And now:"S.I.S.I.S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
NISGA'A DEAL MAY HERALD SIGNING UP TO 10 TREATIES
The Vancouver Sun, January 13, 1998 by Stephen Hume
[S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news article may contain
biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts
and/or context. It is provided for reference only.]
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Dale Lovick sounded decidedly upbeat about the
state of treaty negotiations last week when he speculated the province may
be able to sign up to 10 new deals with aboriginal nations within the next
five years.
Is this just wishful thinking? Or does Lovick have genuine cause for optimism?
For now, the momentum appears to be on the side of the optimists.
Overshadowed by the political debate surrounding the Nisga'a deal (a
negotiation process launched by Ottawa, joined late in the game by Bill
Vander Zalm's Social Credit administration and finally inherited by the
present government) is an entirely separate process that began in 1991 and
is overseen by the neutral B.C. Treaty Commission.
Under this process, treaties are negotiated in six stages, moving from an
initial statement of intent through a preparatory phase. That is followed
by negotiation of a framework agreement, which defines what is on the
table. Then comes negotiation of an agreement in principle about what will
be included in the treaty, negotiation of the terms of the treaty itself,
and finally implementation.
If the procedure seems straightforward, the circumstances to which it must
be applied are fiendishly complex. In aboriginal terms, the cultural map of
the province is an intricate jigsaw puzzle of 197 bands speaking more than
30 languages and embracing traditions that range from a fierce
individualism to rich and complicated hierarchies of rank and privilege.
The 42 tribal councils and coalitions currently seeking settlements across
B.C. represent 116 bands that have national and linguistic characteristics
as diverse as Italians and Russians or Germans and Greeks. Despite this,
framework agreements have been signed with 34 of the councils, which means
that although a significant minority of bands and tribal groups have
refused to participate in the treaty process, more than half the aboriginal
negotiating teams in the province are already at work on fourth stage
agreements in principle that will be the substance of final treaty
negotiations. At least half a dozen are well enough advanced that Lovick's
prediction does not seem unreasonable.
For at least four negotiating tables, the prospect of a signed agreement in
principle seems likely in 1999. (Two more have set 2002 as their deadline
for closure and a seventh group wants an agreement in principle by 2006.)
Which aboriginal groups are closest to signing off?
SECHELT
Located about 50 kilometres north of Vancouver on the Sunshine Coast, this
band of 1,005 (461 living on reserve) is a member of the Salishan
linguistic group and has strong cultural ties with the Comox of Vancouver
Island and the Sliammon near Powell River. Its traditional territory
included approximately 4,000 square kilometres around a complex of fiords
and watersheds at Jervis Inlet, just east of Texada Island.
Long recognized by senior governments as one of the most moderate and
forward-looking bands in the province, the Sechelt became the first
aboriginal nation in Canada to obtain the right to self-government and the
authority to manage its own lands under the provisions of the Indian Act.
At present, the band has 33 parcels of land (with 11 to be added) amounting
to approximately 1,000 hectares. It is in the final stages of negotiating
on an offer that includes $40 million in cash and 934 hectares of rural and
urban land parcels. Although the three parties have completed 12 chapters
of a draft agreement in principle, sticking points in the talks revolve
around the future constitutional status of Sechelt lands, taxation and
interim resource revenues.
DITIDAHT AND PACHEEDAHT
Located about 120 kilometres northwest of Victoria around the great tidal
lake known as the Nitinat Triangle and including the coastal village of
Clo-oose made famous by painter Emily Carr, these bands of 532 (191 living
on-reserve) and 212 (84 living on-reserve) are members of the Nootkan
linguistic group.
Originally known as the Nitinaht band, the Ditidaht now includes the
remnants of two other once-great bands -- the Clo-oose and the Carmanah --
who occupied the wild outside coast and who, with the neighbouring
Pacheedaht, formed what anthropologists identify as the southern Nootka.
The Clo-oose, Carmanah and Nitinaht merged in the mid-20th century and
adopted the name Ditidaht in 1984. They now occupy 17 reserves on 727
hectares of land at the north end of Nitinat Lake and most of the
population lives on Malachan reserve #11. Although there is a band-run
elementary school, older students are bused by logging road to Port Alberni.
[S.I.S.I.S. note: the mid-20th century "merging" was an arbitrary decision
made by Indian Affairs, and elements of the Qwa-Ba-Diwa (Carmanah)
hereditary family still maintain and assert their sovereignty over their
Carmanah-Walbran territories illegally claimed by the Ditidaht and
Pacheedaht DIA Bands. See
http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/sov/ecogenB.html ]
The Pacheedaht now occupy four reserves on 174 hectares about 80 kilometers
northwest of Victoria at the fishing village of Port Renfrew.
Although both are culturally and linguistically part of the Nuu-chah-nulth,
they have opted to negotiate their treaty claims outside the Nuu-chah-nulth
Tribal Council, which represents 13 other bands on the central and north
coast of western Vancouver Island.
In 1790, John Meares estimated the total population to be 25,900, but
following a series of epidemics introduced by trading vessels, it had
declined to fewer than 1,500 by 1924. Small existing reserves were allotted
late in the 19th century without regard to the wide-ranging seasonal
activities of the various bands. Famed as whalers and deep sea travellers,
the southern Nootka had frequent contact, both as traders and in warfare,
with their linguistic neighbors the Makah, on what is now the U.S. side of
the Strait of Juan de Fuca. When first recorded into history in the 18th
century, the Nitinaht had friendly relations with their eastern neighbors,
the Tsou-ke at what is now the fishing village of Sooke, but historian John
Walbran reports growing hostility during the 19th century.
All these bands were intensive users of marine resources, harvesting many
species of shellfish, fishing for halibut, cod and snapper on the offshore
banks, hunting seals and sea otters closer to shore. Whaling, however, was
the noblest calling.
The most important species was the California gray whale and hunting would
begin in March after a long period of fasting and preparation. As recent
controversy regarding a planned gray whale hunt by the Makah indicates,
treaty rights to whaling continue to be a significant political
consideration.
The two bands signed off on a framework agreement two years ago and a
provincial government status report in December reported that negotiations
are proceeding on all topics, that all parties are optimistic about the
progress and that an agreement in principle is expected to be ready to sign
sometime in 1999.
IN-SHUCK-CH AND N'QUAT'QUA
Scattered across the rugged drainage basin of the Lillooet River from
Harrison Lake to Bralorne, the 1,052 members of the four bands comprising
this negotiating table are members of the Interior Salish language group,
closely related to the Lillooet and the Stl'atl'imx. They occupy four
separate communities about 50 kilometres due north of Vancouver and rely
heavily on salmon runs into the Lillooet River and its tributaries, and
their history was heavily involved in the fur trade. The Anderson Trail,
the all-British Fur Brigades route from the Interior to Fort Langley passed
through their territory. The word Skookumchuck, for example, is a Chinook
trade jargon term that means "strong water" or powerful rapids. The
In-SHUCK-ch are an affiliation of the Skookumchuck (pop. 333, 37
on-reserve), Douglas (pop. 201, 33 on-reserve) and Samahquam (pop. 252, 34
on reserve) bands.
The traditional territory of the In-SHUCK-ch bands extends from
approximately the halfway point of Lillooet Lake to about the halfway point
of Harrison Lake at Long Island and includes all the watersheds draining
into Lillooet Lake, Lillooet River and Harrison Lake between those two
points.
N'Quat'qua represents the Anderson Lake band located at Pemberton, about 20
kilometres north of Whistler. Its traditional territory extends north to
Bralorne. Of the four communities, Anderson Lake is most developed. It
operates a fish hatchery and spawning channel, a logging company and a
sawmill, and takes silviculture and slashing contracts. Anderson Lake
already delivers its own Indian Affairs programs.
Late in November, the negotiators initialled agreements in principle
regarding the structure of government, policing, child protection and
adoption, community correctional services and dispute resolution. Still
under discussion but released for public examination are issues involving
water resources, environmental protection, an amending formula, provisions
for an aboriginal court and parkland.
Of particular concern to the province in these negotiations is parkland,
since almost half the traditional territory under claim is now included in
Garibaldi, Golden Ears and Birkenhead provincial parks. Other possible
sticking points include taxation, the constitutional status of lands,
subsurface resources, fish and forests. Nevertheless, a provincial status
report at year end assesses negotiations as proceeding well with a full
agreement in principle likely to be signed in early 1999.
KASKA-DENA COUNCIL
The Dease River, Fort Ware, Lower Post and Ross River bands that comprise
the 1,200 members of this Athapaskan language group in B.C.'s far north
have always occupied a fascinating transition zone, sandwiched between the
Sekani to the south, the Tlingit to the north, the Tahltan to the west and
the Slavey to the east. Culturally and linguistically, they are affiliated
with the Athapaskan tribes of the Mackenzie River area in the Northwest
Territories, yet their traditions of potlatching, masks and clan structures
are all attributes they share strongly with the Northwest Coast cultures.
Today, they are one of the few trans-boundary groups involved in treaty
negotiations. Their traditional territory lies half in the Yukon and half
in B.C. about 1,250 kilometres north of Vancouver. This complicates
negotiations, since an agreement with the Yukon government had still not
been reached at the end of 1998. Still, negotiations are well advanced on
wildlife, water, environment, forestry, leases and tenures and the
structure of government. Still contentious are matters involving subsurface
resources, parks and protected areas, culture and heritage. An agreement in
principle is targeted for 1999.
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"The purpose of the BC Treaty Process is to
legitimize the theft of our lands."
- Haida Elder Lavina White
For more information on the BC "Trick-or-Treaty" Commission, see:
http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Clark/switlo.html
http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Clark/BCgovt.html#bctc
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research
and educational purposes only.
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S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2
EMAIL : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html
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