to enter into treaty negotiations on their behalf with Canada and British Columbia’’. The BCTC’s definition of a First Nation includes those Band governments set up under the Indian Act. A Band is not an Indian Nation, it is simply one community or tribe in a larger ‘‘Nation’’ of people. Negotiating with a Band is the equivalent of negotiating for the rights of the country of Canada with the province of Prince Edward Island. As all resources and lands within a Nation belong to the People of the Nation as a whole, no one community has any nght to alienate or bargain away the rights and entitlements of the entire Nation. The lack of legitimacy of this process is obviously a point of concern for the BCTC. Openness: The only good negotiations are carried on in secret, Part of the “‘public information”’ campaign of the BCTC is to stress the need for secret negotiations. Closed negotiations would seem to be in direct contradiction with Indian government which operates on a consensual decision making model. Small teams of negotiators or leaders do not have the authority or capacity to make binding decisions which will forever alter the rights of our future generations. If negotiations cannot be carried on under the full view of the members of an indian community, how valid are they? *““Open sessions work well in framework negotiations [the “‘table of contents’’ section of treaty negotiations] and in the early stages of agreement-in-principle negotiations.... However, once the negotiations advance, the difficult task of finding solutions begins. If the only forum for negotiations is open there will be little opportunity for the parties to have a safe environment in which they can explore options and look for innovative solutions.’ Negotiations done in secret are defined as ‘‘safe’’, which implies that the negotiations would not be safe if people whose rights are being negotiated had full knowledge Why is the appearance of openness, but not actual openness so important to the success of the BC treaty process? The BCTC identifies two stages to the treaty making process: (1) developing a mandate and (2) negotiation. The message of the Annual Report is that it is impossible to develop support for the treaty (the mandate) without openness, yet there can be no successful negotiations with too much openness (if the people actually know what is being negotiated, they will no longer support the process). UBCIC WORKSHOPS The UECIC is developing workshops to inform Indian people and communities about the impact of the B.C. Treaty proc- ess on our Aboriginal Title and Rights. We are prepared to offer this work- PIC Memos tibet mee celle bands, tribal councils etc. For more information please contact the UBCIC Vancouver office: oth Floor - 342 Water Street Vancouver, B.C. V6B 1B6 Tel: (604)684-0231 Fax: (604)684-5726 E-Mail: ubcicabc.sympatico.ca JULY 1997 lb  UBCIC NEWS Chief Saul Terry, X'wisten rail hat is investigative & & journalism? Is it a book review of a current book on Indians? Is it coverage of Royal commission reports com- missioned by the governmen- tal on pipelines, fishing, for- estry, and water resources? Or is it found in newspaper col- ummns under a tenured journal- ists by-line? I pose these ques- tions because it seems to me that virtually all investigative reporting in Canada on "Na- live Issues” is limited to these kinds of articles. For the most part, however, good investiga- tive reporting on Indian issues is not undertaken by journal- ists, not asked for by editors, and not published or broadcast by owners of the mass media. This is true nationally -- and it's particularly the case here is Bnitsh Columbia. So-called “ethnic” or minority groups in B.C. see in this state of affairs more than Just a predetermined choice of issues, values or "voice" by the white mainstream media. In general, it raises a fundamen- tal issue for a democratic soci- ety: majority power versus pro- tection of minority rights -- es- pecially the right to be heard and understood, without which the nghts of free speech and expression are meaningless. For us as Indian people today, the mass media's treat- ment of our lives and the issues Message Mromn The President UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS Investigative Journalism and Indian Rights that are most important tous is a cause for concern and even outrage. In B.C. we see the media not simply affected by bias but burdened by the values and ideology that justify the racist history of this province and its relations with our First Nations. When issues affecting the lives of Indian people are by the Canadian government. This documentation can show that under the co-opted rheto- ric of "Indian Self-Govern- ment” Canada 1s revitalizing its historic colonialist policies of assimilation and termina- tion of Indian identity. These policies have always been geno- cidal in their ultimate objec- tive, and never more so than "When it comes to Indian stories there is a fine, easily-crossed line between editing and censorship— censorship that invariably serves the.interests of the government and the economic power-brokers in Canada and this province.” Indian life is never pursued. It is in the political arena where the root causes of our people's distress lie and where, tn the end, solutions must be found. Has the press, radio and TV been totally co-opted by the economic, political and bureau- cratic forces aligned against our people? The absence on jour- nalistic investigation of the Buffalo Jump of the 1980's and subsequent policies indicates to me that this is indeed the case. To illustrate my point, I cite an investigative report pub- lished in 1987 by the Arizona Republic, the daily newspaper examined by the news media, they are usually treated in tso- lation from the ongoing politi- cal struggle of Indian Nations in B.C., in Canada, and indeed throughout the world for rec- ognition of our Aboriginal T1- tle, our Right of Self-Govern- ment, and our Right to a share of the economic benefits that others derive from unceded Indian lands and resources. In British Columbia, our people struggled for survival on a daily basis against the concerted efforts of the provin- cial government, the federal government andits Department of Indian Affairs to extinguish aboriginal rights. Much like ten years ago we can document the political aggression being waged against Indian Nations today. There is an important story here. Politically this is critical for our Indtan Nations. Yet the story in Canada is largely ignored by the mass media. Why? The formidable and un- precedented challenges faced by Indian Nations in British Columbia today are truly news- worthy and cry out for in-depth investigation by the mass me- dia. But instead we see a con- tinuation of stories which sen- sationalize and stereotype In- dian people (in the guise of "human Interest") or which superficially examine their so- cial, economic, or health con- ditions. Research and analysis of the political dimensions of of Phoenix witha circulation of 3000,000. The article, "Fraud in Indian country: abillion dol- lar betrayal," investigated the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and located "Indian problems" in the political arena where they belong. For six months, a ten-person investigative team gathered statistical data from across the United States. The reports documented gross mis- management by the Bureau from top to bottom. They ex- posed the corruption which cnppled Indian communities as a whole, from lands and resources by way of trusts, to health, housing, education and social assistance. The report concluded that the Bureau of Indian Affairs was the cause of MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT (Continued on page 7) 2 JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS LONG RUNNING RAINFOREST BLOCKADE ENDS WITH 24 ARRESTS HEREDITARY CHIEF AGAIN ARRESTED FOR PROTECTING SACRED RAINFOREST (KING ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA, _ CANADA)-- JUNE 24, 1997 -- Twenty ) four people were arrested this morning in one of British Columbia’s longest running and most effective protests to stop clear-cutting of the province’s ancient rainforests. The blockade by Nuxalk First Nation and four environmental groups, stopped all clear-cut logging by international Forest Products (Interfor) at Ista on King Island for a total of eighteen days. Forty members of the RCMP descended on the biockade at 6:45 this morning, and arrested 24 people who were preventing Interfor contractors from clear-cut logging Ista. Nuxalk Hereditary Chief Qwatsinas (Edward Moody) was iminediately arrested at the blockade for the second time tn two years, along with five other members of the Nuxalk Nation. Other arrestees included 13 Canadian, five Europeans and one from the US. All arrestees refused to sign a ‘terms of release’ form at the site, and have been flown down to Vancouver to appear before a Supreme Court of Canada judge on Wednesday at 10 AM. The RCMP climbing team was also on site, and scaled a large tripod built from logs erected at the edge of a 37 hectare clear-cut, (the size of 74 football fields) removing a Nuxalk and Belgian woman. The RCMP also cut away a Canadian and German woman who were locked onto a grapple yarder - a large piece of logging equipment used to load logs from a clear-cut. ‘“My mother has been arrested for protecting Ista. My grandfather was arrested too.’’ Said Colette Schooner, 16, of the Nuxalk Nation who has been sitting in the tnpod for |} days. “‘Now I am here for the youth and future generations to stop the clear-cutting of this sacred rainforest.”’ ‘“‘Having witnessed the huge clearcuts at Ista, I am surprised and shocked that Canada still allows this kind of logging to take place.’’ Said Patricia Fromm of Germany, who was locked to the grapple yarder. The blockade site Ista on King Island is sacred to the Nuxalk Nation. It is the place, according to the Nuxalk creation story, where the first woman descended to the world. The Great Bear Rainforest, of which Ista is a part, is of extreme ecological importance because it contains the world’s largest remaining areas of temperate rainforest in the world. The King Island blockade began on June 6 after eight hereditary chiefs of the Nuxalk Nation invited environmentalists to the area to participate in an effort to stop the clear-cut logging. ‘‘We are thankful that our allies have responded to our invitation to stop the clear-cutting of our territory by Interfor’’ stated Head Hereditary Chief Nuximlayc of the Nuxalk Nation. Ista was the site of 22 arrests in 1995, 17 of which were Nuxalk first nations peoples. Now in 1997, there have been more arrests and stil! the clearcutting of Ista and many other rainforest valleys continues. ‘Instead of nling up the people of BC with his anti- environmental rhetoric, Glen Clarke would do well to start listening to the people of BC, who have today given up their rights and freedom in defense of this locally sacred and globally important rainforest.’’ commented Gavin Edwards, spokesperson for the Forest Action Network. Meanwhile, a second logging protest has begun further south as six Greenpeace activists boarded a fully loaded log barge laden with ofd growth rainforest, unfurling a banner reading ‘Don’t Buy Rainforest Destruction.’’ The log barge, carrying trees cut by Interfor, has just made its way to Port Hardy on Northern Vancouver Island. RCMP officers are currently on the scene. For More Information Contact: Gavin Edwards FOREST ACTION NETWORK Box 625, Bella Coola, BC, Canada VOT ICO TEL: (250) 799-5800 FAX: (250) 799-5830 1997 North American Indigenous Games VICTORIA, BC, CANADA AUGUST 3-10, 1997 The North American Indigenous Games are a truly unique event. Unlike most major Games, the emphasis on culture is equally as strong as the emphasis on sport. The reason for this is rooted in Aboriginal philosophy which teaches that the four spheres - the spiritual, physical, mental and emo- tional must all be present for balance and harmony. The Elders teach us that in order to achieve good health and wholeness, sport and culture must be part of each other. They form an indivisible Circle with no beginning and no end, This is the spirit of the NAIG, to Celebrate the Circle! For More Information Call 250-361-1997 JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS WORLD LEADERS CONFERENCE ON TRADE On November 18-26, 1997 the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation will meet in Vancouver to discuss trade and investment opportunities. The reason the Asian Pacific countries formed an alliance is because the World Trade Organization is a monitoring and dispute resolution body, and the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (or APEC) wants to build a powerhouse to sidestep the powerful World Trade Organization (or WTO). APEC wants to eliminate global tariffs for at least 15 new economic sectors and move quickly to identify specific products and services for which they can eliminate duties and quotas instead of waiting for another round of negotiations on global free trade at the World Trade Organization. Once a large number of APEC countries agree on the outline ofa deal, negotiations can be moved to the WTO which has 130 member countries (the last group of global negotiations took seven years to complete). WTO agreements are binding and subject to dispute settlement. The United States and Canada have been pushing for APEC to gain more prominence because they believe it’s easier to get deals among a smaller group ofcountries that are large enough to carry enough weight to intervene on the world scene. Critics of APEC are concerned that deals reached through APEC will not be subject to the same scrutiny as those negotiated throughthe WTO or the North American Free Trade Agreement known as NAFTA. One example is the fact that Canada is rich in minerals, energy and forests and will attract investment in these sectors. This will certainly place a lot of pressure on the lands and resources of Aboriginal Peoples. The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs joined The Issues Forum of The 1997 Peoples Summit and sits onthe Vancouver Steering Committee. We are there to assist in providing a forum for Indigenous Peoples. (Excerpts regarding APEC & WTO was taken from L. Eggertson article in the Globe & Mail, May 12th issue. Up- date on the Peoples Summit will be given in each UBCIC Bulletin) UBCIC PRESS RELEASE Robert Manuel’s Candidacy for AFN National Chief VANCOUVER, B.C. - July 3, 1997 -- Chief Saul Terry, stated today, that the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs is pleased at the announcement that former Chief and President Robert Manuel is putting his name forward to serve as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Chief Terry had these comments: ‘“The challenge of the position is to maintain, protect and enhance the aboriginal and treaty rights of all Indigenous Peoples. Our unceded lands in British Columbia need to be protected and we need a strong National Chief to do this. His local, regional, national and international political experience, along with the knowledge of the treaty and aboriginal rights principles gives Robert Manuel asolid foundation to launch a substantive political position. The position of National Chief is a very difficult one, and | applaud all candidates who have the courage to vie for this challenging position. Indian Peoples can only benefit from having these six leaders willing to give so generously of their time and effort in their committment to Indian Peoples.’’ Quesnel Chief Nominates Robert Manuel Bella Coola - Lhtako Chief Frank Boucher, Jr. of Quesnel has nominated Robert (Bobby) Manuel for National Chief. Speaking from Bella Coola, Chief Boucher said: "I believe Bobby Manuel will listen to the grass roots people. He has strong ideals and good character which | can attest to as I have known him a long time." Chief Boucher and Bobby Manuel both attended Camosun College together in the 1970's, "The Assembly of First Nations needs to be restructured to regain its role as the voice of all First Nations within Canada. [ believe Bob Manuel has the qualities to achieve the goal," said Boucher. In the past few years, the AFN has been made into a service delivery agent while they have been bypassed by Ottawa on political issues. "With over 25 years of political experience, Manuel has the ability to see that Ottawa's assimilationist agenda is ex- posed, " said Boucher. “Our inherent Aboriginal rights are strong - we must not negotiate them away." Frank Boucher, Jr. has been Vice-President of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs for the past four years and Chief of Lhtako (formerly Red Bluff) for the past 23 years. Boucher is a Southern Carmier of the Athapaskan Lan- guage group while Manuel is a Secwepemc (Shuswap) of the Salish language group. Contact: Chief Frank Boucher Jr. Lhatko office: (250) 747-2900 - 30 - JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS A Constitution For Corporations While concerned citizens everywhere go about fighting the erosion of rights in every facet of their lives, out of sight of the world’s public, two powerful processes are under way to remove most of the remaining barriers to, and controls on, the global mobility of capital. Most Canadians know nothing about these process, which will entrench rules of global investment in favour of transnational corporations and grant investors the unrestricted right to buy, sell and move their businesses at their discretion. The World Trade Organization set up a working committee at its December 1996 meeting to study a Multilateral Investment Agreement -- the MIA -- after developing countries slowed the push by the US and Europe to fast-track the process. Although the group is mandated to report back at the next WFO meeting in two years, Director General Renato Ruggiero made it clear that, in time, the MIA will be the centrepiece of the WTO. ““We are writing,”’ he said, “‘the constitution of a single global economy,’’ Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is planning to ratify the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAJ) at its ministerial meeting in May of this year. The stated objective of the US is ‘‘to obtain a high- standard multilateral investment agreement that will protect US investors abroad.’’ While there are some variations between the proposed treaties, the OECD process is designed to establish the ground rules and precedents that will then be incorporated into the larger venue of the WTO, The purpose of both treaties is to reduce or eliminate the capacity of national and sub-national governments to limit the degree and nature of foreign investment or to impose standards of behavior on investors. They would sharply restrict the ability of government everywhere to shape investment policy to promote social, economic or environmental goals. The MAI minces no words. It wants to “‘outlaw’’ national practices that limit access of foreign capital to government contracts and privatization programs, demand that foreign companies hire or purchase locally if they are allowed to operate inside the country and protect key sectors of their economy, such as transport, energy, real estate or financial services. Noting that “‘to conquer a market one needs to be present as a producer’’, the MAI includes a ‘‘general commitment to grantthe legal nght for foreigners to operate and invest competitively in all sectors of the economy.’’ It proposes free, unregulated access for global investors and investments and national treatment nights for transnational corporations that would prevent any nation from favouring local industry, farmers or resource companies. The investment treaty would grant corporations the ‘‘freedom to make financial transfers’, wipe out national merger control and anti-trust legislation enforcement measures and even address national ‘taxation, labour or environment policies.’’ The MAI is calling for a “*standstill’’ commitment so that countries could not introduce any new restrictions on foreign capital in the future and a ‘‘roll-back’’ commitment to eliminate all current measures that ‘‘run counter to liberalization.’ Most distressingly, the MAI would confer on private investors the same rights and legal standing as national governments to enforce the terms of the treaty. Under this provision, MAI violations by governments could be challenged by private investors through a binding dispute resolution system using economic sanctions. As well, the MAI could prevent governments from distinguishing between foreign investors or foreign targets based on countnes’ human rights, labour or other records and pre- empt strategies for restricting corporate flight to low-wage havens. JULY 1997 This treaty would amount to nothing less than a global charter of nghts and freedoms for transnational corporations in every nation of the world. Canadians have already had a taste of what this would mean, as these same rights exist for the corporations ofour continent under the North American Free Trade Agreement. As many of us predicted, free trade has left Canadian industry, culture and resources totally vulnerable to takeover by American business interests and profoundly undermined our ability to maintain our own social, cultural and environmental laws. Yet the Canadian government has become the world’s foremost cheerleader for economic globalization and is acting asa stalking horse for the US in its campaign to promote these investment treaties. That Canada is any part of this should bring shame to all Canadians. For the government of Jean Chretien, who ran against NAFTA and corporate domination and promised to protect Canadian resources, social programsand culture, itis an act of stunning hypocrisy. Reprinted with permission from Canadian Forum by Maude Barlow "VOICE OF THE PEOPLES" GATHERING TO REAFFIRM OUR ABORIGINAL TITLE AND RIGHTS JULY 11 & 12 1997 Cayoose Creek Campgrounds Silatl'imx Nation "Building Indian Government Together as Nations" Co-hosted by Cayoose Creek Indian Band, Sti'atl'imx Nation and Unionof B.C. Indian Chiefs Contacts: Cayoose Creek Indian Band - Chief Perry Redan (250) 256-4136 Stl'atl'imx Nation - Tribal Chief Mike Leach (250) 256-7523 Union of BC Indian Chiefs - Mildred Poplar (604) 684-0231  UBCIC NEWS An historical event for First Nations peopie! On May 23rd, 1997, families, friends, students, faculty, staff and onlookers applauded as two Associate of Aris degrees and two Certificates in Indigenous Government Studies was awarded. Shauna-Leigh Maloney and Theodore Andrew Francis were the first in history to receive an Associate of Arts degree from Canada’s first autonomous degree-granting First Nation Post- Secondary institution. Certificates in Indigenous Government Studies were awarded to Melanie Elizabeth Gladstone and Randolph G. Timothy. Congratulations to the students, families and the institute!!! Hosted at the Open University, an Institute partner in learning, the convocation highlighted the importance of inter-institutional co-operation in achieving First Nations’ educational needs Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and Chair of the Board of Governors, proudly witnessed the historical moment in Indigenous culture and education. It was six years ago that a resolution was passed at the UBCIC’s Annual General Assembly to establish the Institute of Indigenous Government. ‘*The success of each student at the IG is therefore a success for our Nations as a whole. With strength, courage, Grand Chief Bernard Charles and Resident determination and hard work, our Elder Nirkuschin (Glen Douglas) success is inevitable. Stated by Grand Chief Bernard Charles, President of IIG, ‘‘We have come together as a way to remember this day in history, the first time in Canada that an independent Indigenous post-secondary institution has granted a degree. This was a dream of our visionaries and an element that is carried forward in the diversity of Indigenous experiences and values represented in our student body and faculty.”’ Addressing the Graduation class, Judge Alfred Scow reflected on his own education and on the as question of relevance that followed wheuees ah WV pal oxneny him throughout the non-Indigenous system. “‘I learned as a boy, he said to tend cattle when J saw all around me people who harvest fish! Today, these students have a means to learn without giving up the culture and tradition that is so much a part of them.”’ The Dean of Academic Affairs, Dan Gottesman, noted the standards of excellence that the IIG’s first graduating class had established. ‘The work of these students is part of this Institute. They have both completed a program and helped to make it what it is. The have created academic as well as personal benchmarks for those who follow them. The ceremony was punctuated by the thoughtful words and actions of IG Resident Elders, Nirkuschin (Glen Douglas), X/a-lelweik (Flora Dawson), and Simoigit Ha’g be gwatxw (Ken Harris). In addition, Tsimalano (Vincent Stogan Sr.) performed a Calling of the Witnesses Ceremony, welcoming all to traditional Musqueam Territory. If you would like more information on how you can be apart of this exciting educational opportunity, contact the IIG at (604) 602-9555 or fax (604) 602-3432 or visit our Web at http:/Avww.indigenous.be.ca. Applications are being accepted for the Fall I 997 and the Winter 1998 semesters rl 6 JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE (Continued from page 2) the problems that were mani-fested in Indian communities. It was further evident to the press that American Indian victims could not overcome their oppression by the American government and the B.L.A. without help from an informed American public. So the story was published in the newspaper. Today those Indian people are pursuing a class action suit. Now the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs knows that similar and at times identical problems exist in British Columbia and Canada. And we have made available documentation and analysis that could be used to expose, corrupt and destruct government policies and assist in bringing about the dismantling of the Department of Indian Affairs and put in its place alternative options. But my experience with news journalists tells me that reporting in this country is a one way street. That is to say, reporters phone my office regularly to inquire "what's new?" and I am expected to supply Indian news or elaborate upon some Indian story they may wish to develop. This exchange 1s always one- sided, however, without exception, journalists do not pursue the political "news" | give them as President of the UBCIC. They do not go after the additional documentation and interviews that would venfy our Chiefs' considered view that the politicians and bureaucrats delib- erately frame Indian Affairs policies to oppress Indian people and further entrench their dependence and poverty. Could it be that we do not have proper investigative journalism in this country because media ownership is monopolized by business interests that work hand-in-glove with government to maintain the status quo? Or perhaps the media moguls believe that we live in a just society, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary when it comes to the lives of Indian people. When it comes to Indian stories, there is a fine, easily-crossed line between editing and censorship -- censorship that invariably serves the interests of the government and the economic power-brokers in Canada and this province. Morrisseau vs, Bennet T V. Fish Story: It is my expenence during my terms in office as President that the media has not offered the public much in the way of in-depth reporting and political analysis. What makes matters worse, however, is that, as the political offensive against Indian Nations and Indian lands in B.C. rolls forward, it becomes increasingly difficult for our political organization to obtain financial support for professional research an analysis -- ammunition that is essential for us to campaign effectively in the political arena and ensure the survival of our people into the 21st century. So itis very important to us that journalist take every opportunity to senously investigate and report on Indian Issues in B.C, and Canada. More than ever, we need the statistical data and hard evidence uncovered to enable us to better protect our people, our lands and our resources. But this is not just an Indian story. In the long run, I believe that everyone in society will benefit from a renewed commitment to dig hard and deep into the politica! strata of Indian life in B.C. Ifthe news media fully informs and educates the public -- am confident that truth will be served and justice done by our people. In this event, Bntish Columbians as a whole will benefit spiritually, politically and even economically. For colomalism victumizes both the colonizer and the colonized, and ultimately the welfare of all depends on our respective mutual development. This 1s the public interest that should be pro- moted by investigative journalists in B.C., now and in the years of struggle ahead. UBCIC (November. 1987) JULY 1997 Chilean Indians, Activist Protest Licensing of Dam SANTIAGO (Reuter) - Indians and environmental activists occupied Chile’s indigenous affairs bureau and environmental protection board Tuesday to protest the licensing of a dam that will force hundreds of Indians off their land. The National Environmental Commission (Conama) Monday gave the green light to plan to build the $600 million Ralco dam on the Bio Bio River in southern Chile. Beating drums and denouncing Chilean ‘‘colonization,’’ about 20 aborigines Tuesday took over the offices of the National Indigenous Development Corporation (Conadi) and unfurled banners from upper floors, including one reading ‘Indigenous Dignity -- no to Ralco!”’ ‘“The Chilean government has once again shown its colonizing mentality by not respecting our people or the law,”’ Said statement read by the occupiers, wearing ponchos and playing reed flutes. ‘‘Our grandfathers taught us well how to defend our lands and if it’s necessary, 10 times we will return to shed our blood for our lands, but Ralco will not be built,’’ they said. They demanded to speak with Conadi’s director, a supporter of Ralco appointed by President Eduardo Frei’s government early this year after it abruptly fired the previous director who was opposed to the dam. At the same time, about 30 environmental activists occupied the first floor of Conama’s offices. Conama granted a license to private electric utility Endesa to begin building the dam and bring it into operation early in the next century. It will complement a smaller dam opened last year by Endesa downstream, which was also bitterly opposed by environmentalists. The dam will force up to 700 Pehuenche Indians off part of their ancestral lands and flood about 9,000 acres of farmland and rare temperate rain forest on the nver’s upper reaches. In exchange for the license to build, Endesa will have to compensate the Pehuenches with land of similar value and also buy 9,400 acres of land nearby for a wildlife reserve -- an area roughly similar to the area that will be flooded. The dam’s builders say Chile, with almost no oil of its own and vast hydroelectric potential, needs Ralco and other dams to guarantee the country’s booming economic growth into the next century. Endesa general manager Jose Yuraszech said Chile will need about 10 more dams the size of Ralco to be built between now and the year 2013 to satisfy energy demand, plus nine more power plants fueled by natural gas piped in from Argentina. Opponents of the dam, which has also attracted opposition from U.S., environmental groups, can still appeal in court but they said they had little chance of stopping it there. By Roger Atwood  UBCIC NEWS National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations é] t is election time for the office of National Chief of the jf Assembly of First Nations. This will take place during their annual assembly on July 28-30, 1997. There is alsoa proposal to restructure the organization including a name change. It is necessary to take a look at one of the original intent of such organizations as the National Indian Brotherhood. Organizations like this was formed by Indian people because they feared the loss of their lands and resources and that was the number one reason although there are many other specific reasons as well. Every Federal Government in power has been determined to provide a final solution to the Land Question and that is to extinguish aboriginal title and rights of the Indian Nations because they think it 1s good for Indian people to be assimilated into dominant Canadian society. The early settlement of Canada were active colonization years and the government was able to encompass this whole country according to their way of life. Years of strategies by the government have been instrumental in weakening the sovereign political position Indian Nations held and the Federal Government has been able to entrench their assimilationist agenda to setile the Land Question. The National Chief should provide strong leadership against continued colonization process and be more visible in the field of nation-building at home and abroad. Are the Assembly of First Nations Declaration and the Treaty and Aboriginal Rights Principles to be taken seriously or not? The National Chief should adhere to these Declarations and Principles as they are the Code of Ethics for Indian Governments and how they do business. They articulate the Assembly of First Nations’ beliefs, values and mora! identity. At no time should Nations be encouraged to settle for less. The qualifications of a National Chief, at this point in history when the Federal Government is devolving its Trust Responsibilities to Chiefs and Council are: |. To inspire the Indian people, provide Spiritual Leadership and be a role model, 2. To lead the Indian people as Nations towards their goal of self-determination rather than towards complete colonization, 3. To protect Aboriginal Title, Rights and Treaties of Indian Nations; 4. To implement unequivocally Article | of the A.F.N. Constitution; 5. To hold the Federal Government to the Spirit and Intent of all the Treaties negonated to date; 6. To protect aboriginal rights to hunt, fish, trap and gathering harvest; 7. To teach the Indian Philosophy, not only to Indian communities but to the public at large; 8. To represent the sovereign postion of Indian Nations at the International level; 9. To build stronger ties with all Indigenous Nations throughout the world; 10. To communicate and warn Indian Nations of the Federal and Provincial strategies to extinguish sovereign aboriginal rights; 11. To build political ties on Aboriginal Title and Rights with the Metis and Non-Status or Off-Reserve Indian Peoples; 12. To work in harmony with Indian Organizations and Supporters to protect the Natural Resources and Environment of Indian Territories. 13. To seek financial resources for the work and development of Indian government. ISSUE: Can a National Chief fulfill the Principles of the A.F.N. Declaration if he or she comes from an Indian Band who is actively involved in the Federal Government’s self-government process through which the Band declare they do not want to be under the authority of the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs then ina final agreement, relieves the Minister of the Trust Relationship? Can this National Chief truthfully fight for the Aboriginal Title, Rights and Treaties of Sovereign Nations when he or she ts a party to the implementation of the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy of the Federal Government? The following is an official list in alphabetical order of candidates for the office of National Chief, to the Assembly of First Nations. 4) Mr. Robert (Bob) Manuel 899 Elder Road Mr. J. F. (Joe) Dion C/O Tsawwassen Reserve 1257 Pacific Drive Kamloops, BC Delta, BC V2B 6K9 V4M 2K2 Phone: 250-679-3295 Phone: 604-943-2253 Fax: 250-679-3403 Fax: 604-943-6541 Mr. Gvide Mercredi Grand Rapids, MB Phone: 613-830-2211 Fax: 613-241-5808 2) Mr. Philip Fontaine 5) PO Box 209 Winnipeg, MB R3C 0M6 Phone: 204-956-0610 Fax: 204-642-0441 3) Ms. Wendy Grant-John 6) Mr. Larry Sault 2nd Floor, 319 Seymour Blvd. RR No. 6 North Vancouver, BC Hagersville, Ontario V6N 2C7 NOA 1HO Phone: 905-768-1133 Fax: 905-768-1225 Phone: 604-987-2582 Fax: 604-987-6683 JULY 1907  UBCIC NEWS THE ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS IS PLEASED TOWELCOME OUR ELDERS, CHIEFS, GRANDCHIEFS AND PEOPLE TO THE 18TH ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY JULY 29, 30 & 31, 1997 VANCOUVER TRADE & CONVENTION CENTRE 999 CANADA PLACE, VANCOUVER, BC EXIBIT HALL A ELECTION FOR OFFICE OF NATIONAL CHIEF Wednesday, July 30, 1997 For more information, please call the Assembly of First Nations at (613) 241- 6789 or (613) 241~5808/5807/4898 Helping Spirit Lodge Society Sth Annual Golf Tournament FUN GOLFERS WANTED! Sunday Afternoon, September 28, 1997 12:00 p.m. (Noon) EARLY PAID BIRDS GET BEST T-TEIMES! Tsawwassen Golf Club 1595 - 52nd Avenue, Delta, BC $75.00 per person (Includes golf game, and a donation of $15.00 to our First Nations Family Violence Center with it's intervention programs. Tax receipts available.) HELP US HELP OTHERS!! PLEASE CONTACT BERNIE WHITEFORD AT 872- 6649 FOR MORE DETAILS! GOLF, HAVE FUN, AND HELP US FUND RAISE FOR OUR FIRST NATIONS FAMILY VIOLENCE CENTER WITH IT'S INTERVENTION PROGRAMS UBCIC NEWSLETTER DEADLINE The deadline for the next Newsletter has been set for August 15, 1997. Ifyou have any information that you would like to see in the next edition of the UBCIC NEWSLETTER, Send by mail or fax to: UBCIC NEWSLETTER Sth Floor - 342 Water Street Vancouver, BC V6B 1B6 Phone: (604) 684-023] Fax: (604) 684-5726 Please note that as of May 1, 1997 the Tsimshian Tribal Council relocated to the Chatham Village Longhouse. Our phone and fax number will remain the same. The new address is: 138 Ist Avenue West Prince Rupert, BC V8J 1A8 (250) 627-8782 Phone (250) 627-1938 Fax We are pleased to announce that CESO Aboriginal Services has moved to a new location. Our new address 1s: CESO Aboriginal Services Suite #212 - 1999 Marine Drive North Vancouver, BC V7P 333 (604) 986-4566 or 1-800-986-4566 Phone (604) 984-3584 Fax JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS RESOURCE CENTRE UPDATE he ‘‘Archivia’” CD-ROM workstation was set up last month in the Resource Centre and it 1s being used frequently. Archivia - Aboriginal Peoples includes information relating to selected textual and machine-readable Canadian federal government records. While it does not include the records themselves, it provides the ability to keyword search important finding aids for Record Group 10 (Indian Affairs) Inventory, Indian Treaties, Surrenders & Agreements, Bands & Agencies and other files. The selected RG-10 finding aids cover most of the Black Series records for B.C. Our Resource Centre has one of the best collections of RG-10 microfilm in the province. The combination of our extensive collection and the print & electronic finding aids we have provides an important resource for researchers. If you would like to order a copy of Archivia - Aboriginal Peopies for your own office, it is available from National Archives for under $200.00. If you want more information about hardware requirements to run Archivia or contact information for National Archives call me or Lorraine Brooks here inthe Resource Centre at (604) 602-9555. We were investigating the content of the 1881, 1891 and 1901 Census as it seemed some of B.C. was not included. The reels that we have do in fact include all available information for B.C. As suspected, some areas did not get included in some years because everyone was away fishing, the weather was inclement, etc. We do have a two volume index now which makes it easier to determine tf you are likely to find what you are looking for on the Census reels. We have gathered a number of resources to help users with genealogy research. This type of research if usually time consuming and a great deal of patience and determination is required. You will often have to search in a variety of resources and at more than one site. If you are going get involved in this type of research make sure you can make the time commutment. Sarah Torsky, our Cataloguer, begins her maternity leave at the end of this week and Sarah Nighswander, our replacement Cataloguer has already started. Our two volunteers came and went rather quickly. Dorine Cyr got a full-time job and Alma Peters found the long tnp in from the Mission too restrictive on her time. Thanks toa swmmer student grant, we have hired aMicmac student who ts between her first and second years of the Library Technology program at Langara College. Linda Muise will be working on some important cataloguing projects for the Resource Centre. If you would like to get a subscription to a good basic computing magazine for your office which will help with running your systems more effectively and take some of the mystery out of basic computing, we can highly recommend PC Novice (Smart Computing in Plain English). To place an order contact Sandhills Publishing FAX (402) 479-2193, The annual subscription price is $29 U.S. funds for twelve issues. The Resource Centre will be open Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. all summer long. After surviving the extensive building renovations and being under piles of debris last summer, we are looking forward to a clean, quiet July and August. We hopethat you have asafe and enjoyable summer. JOB POSTING RESEARCH ASSISTANT The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs has an opening for a full-time Research Assistant in its Specific Claims Research Program. Job duties for this term contract involve historical and archival research, and the preparation of detailed written reports. Salary will be based on qualifications and experience. Candidates should possess a university degree and some research experience. Superior organizational skills communications skills are required. Sound knowledge of Indian governments, the goals of the UBCIC and the principles of the Aboriginal Title and Rights position are essential. Interested candidates should fax resume, references and samples of writing to the UBCIC Staffing Committee at (604) 684-5726 NO LATER THAN FRIDAY AUGUST 1, 1997. We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. 10 JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS COMMEMORATION OF THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF PARTICIPATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AT THE UNITED NATIONS To all Indigenous Peoples, brothers and sisters, Respectful Greetings, In September of 1977, the Conference of Discrimination against Indigenous Peoples of the Americas took place in Geneva, Switzerland. 165 Indigenous Peoples participated. tt was the first international gathering of Indigenous Peoples before the United Nations, an activity of the Special Committee on Non Governmental Organizations’ Sub- Committee on Racism, Racial Discrimination and Apartheid. There, Indigenous Peoples from the Westem Hemisphere gave testimony on the situation of Human Rights of our Peoples and the continuation of colonialism and genocide against us. This summer will mark the 20th anniversary of this gathering and the formal participation of Indigenous Peoples before the UN in Geneva. This conference gave birth to a great consciousness raising at the international level on the situation of Indigenous Peoples all over the world. Participating Indigenous Peoples made several recommendations to the UN, including the suggestion that there be a more widespread and systematic participation of Indigenous Peoples at the UN level. This recommendation was taken to the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which in turn recommended to the UN that the Working Group on Indigenous Populations be formed. Another World Conference took place in 1981, again in Geneva, and in 1982, the Working Group had its first meeting. Since the formation of the Working Group thousands of Indigenous persons representing hundreds of Indigenous Nations have participated directly in standard setting for the recognition and observance ofthe Human Rights andFundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, such as the UN Draft declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Resolution by the General Assembly declaring 1992 the year of Indigenous Peoples, the subsequent Declaration on the Decade of Indigenous Peoples, important studies on the Preservation of Indigenous Heritage, the study on Treaties, and other issues of great importance to Indigenous Peoples. The next session of the working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva, beginning 28 July, 1997, will commemorate this historic moment that marks the beginning of the Indigenous Peoples of the world at the United Nations. For the International Indian Treaty Council, which had been formed 1974, andhad participated intemationailly to achieve this first conference and more ample and open Indigenous participation at the UN, this moment is of great significance and pride. Indeed, as the Internationa! Indian Treaty Council was the first Indigenous organization recognized by the UN as a consultative status Non-governmental organization in 1977, this 20th anniversary is of great significance and pride for us in this respect as well. We would therefore invite those who are able to attend the next session of the Working Group where this important beginning will be commemorated. We would especially urge those brothers and sisters who attended the first World Conference in 1977 to attend, that they may be recognized in a good way. We very much regret that our organization is unable to provide any financial assistance for those interested in attending. All will have to make their own arrangements. If your attendance is possible, we would remind you that it is important to bring traditional dress to this event, to again demonstrate to the UN the diversity of our Peoples, Nations and cultures. If ttis possible, please also bring traditions foods for the Indigenous Peoples’ reception, keeping in mind that Switzerland has regulations onthe importation of meat. Itisrecommended that frozen meat be sent through diplomatic pouch via the embassies of friendly states. There will be three major events in the commemoration: 1) Commemorating the march of Indigenous Peoples in 1977, there willbe a march of Indigenous Peoples in traditional dress through the main gates of the UN, on Monday, July 28, at 10- :00 am, demonstrating, as we done in 1977, that Indigenous Peoples cannot be denied entrance to the UN. Once inside the UN, prior to the beginning of the regular session of the Working Group, representatives of Indigenous Peoples, chosen at the preparatory meeting on Saturday and Sunday at the World Council of Churches building in Geneva, will address the session, and exchange gifts with representatives of the United Nations. 2) Thursday, July 31, Indigenous Peoples willhost a reception for representatives of the UN and the public in the evening at the UN Beach, where traditional foods will be served. 3) The Lord Mayor of Geneva will host a reception on Friday, August 31, beginning at 5:00 PM. This event coincides with the Swiss national holiday and will be held in conjunction with their celebration at the Promenade des Bastions across from the Palace Neuve. This event is also of historic tradition, as it marks the reception given in 1923 by the Lord Mayor of Geneva, to Descaheh, the Cayuga Chief who, representing the Iroquois Confederacy, was the first Indigenous representative to the League of Nations. An area for the sale of crafts has also been set aside for this event. If your presence is possible, and you need more information, please contact: Kenneth Deer The Eastern Door Mohawk Territory (514) 635-3050 (514) 635-8479 Bill Jimbo ) Simmons International Indian Treaty Council oan Francisco, California, US, Tel: (415) 512-1501 Fax: (415) 512-1507 JULY 1997 11  UBCIC NEWS Why did the B.C.T.C. hold a press conference to release their annual report? VANCOUVER, B.C.-- June 26, 1997 -- Indian Peoples respond to the to the British Columbia Treaty Commission’s (B.C.T.C.) release of their annual report: Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs had these comments: ‘*The press conference was a non-event meant to assuage public fear and doubt that the treaty process is not working. The B.C.T.C. is preparing the public in case of confrontations with Indian Peoples this summer because opposition to the process is growing. They want the public to believe that all Indian Peoples outside the B.C.T.C. process are in the minority and are radicals. The fact is, even within the Bands involved, there are many people who do not support their leadership’s involvement. How can Indian people consent when most ofthe negotiations are held in secret and behind closed doors? It’s easy to sell the process when you don’t see how it will affect the people in it. Openness closes down after Stage Three where the meat and potatoes are on the table. All that this report lists are the loan monies to Indian peoples which are 80% repayable. The public should be asking about the real costs involved. What about the monies spent internally by the Province and Federal government which do not show up in this report? Maybe the Reform Party should get on this. No matter how many millions they spend, no matter how many press conferences they hold, no matter how many reports they release, the B.C.T.C. is not working for Indian Peoples. ‘* For information please contact: Chief Saul Terry 1-250- 256-4135 Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, Grand Chief Bernard Charles of Semiahmoo had these comments: ‘Everyone insists that because there is ‘‘no other game in town’’ thatevery First Nation should opt in. This pre-supposes that everyone should make this decision despite the concerns that they might have about flaws in the B.C.T.C. If there is other ball game - we have to ask it we remain outside of the process at our peril? On important issues such as overlapping claims and third party interests it seems that you can only buy into the process believing all parties will behave honourably and not be guided by their own interests. No Nation should have been coerced or agreed to submit or even agreed to submit a letter of intent if there was no agreement in place regarding overlapping claims. This process is being driven by those that have the most to gain - honourable negotiation and agreements should have proceeded the process and not be left as an afterthought. It should not be those first across the mark who drive this cumbersome vehicle. Many long established principles of past leaders have been cast aside: recognition of title, continuing right to land and resources and proper compensation. The overriding pressure to settle long standing grievances is the driving force in this process. No one has given satisfactory answers to the questions of ‘‘Is this 12 the best or the only way to settle things - or is it merely the most expeditious way?’’ If we are prepared to settle for less than we are entitled to we need to do so only if the overwhelming majority of our constituency supports such action. Consent is only as valuable as the informed nature on which itis based. Otherwise we are talking about sophisticated manipulation rather than consent. These are some of the failings of the B.C.T.C. process. Likely there are others. The glossy handouts are too similar to the White Paper policy of 1969. The only difference is that some First Nations members, if they are not actually driving the bus, are at least along for the ride. Many others prefer to walk rather than get on board the B.C.T.C.”’ +30 = Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Press Statement Federal Election Results: Where do we go from here? VANCOUVER, B.C. - June 5, 1997 -- Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, in response to the results of the federal election, stated. ‘*The 1997 election results are a mixed blessing for Indian Peoples. The federal Liberals have lost their overwhelming majority and space has been made within Parliament for other parties who can add a balanced voice.”’ ‘British Colombians voted in the Reform party, bringing into Parliament their ignorance about the true history of this country. Traditionally, the Loyal Opposition is a voice representing our interests in Parliament and holding the government accountable to their obligations toward Indian Peoples. But the Reform party cannot be trusted to do this because they are living in a major state of denial about our rightful place on this Land.’”’ ‘The Prime Minister indicated that his government will ‘*stay the course’ on its policies. This does not bode well for our Peoples. We will have to continue to convince the government of the dire need for political, social and economic solutions for our rapidly growing populations. The only solution we have is decolonization. The federal government paid millions of dollars for a Royal Commission to tell them this. We are prepared to work with Mr. Chretien to restructure our relationship, using the RCAP as a Starting point. I hope that the new Parliament does not let the millions it spent on RCAP go to waste by leaving this report unused on their shelves.”’ ‘*The revived New Democratic Party has the opportunity to support our Peoples to bring about real political, social and economic change. The human costs are too great to continue with the status quo. To be effective a lasting solution will require our concerted effort nation by nation right across this country, and I believe it is achievable.”’ FEDERAL ELECTION (Continued on page 13) JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS FEDERAL ELECTION (Continued from page 12) *“‘This is our country. Respect and recognition are the solution to the Indian problem. People who came to this country last week currently get more respect than the original peoples of this Land. Weare not a special interest group, we are the original Peoples of this Land. We want to survive as Nations, not to blend seemlessly into the Canadian mosaic.”’ ‘‘We do not want a repeat of what took place at Gustafson Lake in B.C. or at Ipperwash in Ontario. The Liberal government arrogantly avoids and denies the substantive issues it must address to build a peaceful and lasting relationship with Indian Peoples. This is evident in their plans to convert our Nations tomunicipalities and our leaders to mayors. Our hopes and aspirations as Peoples cannot be squashed into the existing system. Real and immediate changes are necessary to recognize our rightful place on this Land. Hopefully, members of this Parliament will be courageous enough to work with us to achieve these changes.”’ — 30 — INDIAN PEOPLES AND PACIFIC SALMON TREATY TALKS VANCOUVER, B.C. -- JUNE 10, 1997 -- The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs issued these comments about the Pacific Salmon Treaty talks which have lately received so much press coverage. In 1913 the C.N. Railway, while building its main track, caused a rockslide at Hell’s Gate, The Fraser River was entirely blocked and twenty-two million salmon died. The Early Stuart run was decimated. The fishery survived because Indian people carried salmon over the rockslide enabling them to swim upriver and spawn. The Hell’s Gate slide enabled the Americans to get their bootin the door. The Americans assisted Canada with money to clear the waterway and in return Canada guaranteed the Americans a certain percentage of our fishery. Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, made these comments: ‘“‘Canada and B.C. have no credibility when they are pounding the table and accusing the Americans of bullying tactics. Indian Peoples in the Province know all about bullying tactics over the fishery. We get it at home all of the time. If our Peoples fish for food or if we sell a couple of salmon to our neighbour, we can be arrested and thrown in jail.”’ ‘Indians within Washington State are entitled to 50% of the total fishery catch of the state. Meanwhile, the Indian Peoples within B.C. are reduced to begging for a few fish to feed our families or to build our economies. ‘‘It is admirable that the Premiere and DFO officials have recognized the unfairness and inequity of a situation where outside forces control access to the fishery resource. Maybe now they can turn the insight onto themselves and act fairly toward Indian Peoples with regards to the fishery.”’ = 30 - Contact Chief Saul Terry, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, (604) 684-0231 ETS = JULY 1997 B.C. CHIEFS RESPOND TO TIMBER JOB INITIATIVES VANCOUVER -- JUNE 19, 1997 -- the Chiefs of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs offered these comments on Premier Clark’s announcement of the new Timber Jobs Initiatives Plan. The U.B.C.I.C leaders were concerned that the Indian Peoples had not been involved in the structuring of the plan, and raised concerns that the plan does not address ultimate ownership of the forestry resource or the manner in which forestry practices severely impact the aboriginal rights of Indian Peoples. Chief Art Manuel, Neskonlith Indian Band and Chair of the Shuswap Tribal “There are interests who say that it would be racist to give one special group timber. Yet the Provincial government hasn’t given one Indian one stick of timber in the Kamloops timber supply area. I consider that racist.”’ ‘We need a serious plan to protect wildlife resources and values and not just jobs. We need to put in place a process to certify forest product show if the products come from an area and through a process which is sustainably managed and developed. We need a process of certification which shows whether or not the forest practices respects our aboriginal rights. At present, the Forest Practices Code is shallow because it does not in corporate our aboriginal values.’’ ‘‘T’m concerned about the definition of ‘displaced forest workers’ My People have been displaced by the forestry industry. Our traditional use, our hunting...we have been displaced. More respect needs to be given to that fact. Forests are very important to our Peoples and not just for wage jobs, but for immediate sustenance and food. The forest workers who worked 700 hours in the industry last year, should not get more respect and credence than our Peoples.”’ Chief Cassidy Sill, Ulkatcho and Chair Southern Carrier Tribal Council “*I can see that their old habits are still there. current legislation, policy and programs exclude Indian altogether. They have already announced a dollar commitment to the I.W.A., we need parallel program dollars.”’ Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and Chief of Bridge River: ‘“We need to work out ways to work together in a political process, to share the resources. We are looking for more than jobs. We are looking for a more meaningful role in terms of the recognition of the social and economic importance of the forestry to our Peoples. We want to participate in the economy in a meaningful way, and not only to have temporary jobs.”’ ‘“*We are concerned about the past destruction of our forests. Some of our people are saying that they do not agree with this plan: that the very people who caused the destruction are being sent back out to repair the damage. We have to deal with the unfinished business of the Land Question. We are TIMBER JOB INITIATIVES (Continued on page 16) 13  UBCIC NEWS UBCIC TO PUBLISH CLAIMS RESEARCH GUIDE The Union of BC indian Chiefs Research Department has started preparing a manual on land rights research in British Columbia. The goal of this publication is to assist non-professional, community-based researchers in accessing and using available resources for their lands research projects. The manual will be published by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and is scheduled for Spring 1998 publication. CLAIMS POLICY REFORM DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE The Assembly of First Nations Land Rights Unit and the Chiefs Committee on Claims have been working with Specific Claims Branch officials to identify flaws in the existing policy and explore the establishment of a new Independent Claims Body to be established through legislation. These discussions have been proceeding despite the lack of a formal protocol committing the Federal Government in writing to policy reform. There have been a number of meetings over the last few months, and there are several more sessions scheduled over the next few weeks, The UBCIC has been represented at the Chiefs Committee on Claims by Neskonlith Chief and Shuswap Nation Tribal Council Chair Chief Arthur Manuel and Wayne Haimila, who brings to the task his experience with the Joint Working Group, the predecessor of the Chiefs Commmittee on Claims. The AFN's Land Rights Unit will make a detailed report updating the scope and direction of these policy reform talks at the AFN’s Annual General Assembly taking place in Vancouver at the end of July. ABORIGINAL PEOPLES CD-ROM The National Archives of Canada “Aboriginal Peoples” CD-ROM Is finally available. This research tool pulls together in one place references to aboriginal people in certain government record groups at the National Archives of Canada. It is particularly helpful for sifting through the complexities of RG 10 (National Archives of Canada Record Group 10, consisting of Department of indian Affairs Records). However, Researchers must still work through the RG 10 inventory and finding-aids and they should be aware that not all RG 10 finding aids were included in the CD-ROM. Researchers can check out the Aboriginal Peoples CD-ROM any time at the CD-ROM research work Station in the UBCIC Resource Centre. Bill Russell from the National Archives, who helped develop this research product, will be holding a demonstration session and orientation at the UBCIC Resource Centre on Friday, August 15th from 9 am to 12 p.m. See you there! Inco Attempts to Undermine Environmental Assessment of The Voisey Bay Project innu Nation calls for Rejection of Construction Plans During Environmental Review For the third time in three years, the Voisey’s Bay Nickel Company (a subsidiary of Inco) is attempting to build a road and airstrip at Emish (Voisey’s Bay) this summer - despite the fact that the entire Voisey’s Bay mining project is currently the subject of an ongoing public environmental assessment under an agreement between Canada, Newfoundland, the Labrador Inuit Association and the Innu Nation. The Innu Nation and the Labrador Inuit association fought earlier attempts by the company to proceed with construction at the site, and successfully negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Canada and Newfoundland which was intended to ensure a single, comprehensive environmental review of the Voisey’s Bay Project. The MOU provides for a more rigorous examination of the issues associated with this project than would be the case under Canada or Newfoundland’s EA legislation, and defines a more appropriate and accessible process for Innu and Inuit participation in the examination of the full scope of environmental, cultural and social effects which may result from the large large nickel mine that is being proposed on Innu and Inuit land. Despite the fact that the assessment process 1s well underway, and that last fall, the company itself agreed that the entire project-including the infrastructure-should be subject toa comprehensive environmental review, Voisey’s Bay Nickel has now submitted a separate registration for the infrastructure under the provincial environmental assessment process on 21 May 1997. They have reversed their deci arguing that their proposed infrastructure was not contemplated or included in the mine-mill project that was submitted under the current environmental assessment process being conducted under the MOU. According to the company, this new infrastructure proposal is merely intended to support advanced exploration activities by providing improved access to the site. However, the proposed road and airstrip are to be located in the same locations and are only slightly smaller than the permanent road and airstrip being assessed under the MOU! The Innu Nation believes that Voisey’s Bay Nickel is once again attempting to undermine the environmental assessment process and the work of the Environmental Review Panel under the MOU in order to accelerate the development of the mine and meet their ambitious production objectives. Innu objectives, which include the settlement of a land rights agreement with government, the conclusion of an impact- benefits agreement with the company, and the completion of a comprehensive environmental assessment of the environmental and social impacts of the project are being undermined by Inco’s desire for quick profits. The purpose of an environmental assessment is to predict and evaluate the impacts of a project before irreversible decisions are made, and use this information to make appropriate, informed choices in project planning. Roads and airstrips are irreversible decisions with real impacts. The Innu Nation believes that the entire project must be assessed as a whole. The effects of individual parts of the project, like the road and the airstrip, can only be appreciated and understood in the context of the mine they are intended to serve. The company’s piecemeal approach to project development not only undermines the MOU process, which was VOISEY BAY PROJECT (Continued on page 15) 14 JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS VOISEY BAY PROJECT (Continued from page 14) intended to review and assess the project as a whole, but it makes sense from a planning perspective. Proceeding with infrastructure development prior to the completion of the environmental assessment would make it nearly impossible for the Panel to make responsible recommendations about how the project should be planned in order to minimze the effect that it will have on the environment as much of the infrastructure will already be in place! There are still a number of difficult problems, such as the safe and permanent disposal of mine wastes, which must be resolved. Without a clear picture of the whole project, it is possible that decisions taken today will have to be changed later as these and other considerations are taken into account, which will result in impacts which might have been avoided with proper planning and assessment. The Innu and Inuit will have to live with the consequences. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Innu Nation Tel: (709) 497-8398 Fax: (709) 497-8396. Hydro Reviving Great Whale Front page, The (Montreal) Gazette, Saturday, 7 June Seventeen months after the Parti Quebecois government shelved Phase II of the James Bay hydroelectric project, it’s back on the table, and this time Hydro-Quebec has set its sights on diverting two of the largest rivers in northern Quebec. The plan was presented to Cree leaders in two meetings this week in Montreal and Quebec City. Hydro-Quebec and Cree officials say Hydro has proposed to divert and drain the water of the Great Whale and Rupert rivers into existing hydroelectric projects through a series of canals. Crees waged a noisy six-year international campaign against the original Great Whale proposal, which would have diverted several rives into a series of reservoirs built along the Great Whale River. The new proposal would not involve new dams in the north, but would reduce the flow of the Great Whale and Rupert rivers to a trickle. Cree opposition was a major factor in Jacques Parizeau’s decision as premier to shelve the original project in December 1995 [note: it was actually November]. Cree leaders were shocked when they were informed of the plans this week. “It’s going to be very difficult for the people to accept,’’ said David Masty, an official of the Great Whale community, situated at the river’s mouth. I think people sent out a very strong message on that already. It will have the same impact as if the river was dammed.”’ Under the proposal, the Great Whale River would be diverted at its headwater, Lac Bienville, a lake about twice the size of the island of Montreal. The river’s flow would be reduced by about 85 percent and the diverted water would flow southward through more than 10 kilometres of canals into the existing La Grand Hydro Complex. The Lac Bienville area is home to the world’s largest caribou herds. Cree fears about the environmental and social effects of hydro development were at the heart of the acrimonious debate over the original Great Whale project. The new plan would also redirect the Rupert River, which flows through the heartland of Cree territory, northward to the East main and La Grande complexes, at least 20 km away. The two rivers provide drinking water to the communities of Great Whale and Waskaganish, and to dozens of hunting camps along their shores. Shirley Bishop, an aide to Resources Minister Guy Chevrette, at first denied knowledge of the proposal. Later yesterday she confirmed that two meetings had been held between Hydro-Quebec and Cree leaders, although she would not reveal what was discussed. **Hydro-Quebec hasn’t talked to us about that,’’ Bishop said. “*‘When they want to do something like that, they have to ask the government first, and they haven’t.’’ Hydro-Quebec spokesman Steve Flanagan confirmed that the meetings were held to discuss possible projects along the Great Whale and Rupert rivers, but said the plan involves only the ‘‘partial diversion”’ of the rivers and no final decision has been made on whether it will go ahead. “*These rivers, like many others in Quebec, have a potential and we will see whether there is an economic interest,’ Flanagan said. He said hydro-development in James Bay is back on the table because of a desire to export power to the United States and a rise in energy consumption in Quebec. Earlier this week, the utility announced it would divert four rivers into existing hydro projects on the Lower North Shore and Lac St. Jean. A US energy analyst said Hydro-Quebec has been selling ever-increasing amounts of power to the north-eastern states and is now desperate for more water to replenish its reservoirs, which have fallen to dangerously low levels. “It seems Quebec took a big gamble and ended up losing,’’ said Jan Goodman, of the Goodman Group of Boston. Goodman has worked as a consultant to the Crees. ‘‘Hydro- Quebec appears to have oversold the province’s energy and they did so at less than what it costs to produce it.”’ While Quebec has more than enough energy for domestic levels, its energy supplies have fallen to critically low levels because of its aggressive export program, said Goodman. The National Energy Board says Hydro’s experts to the US have nearly tripled since 1990. Quebec exported five terrawatt-hours of power in 1990, almost all to the US. This rose to 17 terrawatt-hours in 1995 and fell somewhat to 13.9 terrawatt-hours last year. Internal hydro-Quebec documents reveal that Quebec’s reservoir levels have fallen to 21 percent of their total capacity Le Devoir reported Wednesday. A battle appears to be brewing within the Quebec government over the river diversions already announced. Environment Minister David Clinche said Thursday that any new Hydro-Quebec projects will be subjected to the same environmental review as those of any other developer. But Chevrette said deregulation in the energy industry means information about water levels in reservoirs can’t be made public anymore because it would put Hydro-Quebec at a commercial disadvantage. NATIVE FOREST NETWORK Eastern North American Resource Centre (802) 863-0571 Phone (802) 862-2532 Fax JULY L907  UBCIC NEWS Letter from Innu People to Queen Elizabeth Il 26 June 1997, Nitassinan Madam, We would like to bring to your attention the fact that the Innu People of Labrador and Quebec - we call our homeland Nitassinan - feel gravely threatened by the way our rights are denied by the Canadian government. We believe we are entitled as a People to full ownership rights over the lands which we have lived upon since the glaciers retreated from this peninsula 10,000 years ago. And we believe that both natural justice an international law support our position, As far as the Canadian government is concerned, however, it is only prepared to discuss our land nghts if we first agree to surrender our ownership. This is manifestly unfair and unjust. It amounts to the bullying of a numerically small People into the surrender of their birthright by a large and powerful industrialized state. The history of colonization here has been lamentable and has severely demoralized our People. They turn now to drink and self destruction. We have the highest rate of suicide in North America. Children as young as 12 have taken their own life recently. We feel powerless to prevent the massive mining project now planned and many of us are driven into discussing mere financial compensation, even though we know that he mines and hydro-electric dams will destroy our land and our culture and that money will not save us. The Labrador part of Nitassinan was claimed as British soil until very recently (1949), when without consulting us, your government ceded it to Canada. We have never, however, Signed any treaty with either Great Britain or Canada. Nor have we ever given up our right to self-determination. The fact that we have become financially dependent on the state which violates our rights is a reflection of our desperate circumstances. It does not mean that we acquiesce in those violations. We have been treated as non-People, with no more rights than the cartbou which we depend and which are now themselves being threatened by NATO war exercises and other so-called ‘development’. In spite of this, we remain a People in the fullest sense of the word. We have not given up, and we are now looking to rebuild our pride and self esteem. We have many frends in Great Britain where thousands of ordinary people have spent many years supporting our rights. We would like to count, you You Majesty, as one of those fnends. Yours faithfully, Tanien Ashini Vice-President, Innu Nation The Penticton Indian Band is extremely grateful and very proud of the fact that many, of our adult Band members have made the decision to seek treatment for their drug and alcohol addictions. To date,over 200 adult members of our community have attended various drug and alcohol treatment centres throughout the Province. Our community has greatly benefited from the positive impact these individuals have had on our community. Due to the generational nature of drug and alcohol addiction, however, too many of our youth are currently dealing with their own drug and alcohol addictions . This problem is exacerbated by the fact that 75% of our populationis under 25 years of age. Further, this problem has undertaken a grave dimension given the proliferation of drugs and dmg dealers/ bootleggers who have decided to expoloit the aforementioned circumstances. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate any and all copies ob bylaws, Band Council Resolutions, letters or notices which you may have prepared and used to prohibit drug traf- ficking and bootlegging in your communitites. In adition, we would also greatly appreciate copies of any bylaws or Band Council Resolutions you may have enacted or drafted to expel undesirable individuals from your communities. Sincerely yours Chief Stewart Phillip OKANAGAN NATION TIMBER JOB INITIATIVES (Continued from page 13) dealing with the water quality, wildlife...harvesting from the forests to sustain our Peoples.”’ Chief Alex Paul, Chehalis Band ‘*The current practices of the Ministry of Forests in dealing with aboriginal Peoples are insulting, degrading and pave the way for confrontation. We are tired of seeing logs rolling out of our termitory day by day while our people sit on the sidelines collecting welfare.’’ Chief Stewart Phillip, Penticton Band ‘*Tf this new initiative does not provide us with jobs and opportunities it is meaningless to us. If we are not meaningfully involved in the forestry industry: the Province will tigger a backlash within our community forcing First Nations to consider the formation of coalitions with environmental organizations such as Green Peace’s involvement on King Island.’’ Chief Frank Boucher, Red Bluff and Vice-President Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs ‘*The forestry industry has unilaterally displaced a whole range of user groups, including our people, and has forced our people into towns and onto reserves. The Province takes a huge portion of its funding from the forestry industry. Indian govermments at the Band level should be funded to the same degree that the Provincial government is. The forestry industry should be major contributor to our budgets, these are our resources.”’ -30- 16 JULY 1997  UBCIC NEWS MAP OF THE SOVEREIGN INDIGENOUS NATIONS TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES: JUNE, 1993 The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs’ map of the Sovereign Indigenous Nations Territorial Boundaries is the only contemporary map that accurately shows the traditional tribal territories of the 23 Indian Nations in British Columbia. The six colour map measures 28" x 36", The tribal territones are the homelands of distinct Nations, within which their respective peoples share a common language, culture and traditional forms of political and social organization. These homelands have been occupied by the Indian Nations since time immemorial. Up tothe present, the Indian Nations in British Columbia have never surrendered their ownership of their homelands (aboriginal title), nor have they surrendered their original sovereignty as nations to govern their homelands (inherent jurisdiction). Information on the territorial boundaries was compiled by the Union’s research portfolio and President’s office between July, 1990 and April, 1993 from archival research and information provided by elders, chiefs, and tribal councils. Chief Saul Terry, President of the Union and a graduate of the Vancouver College of Art (now the Emily Carr College of Art and Design), prepared the working drafis for the map. Design and cartography for the June, 1993 map was done by David Sami, chief cartographer of Multi Mapping Ltd. in Vancouver, B.C., using a 1:2,000,000 scale base-map from the Surveys and Environment Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. Ail territorial boundaries shown on the map are subject to further revision, as additional information becomes available. Contact the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs at (604) 684-0231 for ordering information. 28" x 36" / Scale: 1:2 000 000 / Six Colours JULY 1997 17  UBCIC NEWS UNION OF B.C. 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