Grounded in past, looking to future Tsleil-Waututh Chief Justin George draws his strength from ancestors and community elders
By Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun August 11, 2012 3:04 AM http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Grounded+past+looking+future/7076218/story.html Jenelle Schneider-PNG 'It's a very special place for me,' says Tsleil-Waututh Chief Justin George, 42, of the North Vancouver first nation of 500 people - one of the smallest in Canada. Through investment in real estate, it now has a jobless rate of less than one per cent. Photograph by: Jenelle Schneider, PNG, Vancouver Sun When Justin George was a boy, he'd go down to Burrard Inlet, dig clams and pick oysters. Today, it's a dead zone; the shellfish are too contaminated to eat. George is only 42. Three years ago, he was elected chief of the Tsleil-Wau-tuth First Nation (pronounced Slay-wah-tuth) after eight years as a councillor. In Halkomelem - a Coast Salish language that's now spoken fluently by only a handful of people - Tsleil-Waututh means children of the inlet. George laments what's been lost and the damage done by more than a century of flawed government policies. But he takes strength from his ancestors and his community's elders. "I have a deep love and respect for the people here. They are an inspiration and my medicine. What really motivates me is the strength of the elders and I am determined to make things better from my generation forward." During our 90-minute conversation, the chief's words and phrases echo those of his father and grandfather whose path he's chosen to follow. His grandfather, Chief Dan George, is a Canadian icon. His name - Geswanouth Slahoot - was changed when he was sent to residential school at age five. A writer and an acclaimed actor nominated for many awards, including an Oscar, Chief Dan George gave voice to both the anguish and the aspirations of first nations' people. His powerful Lament for Canada delivered on July 1, 1967, at Vancouver's Empire Stadium before 35,000 people is credited with invigorating the native rights movement. Chief Dan George died in 1981 and what Justin George remembers is that he was a regular grandpa, who took him to the park, to hockey games and bought him ice cream. Only later did Justin realize his grandfather's extraordinary legacy. But it's his father - Leonard George, who was chief from 1989 to 2001 - whom Justin quotes when explaining his vision for the small nation of little more than 500 people whose North Vancouver reserve is one of the smallest in Canada. His father said that the Tsleil-Waututh must become "modern-day hunters through education. Degrees, diplomas and technical trades are the tools that will allow us to grow into the future." George describes his father as "amazing." Not only was he chief, he was an adviser to the United Nations, helping develop policies to benefit indigenous people around the world. His son tells me this as we sit in the show suite for Destiny, the latest phase of the Raven Woods condominium development at the base of Mount Seymour begun 20 years ago under his father's leadership. It's counter-intuitive that with so little land, the Tsleil-Wau-tuth would choose to develop 800 homes (so far) and lease them to others. The plan was also controversial, which is why it's taken so long. But it's working. It's given the Tsleil-Waututh the means to buy 800 acres of their traditional territory up Indian Arm, invest in education and training, build and operate a daycare, build a gym, launch an ecotourism company called Takaya Tours and invest in Surrey-based Endurance Wind Power Inc. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Native News North List info{all lists}: http://nativenewsonline.org/natnews.htm Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: natnews-north-dig...@yahoogroups.com natnews-north-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: natnews-north-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
