And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: via: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> please distribute far and wide... Full page ad from the Vancouver Sun, September 16, 1999, Page F7 NOTICE: TO ALL SHAREHOLDERS OF BC FORESTRY COMPANIES AND CONSUMERS OF THEIR PRODUCTS The Interior Alliance, representing the five Nations of south-central British Columbia, is calling an international consumer boycott of companies who are destroying forest resources with destructive logging of Aboriginal title lands without our consent. From now on, any forestry operations on our Aboriginal title land will require written permission from the member Nation This action is designed to halt the destruction of the forests of Aboriginal title lands and to advise forestry companies, the province, Canada, and the world, that we are exercising our rights over our lands and resources. These Aboriginal territories, including all lands and resources, have always been ours. They were a gift to us from our Creator. We have been willing to share our wealth but we are not willing to convert, alienate or extinguish our sacred relationship to our land. To those who have suggested that we work inside the BC Treaty Commission, we point out that it is just these type of treaties, both historic and modern, which call on us to extinguish our Aboriginal title to the land and its resources, that have left us in a state of poverty and dependence. Instead, Canada has an obligation to begin to build upon the legal concepts set out by the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark Delgamuukw Decision of December 11, 1997, and on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Final Report, both of which affirmed that the source of Aboriginal title is from the pre-existing laws of Aboriginal Nations. In Delgamuukw, the Supreme Court further specified that: “First, aboriginal title encompasses the right to exclusive use and occupation of the land; second, aboriginal title encompasses the right to choose what uses the land can be put, subject to the ultimate limit that those uses cannot destroy the ability of the land to sustain future generations of aboriginal peoples; and third, the lands held pursuant to aboriginal title have an inescapable economic component.” (Paragraph 166) Our announced international consumer boycott is not an attempt to disrupt the economy of British Columbia, but a signal that we, the original owners and caretakers of the land, are exercising our Aboriginal title, as affirmed under the Delgamuukw Decision, so that we can once again fully participate in the economic benefit it provides. It is only in this way that we can begin to restore our families and communities to self-sufficiency. The owners and management of the forestry companies now operating on our Aboriginal title lands are being contacted and notified of the requirements for an Aboriginal forestry permit. Those who refuse compliance will immediately become part of the international consumer forestry boycott campaign. Our message to the world will be: -That the forest products come from stolen logs -That the forestry companies, along with governments, have been willfully ignoring our Aboriginal land use needs, resulting in our impoverishment -That the current forestry practices have resulted in a dramatic loss of biodiversity, which threatens the future health of all of us Representatives of the Interior Alliance Nations have already begun building a broad coalition of support for the boycott. Over the next several weeks, each Nation will be identifying the main company targets and will be publicizing their consumer products for international boycott. Delegations from Interior Alliance Nations will then begin a series of North American and international tours to spread the message about the theft and destruction in our Aboriginal title forests. At the same time, we are prepared to enter into serious negotiations about how we, the Aboriginal Nations of the Interior Alliance, and non-native British Columbians, can resolve our differences and start down together on the road to reconciliation that was laid out by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and reaffirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Delgamuukw Decision. We are recommending that you, the shareholders, owners and managers of forestry companies operating in our Aboriginal title territories, urge your governments to negotiate a just solution. It is sad that it has come to this, but we have been left with no choice. This path is the only one, in present circumstances, that offers hope to our Peoples. For more information about the boycott, please contact: Chief Arthur Manuel Spokesman of the Interior Alliance 355 Yellowhead Highway Kamloops, BC, V2H 1H1 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] INTERIOR ALLIANCE: Southern Carrier Secwepemc Stl'atl'imx Nlaka'pamux Okanagan Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
