Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs – Indian Government Today! (Spring, 1978)

1.06-01.03 Nesika: UBCIC News

1.06.-01 Newsletters and bulletins sub-series

March 1978

english

1.06-01.03-02.04

4

-CONTENTS-
INTRODUCTION ...........................1, 2, 3
INDIAN GOVERNMENT ..................4, 5, 6
FISHING .....................................7, 8, 9
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ...10, 11, 12
EDUCATION ..............................12, 13, 14
OUR FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL .....15, 16

periodical

 UNION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA INDIAN CHIEFS SPRING, 1978 |  — CONTENTS —— INTRODUCTION ............... ly 2S INDIAN GOVERNMENT ........... 4,5, 6 Perse ¢ 5 amee-e ys AED A OM Oe 7, 8, 9 SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ... 10, 11, 12 EEWUGATION wise fine eee ewe me le Tey Te OUR FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL... .... 15, 16 OUR COVER: For many years, this design of the Eagle, the Bear and the Whale, representing the sky, land and waters of our province, has been the symbol of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. This year, at our Annual Assembly, we will choose a new symbol! to represent us; a new symbol of the new direction the U.B.C.1.C. is taking. We thought it would be fitting to use the old design, one last time, to remind us of our past and to look forward to our future.  INTRODUCTION The theme of the 10th Annual Assembly of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, is Indian Government. This magazine has been prepared by the staff of the U.B.C.I.C. to give you an idea of the scope of Indian Government and some of the basic areas over which we should exercize responsibility and control. In preparing this magazine, we concentrated on the basic philosophy of Indian Government as outlined by our President. We have tried to make the content as clear and as interesting as possible. George Manuel’s concept of Indian Government is complex and comprehensive. [t rests on the two fundamental needs of all people: land and power. A just Aboriginal Rights Settlement in B.C. will affirm our rights as Indian people: to control our own lives and the means to live for the rest of time. We must accept no less if we are to survive. Indian Government is the mechanism through which we can exercise Indian control. By accepting the principals of Indian Government, we can begin to define the areas of our lives that we want to control. We can begin to develop the structure and administrative guidelines needed. Indian Government will grow and evolve as we work together to make it a reality.   t our essential needs: BE vase =  INDIAN GOVERNMENT Knights Inlet 1881 “The land is our Culture, and it is our only future.” George Manuel, Nov. 25, 1977. Before the coming of the Europeans, we lived as one with the land and waters. We had our own systems of government, our own way of educating our children, our own way of managing the land and its re- sources for the benefit of all. In short, we had sovereignty (full control) over our own lives and the means to live. These are our aboriginal rights. We have never given up, through agreement or legislation, our aboriginal rights to control our own lives or the means to live. LEGAL BASIS FOR OUR RIGHTS The Royal Proclamation of 1763 declared that we, the Indian people, lived under the protection of the English Government. The Proclamation did not take away Indian rights to self-government and it guaranteed that Indian rights to lanes and natural re- sources would continue until there is an agreement with the Crown (English Govern- ment). The British North America Act of 1867 created the nation called Canada, and serves as this country’s constitution. In part, it outlines the areas of jurisdiction of the federal, provincial, and municipal govern- ments and how each functions within con- federation. Section 91-24 of the B.N.A. Act says that the federal government is respon- sible for “Indians and lands reserved for Indians’. The B.N.A. Act does not state how the federal government will fulfill its re- sponsibility. Because of the colonial atti- tudes of the time, the Indian Act was legislated by the federal government to “look after’’ Indians and lands reserved for Indians. It was, and still is today, a means to exercise colonial rule, which is a rule from the outside. The Indian Act was created without consultation with or consideration for Indian people. The Indian Act recognizes the Indian mode of government as being Band Councils. However, the authority and power of our form of government is severely limited. It is time to end colonial rule. We must be mas- ters in our own house, in order to survive as Indian people. There is no basis in the laws of Canada to restrict the recovery of our aboriginal rights because we have never given up our rights to control our own lives and the means to live. Pole Raising at Hazelton, 1977.  Indian Government Cont'd. KAMLOOPS INDIAN GOVERNMENT WORKSHOP George Manuel talks about Indian control. Chief Jacob Kruger explains his theory of Indian Government. ABORIGINAL RIGHTS SETTLEMENT A just settlement of land claims in British Columbia must include in the fullest sense arecovery of our Aboriginal right to control our own lives and the means to live as In- dian people. Robert Manuel states in the U.B.C.1.C. position paper entitled “‘Indian Reserve Lands and Indian Government”: “The Indian Reserve Land base we presently possess is far too small to adequately provide for the basic needs of all our people. Be- cause of this fact, we experience many problems in the area of economics, unem- ployment, social services, housing, etc. We find,on the other hand, our Indian Govern- ments (Band Councils) do not possess the real authority essential to adequately address many of these problems.” A just aboriginal rights settlement would include these two components: Land and Indian governing authority to control that settlement. In his speech to the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union, on aboriginal rights, March 3, 1978, George Manuel stated: “My interpretation as the President of the Education Workshop at Kamloops. Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs is  that | totally reject the settlement based on fixed amount of dollars. Regardless if it’s a hundred billion dollars, | reject it. That’s not what / see as a settlement. ‘‘',.2: | seeasa settlement Is the governing auinority that Indian people should have... . . there is not much sense in having Aborigiiial Rights, if we are going to have some other .nstitu- tion control it.” George Manuel’s vision of a just Aboriginal Rights settlement in B.C. goes beyond the types of land claims settlements made by governments in recent years, which have included parcels of land, dollars and an extinguishment of aboriginal rights. Our settlement would include: an affirmation of our Aboriginal Rights, expanded reserve lands and a recognition of our Indian Governments (Band Councils) as a fourth level of government in Canada within Con- federation. The need for a new kind of political repre- sentation at the Federal level is clearly felt by the amount of money we receive from government. Even though the Federal gov- ernment allocates millions of dollars each year to the Department of Indian Affairs, Indians receive and control only a small_por- tion of those monies in the form of locally controlled programmes. Indian Affairs uses most of the money to support its massive bureaucracy. In reality, we are not receiving our fair share of the wealth of this country. George Manuel uses the Prince Edward Island model to illustrate this point; “In 1970, Prince Edward Island received $720 million for economic development. The Indian people in that sanz year, re- ceived through the colonial agent of the government (Indian Affairs), $50 million for Economic Development. That’s a big difference, $50 million for 272,000 Indians and $720 million for a mere 110,000 people.” Each year tax revenue is divided by the Federal and Provincial leaders at First Ministers’ Conferences. It is here that the have-not provinces such as Prince Edward Island receive a greater share of the revenues so that they can develop their socio-eco- nomic base. This allows them to enjoy a standard of living comparable to the richer provinces. George Manuel’s vision of Indian govern- ment would have Indian government re- presentatives participating at the First Mini- sters’ Conference on the same level as the provincial governments. We would nego- tiate for money on the basis of need as the have-not provinces do. Our aboriginal rights settlement would include a recognition of our Indian governments (Band Councils) as a fourth level of government in Canada within Confederation. Indian Government when it evolves, will be entirely different than anything that now exists. As we grow and develop this new kind of political autonomy, we will develop the structure of Our government to meet our needs as Indian people. The Indian Government Land Claims vision of George Manuel, as President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, is complex and comprehensive. It rests on two fundamental needs: land and power. An expanded version of our reserve lands would provide us with an economic base that would in time gener- ate monies so that we could eventually contribute to the wealth of Canada. We have the right within the Canadian Consti- tution to exercise power over our own lives and the means to live. Our Aboriginal Rights settlement with the government of Canada must be grounded on recognition of these rights. A just settlement will enable us to live with dignity, to be masters of our own lives; freed from the Colonial relationship we now have with the Canadian government. The im- portant task we, the Indian people of British Columbia, face is to begin to define the are- as of jurisdiction (areas such as fishing, edu- cation, socio-economic development, etc.) that we would like to take responsibility for under Indian Government.  INDIAN FISHING: “FISH AND INDIANS ARE INSEPARABLE” A salmon drying rack by the Frazer River — 1950. For the last 100 years and more, we have been seeking recognition and assertion of Aboriginal Rights from the governments that have encroached upon our lands and all our resources. For thousands of years, we have depended on the powers of the waters to provide food to Indian people along the coast and along the river systems. Abalone, clams, crabs, oysters, sea-weed, kelp, sea urchins, cockles, mussells, sea- prunes, seal, whale, and the many different species of fish have been very important to the Indian way of life through-out the cen- turies. History shows that we have never surrendered our lands and resources: legally and morally, the lands should still be held under Indian responsibility. It is on this basis that the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, under its Fisheries Portfolio, is determining ways and means to protect our Aboriginal Right to the fish and all that the waters provide, and to ensure that there is no further depletion of our marine resources. Today we are faced with the steady decline of our marine resources by Industrial pollution. The Kamloops Pulp Mill, for example, has been dumping tailings into the Thompson for years and has just applied to the city of Kamloops for permission to have Godfrey Kelly (Oct. 12, 1977) its tailings output doubled. This will pollute the sockeye salmon run that spawn along the Thompson and Adams River. The Utah Mines on Vancouver Island near Quatsino Bay has threatened the fish and other marine life because of its effluent. During the course of the West Coast Oil Ports Inquiry, Indian people forcefully presented their concerns about the serious threat that an oil port and supertankers would have on the Marine Resources. A major oil spill on our coast could wipe out the foods of the waters forever. Fortunately, the government in- quiry listened and announced in February that an oil port on the B.C. Coast is not needed now or_ in the forseeable future. Environment Minister Len Marchand said that the threat to fishing outweighed any of the benefits of the oil port proposal. How- ever, we are still faced with the constant, daily pollution of the ocean by existing tanker traffic along the Pacific coast. George Manuel said in a speech to the United Fisher- men and Allied Workers’ Union just recent- ly,” . . . the number one enemy to our fish, in my opinion, is industry.” = ky = Nootka man spearing fish. (date unknown)  Indian Fishing Cont'd. George Manuel stated in the same speech to the U.F.A.W.U.: ‘’We need food fishing. It is our Aboriginal Right and the foundation of our cultural survival.’’ Though fishing is our Aboriginal Right, the Federal Depart- ment of Fisheries is charged with the respon- sibility for regulating our right to fish. Regulations such as the one forcing us to cut off the nose and dorsal fin, and the restrictions on our traditional means of harvesting Our marine resources are steadily eroding the very foundation of our survival as Indian people. The many Indians charged with the illegal sale of fish in the last 12 months alone is degrading to all our people and illustrates a blatant disregard for our Aboriginal Rights. S 2 eee Pe —- - 2 Though Fisheries has assured us on many occasions that Indian food-fishing is their first priority after conservation, we, the Indian people, are being made the scape- goats and are being blamed for the deple- tion of the fish. It is industry and its pollu- tion that is causing the decline of the resources which we depend on for food. Fisheries Minister, Romeo LeBlanc _ told our President, George Manuel, in late Janu- ary, that the government is going to impose quotas on all Indian people in B.C. This means that we will have to account for the fish we catch and that only a set number will be allowed per family. George Manuel warned the Minister that there is going to be “heavy confrontation’”’ if quotas are imposed on Indians. Faced with the harassment of Indian fishing people by Fisheries officers, the planned imposition of quotas, and the steady pol- lution of our marine resources, we, the Indian, people must decide the course that we will take to recover some degree of control over our aboriginal rights to the marine resources. To our south, Washington Indians have been struggling for a hundred years to protect fishing rights guaranteed to them by whirl- wind treaties adopted under enormous pres- sure in 1855. One thing Indians refused to give up was their aboriginal fishing rights. Patient research and persistent legal action led to the Judge Boldt decision in 1974 that the Indian people must be allowed the opportunity to take 50% of the fish and to regulate their own fishing practices if that can be done without jeopardizing effective conservation. Salmon for Survial Survival for Salmon  Seine Fishing 1951 In British Columbia we have never made any agreement or treaty, except in parts of the Peace River country and a few small areas on Vancouver Island. We still retain our full aboriginal fishing rights. Nevertheless, non-Indian laws and regula- tions have moved in without consulting us and without our consent. The Canadian Department of Fisheries now controls our fishing rights and the means to conserve what marine resources are left. Fisheries call it “‘conservation,”” George Manuel prefers the word “reproduction.” As Indian people we cannot be satisfied with merely ‘conserving’ the marine re- sources that we have now, we must insist on restoring the healthy conditions necessary ——s Se /- 2a. for fish and other marine foods to reproduce and to flourish as they did for countless centuries before the coming of the Euro- peans. On January 23, President George Manuel of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, made a commitment to Fisheries Minister Romeo LeBlanc: Give us the resources to do the research and | promise that |’ll come up with proposals that will be constructive for all Canadians. Fish and Indians are inseparable. The task we face is to ensure that our rights to this valuable resource are never separated from us, and, that for those unborn, the food of the waters will be bountiful. Seine Fishing 1978  SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT We are all aware of the poor living condi- tions in many of our communities. Unem- ployment is very high and many families are forced to live on welfare. Our people do not have enough housing and much of the existing housing is in poor condition, Edu- cation, health, and recreation facilities are often inadequate. This is the reality of life that many of our people must face every day. They are denied the opportunities to provide a decent standard of living for themselves and their families. They are denied the opportunities which every Cana- dian is guaranteed as a basic Human Right. Why is this happening? We face these con- tinuing problems because we are living. under a colonial system of government. We are governed by the overbearing European culture of Canada which is threatening our Indian way of life. Our affairs are managed by ineffective programs controlled by the federal government. Our own initiatives are hampered by insufficient funding to break out of this circle of underdevelopment. Our people all too often lack the involvement we need at the community level. — APLAN FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA — et z=: ine < FRASER RIVER WOMAN & CHILD WEAVING BASKETS. 10. To change this situation we must look to ourselves. We alone can find the answers to our problems. We must control our lives and our destiny as a people through our own system of Indian Government. It is within this sytem of government that we must evolve a socio-economic development plan to provide a decent standard of living for our people. Indian Government will provide the system to allow Indian people to govern ourselves and an expanded reserve system containing re ‘ me hs es F - re | The In Kameep Vineyard of the Osoyoos Band near Oliver.  Socio-Economic Development Cont'd. Conveyor System of The Sand, Gravel and Readi-mix Co. Ltd. of the Lower Nicola Band near Merritt. sufficient resources to meet the essential needs of our people. We will make our own laws under Indian Government. We will look after our forests and our rivers. We will determine the conservation practices for our wildlife and the timber policies for our forests. We will plan the development of our community buildings and services. Because of our commitment to the land, we are the only people who can maintain and develop our resources for future generations. This kind of control will give us the oppor- tunities to provide for the basic necessities of life. We will be able to utilize our man- power and our resources to raise the stan- dard of living for our people. We will be able to develop effective administrative methods of handling our Band affairs. We will be able to create economic projects to provide employment based on an environ- mentally-sound use of our natural resources. Socio-economic development is the part of Indian Government which creates this kind of social and economic self-sufficiency. Py - An alfalfa field on the Kanata Cattle and Hay Co. Ltd. of the Clinton Band near Kamloops. However, before this development can occur on a large scale, three things must happen. Firstly, Indian people must have control of the development process. We have seen the repeated failures of federal and provincial attempts in this area. The process will only succeed when the people in the communi- K’SAN WORKSHOP  Socio-Economic Development Cont'd. ties are able to set their priorities and deter- mine the way in which positive change will occur. Our Chiefs and Councils must make these decisions. Government must accept Indian control of Indian development. Secondly, development can only occur if the programs and projects are carefully co- ordinated with all other community activi- ties. This means that a project which will use Band land must be considered in relation to possible future housing needs. The project must be planned in relation to the future size and education of the working popula- tion of the Band. There must be experienced managers in the community to administer the project. The third thing which must occur is a fair settlement of Aboriginal Claims. The settle- ment will provide the resources which we must have to support socio-economic devel- opment. We must have sufficient land for agriculture and other purposes. We must have access to the natural resources through such things as special rights to crown timber and a guaranteed share of the West Coast fish catch. The settlement will have to provide suffi- cient financial resources to allow this devel- opment to begin. Large capital investments will be needed initially. We expect. this funding in the same way that the “‘have- not” provinces expect developmental assist- ance. We are asking only that Indian Govern- ment receive a fair share of the equalization funding which all underdeveloped parts of this country receive. We expect that in the future, once we have developed the poten- tial of our resources, we will become a contributor to the national economy. The settlement must also resolve the legal and regulatory impediments we face. All governments must recognize our right to exemption from taxation. Provincial govern- ments must stop imposing their regulations on our reserves. All unwarranted external interference in our communities must cease. Pending settlement of Aboriginal Claims, our communities must begin to organize themselves for socio-economic development. They must determine their long-term objec- tives. They must begin: to implement a program of comprehensive community plan- ning to realize these objectives. This plan- ning process will determine how the popu- lation in the community will increase and how many jobs will beneeded in future years. It will evaluate the resources and the priorities of the Band to determine what economic development opportunities are available. Community planning will identify the kinds of education and training that will be needed to provide the manpower to administer the socio-economic development programs plan- ned for the community. For instance, if a Band identifies a logging/sawmill business as a priority, then the Band’s education pro- gram must provide for the trained manpower such as foresters and loggers to run it. In addition to these activities at the Band level, the plan for development requires on- going work at both the provincial and na- tional levels as well. The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs must provide a strong voice for the common concerns of all the Bands in the province. We must fight on behalf of all our people for recognition of Indian Gov- ernment. We must evaluate government policy and work for the changes that are needed. We must cooperate with the Na- tional Brotherhood to negotiate the long- range legislative and funding issues that will be determined by Parliament. A great deal of work must be done in many areas in order to improve the quality of life in our communities. Te.  INDIAN EDUCATION We are Indian people who have a past that is filled with honour, harmony, sharing, and respect for each other and Nature. Our traditions of life were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth, and central to those traditions is our under- standing that we are sacred, and that our children are gifts of the Great Spirit. It is part of our tradition to love our children, to be patient with them, and to treat them with respect. Today we are Indian people who still care about our values, and who wish to pass these values down to the generations to come. We have survived the impact of European in- vasion, and all the suffering and confusion it brought to us. We find ourselves in the midst of a materialistic, competitive society to which we must relate in order to sustain ourselves. It is within our power to live according to our Indian traditions in the context of a modern world. We have en- dured. We shall prevail. We are parents. We care about the education of our children. It is accepted in common law all over the world that a parent has the 13. right to say how his child shall be educated. Doesn't that make sense? Who knows the child better than the parents do? The idea of making education meaningful to Indian children by putting it under Indian control issimply common sense. As parents we have the right to insist that the process of edu- cation we begin before our children go to school will be continued in the school. We have the right to expect that our goals for children will be the goals of the school. We have the right to expect that the school will build up the positive Indian identity of our children. We, the Indian people in British Columbia, never gave up our right to control our lives or our communities when the Europeans arrived. We have never been conquered, nor does any agreement exist whereby we sur- rendered ourselves to the Government of Canada. Even in those areas of British Co- lumbia where treaties were signed, we kept our rights of self government and our rights — to hunt and fish on our traditional lands and in our traditional waters. Our right to con- trol the education of our children is one of those rights. If we want to move towards Indian Government, then parental and com- munity control of education is very impor- tant to us. We cannot allow non-Indians to make our community and education goals for us. Our Children Today.  We know that the public and federal schools are often irrelevant and sometimes violent to our children, as they were to us. The word violent is used in the sense that the values of the school are not in harmony with our basic values. Schools place our children in a position of conflict between the teaching of the school and the home. Also, the school teaches too many of our children the pattern of failure. We cannot hide the fact that nearly 60% of our children have left school by the end of grade 9 in- spite of the fact that grade 12 is the mini- mum for most job and vocational training opportunities. Our students will not stop dropping out of school until they feel that education is worthwhile and relevant to them as young Indian people, and they won't feel this until we become involved as individuals, as groups, and as a com- munity to make it that way. The Federal Government has the consti- tutional, legal, moral, and financial respon- sibility of representing the educational in- terest of Indian people. These educational interests can only be represented with the full participation of Indian people. The Master Tuition Agreement (M.T.A.) is an education contract between the Department of Indian Affairs and the B.C. Department of Education. It was signed in 1969. In this contract the Province of British Columbia agreed to educate Indian children in its public schools, and Indian Affairs agreed to pay a tuition fee for each Indian child en- rolled, plus a percentage of capital costs for school construction. Indian people were never consulted about this Agreement. In- dian people did not sign this Agreement. These facts go against the principles of local control and parental responsibility which are basic to Indian Control of Indian Edu- cation. It isimportant to remember that the M.T.A. is only a small part of what we mean by Indian Education. Our children are supposed to learn the basic skills of reading, writing 14. and arithmetic in school. The school makes no attempt to meet the contemporary, practical needs of Indian people coping with the modern world. The schools know noth- ing of our culture. The fact that 70% of the education money held in trust for us by ‘Indian Affairs is turned over to the Province of British Columbia restricts the develop- ment of Indian Education as a meaningful part of our lives: The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs is asking the Chiefs at General Assembly to make a decision as to what should be done about this Master Tuition Agreement. There have been M.T.A. workshops with consultants, resource people, and people at the Band Level. We know that there will have to be many more M.T.A. community workshops before the Master Tuition Agree- ment can be changed. A booklet called “Understanding the Master Tuition Agree- ment” has been written and distributed throughout the Province. This booklet is a working booklet only. The alternatives concerning the M.T.A. which are suggested in the booklet are only some of the alter- natives we might consider. What we are hoping for at this General Assembly is guidance as to the direction we should take. The time is right to take some kind of action on the M.T.A. It is the most outdated and restrictive contract concerning the education of Indian children in Canada. We hope you will be able to attend the M.T.A. Workshops at the General Assembly. We can master this Tuition Agreement. A step towards Indian Control of Indian Education is a step to- wards Indian Government. What will be our future?  at Peg “AS LONG AS TIME HAS BEEN COUNT- ED THE WATERS AND THE LAND HAVE GIVEN US LIFE. WE HAVE NEVER GIVEN UP OUR RIGHTS TO THE BOUN- TY OF THE SEA, THE RIVERS, THE MOUNTAINS AND THE PLAINS. WE MUST OPPOSE ANY DEVELOPMENTS THAT WOULD ENDANGER OUR WAY OF LIFE, AND OUR RIGHTS TO THE LIFE GIVEN TO US BY THE CREATOR. GEORGE MANUEL, President Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. It is because of this commitment to the protection of the sea and the land from all destruction and the struggle for our rights that the last General Assembly of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs passed a resolution opposing the construction of any oil port on our coast. What follows is a brief history of the strug- gle and victory against the port and how the team of researchers, field workers, and lawyers set up by the Union has expanded to serve the needs of Indian people throughout the whole province. Presently we are work- ing on over ten major issues concerning the land, the sea and our aboriginal rights. Last year a group of companies decided the way to bring Alaskan Oil to the United States was by building an Oi! Port on the West Coast. The plan called for super-tankers to come down the coast with the oil. Pro- posals for the port included Kitimat, Port Angeles, Cherry Point and Port Simpson. Even the Federal Government had many questions about these proposals and set up the Thompson Inquiry to look into the different port plans and what effect super- tankers might have on the coast. OUR FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL!!! Oil Tankers of this size travel daily through our waters. 15, It was the Resolution and the funding from the Thompson Inquiry which led the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs to set up a team of people to fight against any port on our coast and for Indian Rights to sovereignty over the resources of the Sea. Workshops were organized in communities across the province to gather information about the extensive use of the marine re- sources for our survival. The workshops also helped to inform people about the inquiry and community hearings. But it wasn’t just the coast people who were concerned. |n- dian communities all along the rivers of B.C. which flowed into the. ocean knew that if a spill occurred on the coast, their fish would die also. Workshops were held in Lillooet and Mount Currie before the Thompson Inquiry held community hear- ings in these two places. When Mr. Thomp- son did come he found he had to stay longer than planned because people had so much to tell him about their fish and their rights to it. Andrew Thompson, Commissioner of the West Coast Oil Ports Inquiry dances with Mount Currie people.  = aiferrs Treaty Workshop in the N.E. During the whole fall our field workers would no sooner set foot in the office than they would be off again to another commu- nity for a meeting or a workshop. Research was being gathered in the communities for presentation to the formal hearings in Van- couver. Special bulletins were published so all people could keep informed and up to date on the issue. A major fish forum was held in December in Vancouver. Over 100 people attended for two days from all over the province to discuss their rights. The months of work and the tremendous opposition to the port was not In vain. The Federal Government has announced the port is dead. The victory is ours and belongs to everyone who raised their voices against this port and its threat to our right to live from the sea and the rivers. However the team of people set up by the Union to fight the port is not dead. During the course of the Inquiry we became involved in responding to many requests from communities who were facing similiar threats to their rights and survival. We have become involved in doing research, providing fieldworkers, legal advice, information and support to Bands involved in many issues across the province. These include the Alaska Highway Pipeline, the Coquihalla Highway, Site C, the Looping of Westcoast Transmissions’ main line af- fecting over 30 bands, the Shakwak High- way Project, Quatsino Sound pollution, Nazko/Kluskus logging dispute, and the list goes on to include other Bands where people and projects are threatening our rights. The struggle has taken our lawyers to the Federal Court of Canada to fight for justice from the National Energy Board: It has taken the Chiefs from the North East and South East to the Parliament of Canada to demand our rights in the face of a proposal to build the largest pipeline in the world. We have learned many lessons from these struggles and continue to learn them as new threats to our rights appear on the horizon. For instance, wehave learned that the studies done by the companies and the governments do not consider how we use the land or our aboriginal rights. We know that the real experts with the knowledge on how to use and preserve the land, live in the communities. The experts are not the con- sultants who are paid 50 dollars an hour. We have learned the importance of having the information which represents our inter- ests and rights and the importance of sharing this with all the communities involved. As well, in all these issues there is a common threat that is present. The major problems and threats to our survival and our way of life stem from the lack of respect and con- sideration for our aboriginal rights shown by those so eager to develop and exploit our land and our resources. Whether it is our traplines and our hunting rights being ig- nored by the pipeline companies, or our fishing rights by the oil companies, or our timber rights being ignored by the logging companies, or whoever is ignoring our rights, it boils down to the same issue. At the present time , because the threat of the Oil Port is over for the moment, our team is going through a transition period. Like last year when the resolution was pas- sed oppossing the oil ports and creating our group, we are waiting again to take our direction from the General Assembly. But time does not stop and if there is any in- formation, advice or help of any sort that we can give you, phone us, come and see us or request someone come to see you. We are looking forward to another year of increased activity and success.  WE ARE-MOVING MAY I, 1978 OUR NEW ADDRESS: UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS 440 WEST HASTINGS STREET VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA V6B 1L1 OUR NEW PHONE NUMBER: 684-0231 RECEPTION AREA: Srd FLOOR MEETING ROOMS: 2nd FLOOR COME IN AND VISIT US SOON!