August 2014

Volume 10 . Issue 7August 2014

TRIBAL JOURNEYS 2014

Gary Manso

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elcome

urbansystems.ca

WELCOME

SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 1

Salish Sea SentinelEditorial Inquiries:Cara McKenna, [email protected]

Advertising inquires:[email protected]

Publisher:Naut’sa mawt Tribal CouncilGary Reith, Chief Administrative Officer(604) 943-67121-888-382-7711

The Salish Sea Sentinel is published month-ly, eleven times a year, by the Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council. NmTC was incorporated as a non-profit society in 1983 and is governed by a board of directors from each of our eleven member First Nations.

Our nations are located around the Salish Sea. There are about 6,500 people who hold mem-bership in our nations.

The word Naut’sa mawt means working together as one. The NmTC mission is to support and strengthen the capabilities of our Coast Salish member communities by developing skilled leadership, strong governance, resiliency and self-sufficiency.

NmTC is charged with providing advisory services in five delivery areas:

• Economic Development• Financial Management• Community Planning• Technical Services and• Governance Cover photo:Gary Manson welcomed Tribal Journeys canoes to Newcastle Island as they passed through Snuneymuxw territory on their way to Bella Bella.

www.salishseasentinel.ca

NmTC MAKES A MOVE

CONTACTS AT NmTC NATIONS1. HALALT (250) 246-4736 [email protected] www.halalt.org2. HOMALCO (250) 923-4979 [email protected]. KLAHOOSE Qathen Xwegus Management Corp (250) 935-6536 www.klahoose.com4. MALAHAT (250) 743-3231 [email protected] www.malahatnation.com5. SLIAMMON (604) 483-9646 [email protected] www.sliammonfirstnation.com www.sliammontreaty.com6. SNAW-NAW-AS (Nanoose) (250) 390-3661 [email protected] [email protected] www.nanoose.org7. SNUNEYMUXW (Nanaimo) (250) 740-2300 [email protected] www.snuneymuxw.ca8. STZ’UMINUS (Chemainus) (250) 245-7155 [email protected] www.stzuminus.com9. TSAWWASSEN (604) 948-5219 [email protected] www.tsawwassenfirstnation.com10. TSLEIL-WAUTUTH (Burrard) (604) 929-3454 [email protected] www.twnation.com11. T’SOU-KE (Sooke) (250) 642-3957 [email protected] www.tsoukenation.com

The Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council’s Vancouver Island office relocated to Halalt First Nation at 8017 Chemainus Road, Chemainus, V0R 1K5 as of August 1. In July, NmTC staff helped finance director Lisa Scott (centre) pack up supplies in preparation for the move. At left is Governance Advisor Valerie Cross-Blackett and at right is Executive Assistant Caitlin Parker.

NEWS

2 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL

Halalt First Nation leadership hopes it will finally receive damages for a railroad built through its reserve lands over a hundred years ago.

During a three-day specific claims tribunal hearing in July, Halalt used oral history and witness testimony to back up its claim that the E&N railway was built on its land without legal authority, and that it was never compensated for hindered development, impaired value and lack of access to its lands.

The E&N Railway was built through Halalt’s Indian Reserve #2 in the 1890s and early 1900s.

The nation first submitted its claim to the Crown in 1998 and the federal agreement for the E&N Railway happened in 1883.

Chief James Thomas said he feels Canada now needs to fix what it has created.

“The finality of decisions made in

the 1890s and 1900s have impacted our community,” he said.

“Some of the compensation back then was a sack of spuds and a horse and some sugar. There has got to be some other means for damage to our commu-nity that our ancestors couldn’t foresee.”

Impacts to Halalt have included

flooding, harm to fish habitats and cut off access to parts of the reserve.

Judge Harry Slade explained that the specific claims tribunal “can decide whether or not a claim reveals a breach of obligation by the Crown and if there is a finding of a breach of legal obliga-tion by the Crown, the tribunal can award monetary compensation.”

During the hearing, as Halalt members recalled oral histories passed down to them and answered questions from the panel, George Seymour from Stz’uminus translated the witness testimonies into Hul’qumi’num.

As things wrapped up, Thomas said he hopes the panels’ eyes were opened about the impact of the railway.

“It’s divided our community in half and other communities have been impacted, as well.”

Thomas said the process is expected to continue later in the year.

Impacts to Halalt have included flooding, harm to fish habitats and cut off access to parts of the reserve

HALALT SEEKS DAMAGES OVER E&NThe E&N Railway cuts through Halalt lands.

Chief James Thomas

NEWS


Chief Harry and Lewis.

Malahat First Nation’s administrator Lawrence Lewis says there are two keys to a successful First Nation – having the right people in the right jobs and pro-viding the resources they need.

That approach has been invaluable for the past two years, Chief Michael Harry said as Lewis was honoured for his work at the Aboriginal Financial Offi-cers Association of B.C. band adminis-trators conference held at the Songhees Wellness Centre in June.

“He’s brought us significant results,” Harry said. “We started by talk-

ing about the elephant in the room. Well, that elephant in the room started to become a little bit easier to deal with,

and now it’s turned into a little mouse.”

Lewis is a member of the Cape Mudge Indian Band and has over 20 years experi-ence in First Nations management. But he said he could not have done the job at

Malahat alone.“I’m surprised, pleased and incred-

ibly honoured,” he said after accepting his award. “My heart soul and passion is in First Nations governance, economic development success.”

Former Tsawwassen First Nation chief Kim Baird was announced as one of 86 new appointees to the Order of Canada on June 30.

She was recognized for her work securing the Tsawwassen treaty and other contributions to the welfare of her people.

The Order of Canada was established in 1967 and honours exceptional commitment and achievement.

AN ELEPHANT TURNS INTO A MOUSE

My heart soul and passion is in First Nations governance, economic development success.

KIM BAIRD RECEIVES

ORDER OF CANADA

NEWS


Tsleil-Waututh Nation has observed the development, and often degrada-tion, around Burrard Inlet for decades.

A word not often mentioned, at least until 2007, was “pipeline”. But then that summer, a backhoe ruptured a Kinder Morgan crude oil pipeline, flooding a Burnaby neighbourhood with some of the 232,000 litres leaking into Burrard Inlet.

Tsleil-Waututh’s kayak tour company Takaya Tours closed its Belcarra opera-tion across the inlet from the reserve. Beaches throughout North Vancouver, including a 100-metre stretch at Whey-ah-wichen Park, were closed due to oil sheens and strong smells of petroleum.

That oil spill turned out to be eye-opening for many living around the Salish Sea. Over the next few years, the West Coast began to be viewed as a ma-jor shipping point for carbon rich fuels –oil, gas and coal – for customers in Asia, especially China.

In March, 2012, this publication’s

predecessor, Klahowya, reported: “Chief Justin George of Tsleil-Waututh Nation has issued a wake-up call to everyone living around the Salish Sea and the prospect of a huge increase in oil tanker traffic through Burrard Inlet.

“In the wake of the Enbridge pipe-line hearings in northern BC, George said the proposed expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, bringing Alberta crude oil to Burnaby, was even more environmentally unsafe. He predicted that it would become ‘a global issue’ in the months ahead.”

In July of this year, news came that a federal court judge was allowing

Tsleil-Waututh to challenge the force the National Energy Board’s review pro-cess into the Trans Mountain expansion. Already the NEB hearings, which were to start this summer, have been set back until early 2015.

But current Tsleil-Waututh Chief Maureen Thomas said the entire process is unlawful because her nation hasn’t been properly consulted about the pipeline.

“This challenge goes to the heart of the Crown’s assertion that it can make uni-lateral decisions about our territories,” said Chief Thomas. “Our nation has self government authority to review and make decisions that affect our territory according to our own law.

“Canada’s own environmental assess-ment laws confirm this jurisdiction, and the government’s failure to consult and cooperate with us as governments has landed them in court. We are en-forcing our own laws. We are enforcing Canadian environmental law.”

Federal court gives okay for nation to dispute NEB process on pipeline expansion.

TSLEIL-WAUTUTH LEGAL CHALLENGE TO GO AHEADRecent canoe races at Whey-ah-wichen Park had the oil tank farm as a backdrop.

NEWS


Another canoe racing season comes to an end this month highlighted by the return of competition in Nanoose Bay.

Snaw-naw-as First Nation is hosting the races on August 2-3. Races begin around noon on both days. There will be a concession and artist sales throughout the weekend.

Meanwhile, Tsleil-Waututh Nation hosted its fifth annual Whey-ah-Wichen Canoe Festival in early July. Despite a weekend of rain, the races attracted a large number of crews from Coast Salish tribes in Washington State as well as the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

Before the races began, Tsleil- Waututh said in a statement: “We look forward to hosting this event each year to share our rich culture and connec-tion to the sacred land and water with the North Shore community and our First Nation families who will travel to participate in this culturally significant event.

“Traditional canoe racing is a cel-ebration of our connection to the rivers and ocean in our territory and repre-sents who we are as a people. The canoe embodies discipline, respect, teamwork and unity, and honors the trade and diplomatic relations we have with our

neighboring First Nation communities.“Canoe training and racing has been

a part of our cultural fabric for as long

as Coast Salish people have occupied the territories around the Salish Sea and Burrard Inlet.”

‘Traditional canoe racing is a celebration of our connection to the rivers and ocean.’

A FINAL MONTH OF RACING FOR CANOES

After the race, the paddles from the Rainbow crew were collected

The Rainbow canoe took the lead in the late stages of the race at Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

The canoe embodies discipline, respect, teamwork and unity, and honors the trade and diplomatic relations we have with our neighboring First Nation communities.

NEWS


By Cara McKenna

Snuneymuxw elder Gary Manson – Xulsimalt – has had some rough times on the ocean as a regular participant of Tribal Journeys.

In eight years of taking part of the event, he has been in a canoe that flipped in rough waters, braved 15-hour days of paddling and once had his lips swell up from the sun and saltwater.

Which is why, during the 2014 Tribal Journeys to Bella Bella, Manson was happy to stay on land as he welcomed over a dozen canoes arriving to Newcastle Island near Nanaimo on June 27.

Equipped with a walkie talkie to

communicate with paddlers, Manson stood on the shore in the pouring rain welcoming canoe after canoe before joining them for a salmon feast.

Despite all the work, planning and money that goes into Tribal Journeys each year, he said, the benefits – getting away from technology and stress and back to nature and spirituality – are priceless.

“It’s definitely a powerful journey,” he said. “In the sharing, the coming together, people are starting to stand up and show who they are. Our culture was almost lost due to laws that were put on us in our history but this is a revival.

“It’s grown to mega proportions and

its brought culture back to a lot of the villages where culture was lost.”

Davey George Krise from the Squaxin Island Tribe, who paddled from Wash-ington State, said after four days on the water that he felt great, but knows how to pace himself after 15 years of paddling.

“You become that water,” he said. “You become strong and tough. And the spirits of our ancestors, I know they watch over us.”

By the end of the 2014 journey, over 1,000 pullers from as far away as Oregon, took part in the five-day Qatuwas Festival hosted by the Heiltsuk First Nation at Bella Bella. The Qatuwas Festival wrapped up on July 17.

Elder Gary Manson trades in his paddle for dry land during Tribal Journeys 2014

POWERFUL JOURNEY ON ROUGH SEASGary Manson welcomed the travellers.

NEWS


Many canoes, from as far away as Oregon, made the journey to Newcastle Island on their way to Bella Bella. Protocol was followed before the canoes came ashore.

NEWS


A community’s imagination was sparked as the long history of Tla’amin (Sliammon) came alive at a community gathering recently.

The inspiration came from a group of Simon Fraser University archaeology students, under the tutelage of Dr Dana Lepofsky, who summarized their work that started in Sliammon territory in 2008. There were glimpses at many dis-coveries made through digs into old middens, ancient house sites and other areas, from Scuttle Bay – Klekwahnno-hm – to Harwood Island – Ahgykson.

There was much interest in the accounts of people using the land and sea for the past several thousand years

and how that use shaped the community that exists today. But audience attention really perked up when the Tla’amin dog came on the scene.

Researcher Kasia Zimmerman talked about the important role of the dogs for hunting and protection as well as the more recent use of the dog’s hair for wool.

“Good hunting dogs were prized and treated well. They were fed what people ate and received ancestral names and burials…”

So, how did she get to know about the Tla’amin dog in the ancient and recent

History of a nation revealed through years of work by archaeologists

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE ONE ABOUT THE TLA’AMIN DOG?

Gail Blaney, Kasia Zimmerman and Murray Mitchell.

Dr. Dana Lepofsky

NEWS


past? Zimmerman spoke to many elders, of course. But the real evidence came from close inspection of the remains of dog samples and DNA testing of at least a dozen of those animals’ samples.

Some of the remains had been buried 3,500 years ago. The testing showed that the dogs lived on almost 100 per cent marine protein, much like their human masters. It was also revealed that the lineage of four of the Tla’amin dogs was linked to the Chihuahua that is thought to have originated in ancient Mexico.

Evidence also showed that cross-breeding was done with wolf and coyote, perhaps for those animals’ hunt-ing prowess and perhaps to create the ideal fur that could be used for weaving.

Other discoveries showed that the root of the False hellebore was used by both humans and dogs to improve smell, sight, speed and endurance, all qualities essential for a successful hunt.

Not only were Tla’amin dogs well treated, often being kept in peoples’ house or shelters, but their high status was recognized in death. Excavations at one site revealed two dogs buried near an elderly woman almost 2,000 years ago.

Women were often the main carers of the dogs and took them on hunts. Statements from elders showed that until the 1960s, the dogs were used to chase deer to water where hunters waited. Dogs also figured in many sto-

ries, often with transformation themes.

Plank houses and herringOther topics discussed at the commu-

nity event included the long history of plank houses throughout Tla’amin tra-ditional territory, use of resources from cooking to other means of processing, settlements on Harwood Island and Lepofsky’s own research into the cul-tural importance of herring throughout coastal BC.

The Tla’amin-SFU Archaeology and Heritage Stewardship Program partner-ship was formed in 2007. The goal was the add to the extensive oral history of the community while providing educa-tional opportunities for Tla’amin and its neighbours.

While archaeological excavations ended in 2012 and interviews with community members were complet-ed last year, the work is not over yet. Zimmerman and the other graduate students who presented their findings at the community gathering – Julia Jackley and Chris Springer – will be working on their theses and then com-bining their findings into a Tla’amin historical atlas; tangible evidence of thousands of years of Tla’amin history.

More info about the Tla’amin archaeology project, herring research and other topics can be found at Dr. Lepofsky’s site: www.sfu.ca/archaeology/ faculty/lepofsky.html

The teachers dispute may have closed schools early, but it helped form what looks to be a long-lasting relationship with Snuneymuxw First Nation and its neighbours in the Ce-dar area of Nanaimo.

When the Cedar Ball Hockey Chal-lenge Association saw a local interme-diate school closed and its tournament

plans in doubt, Snuneymuxw offered some last-minute help. It offered its box lacrosse court on Longhouse Road to the group.

“We were glad to help out,” Chief John Wesley said. “We’re neighbours and that’s what neighbours do.”

The group said it “can’t express enough gratitude for the way Snuney-

muxw have embraced us in such a short period of time… We’re thrilled to have this new partnership and can’t wait to see what the future has in store for this community.”

Before the tournament began, play-ers and supporters donated materi-als and labour to make repairs to the Snuneymuxw lacrosse box.

A WIN-WIN FROM TEACHERS’ STRIKE

Sliammon people worked with the SFU archaeologists.

NEWS


CAMP AU’PUK’WUM A KLAHOOSE TRADITIONMembers of Klahoose First Nation and some of their neighbours visited Camp Au’Puk’Wum in the nation’s territory in July.

Chief James Delorme, who accompanied the travellers from the main reserve at T’oq (Squirrel Cove) said the four-day camp has taken place at Forbes Bay annually since the 1970s. He said it is a reflective cultural experience, often powerful enough to bring out emotions.

Clockwise from right: • ChiefDelorme,DrewBlaneyandhisfatherDarinsharedasongbefore

lunch.• NormanHarryJr.,amaintenanceworkeratKlahoose,arrivesat“the

falls” after a short hike from camp.• Klahoose First Nation’s new sign was built from lumber from the

nation’s sawmill.• Camperswelcomedvisitors.• PaytonFrancisarrivedtothecampbyboat.• CouncillorKathyFrancistookinthesunonthewaytocamp.• Sliammon First Nation member Drew Blaney collected fresh water

from a stream.• RandyLouie,anewKlahoosememberwhotransferredfromMalahat

Nation, tried his hand at carving for the first time during the camp.

NEWS


NEWS


August 2-3Snaw-naw-as First Nation youth group hosts war canoe races at Nanoose Bay, BC.

August 9-10Swinomish Tribes host war canoe races at LaConner, Washington.

August 10The 3rd annual Salish Sea Gathering hosted by Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust will be held at Whey-ah-wichjen/Cates Park in North Vancouver with 15 music acts and speakers. www.twnsacredtrust.ca.

August 11-13The 17th annual Coast Salish Games – Respecting Our Youth – will be held at the Si’em Lelum soccer fields and

gym at Cowichan Tribes in Duncan, BC. Contact Cindy Daniels at cindy.daniels @cowichantribes.com, 250-510-2424 or Fred George at 250-709-8600.

August 15-17Songhees First Nation hosts war canoe races.

August 15-17Suquamish Tribe hosts war canoe races as part of its 103rd Chief Seattle Days on the Port Madison Indian Reservation, Suquamish, Washington. http://suquamish.org.

August 22-24Canoe racing season comes to an end as Makah Tribe hosts its 90th annual Makah Days celebrations at Neah Bay, Washington. http://makah.com.

September 22-25“Collaboration: Realizing Opportunities“ is the theme of the 21st annual national conferenceofCANDO,theorganization dedicated to Aboriginal economic development. It will be held at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre in Nanaimo and is co-hosted by Snuney-muxw First Nation and Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council. www.edo.ca.

November 1Malahat First Nation presents Shoot for the Moon – Catch a Star 2nd annual gala with singer Crystal Shawanda and astronaut Dr Robert Thirsk at Brent-wood College, Mill Bay. Call 250-743-3231 or visit www.malahatnation.com for more information.

SALISH SEA CALENDAR

Participants in the 2009 Coast Salish Games, which were held in and around Snuneymuxw First Nation. This year’s games will be held at the Si’em Lelum soccer fields and gym at Cowichan Tribes in Duncan. See the calendar below for details.

THE COAST SALISH GAMES ARE BACK

NEWS


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August 2014

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