Salish Sea Sentinel March 2017 by Salish Sea Sentinel

Volume 13 . Issue 2

March 2017

INSIDE MEMORIAL MARCH PAGES 13-15 WEAVER UNLIKE ANY OTHER PAGES 6-9

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NAUT’SA MAWT TRIBAL COUNCIL NATIONS

Naut’sa mawt - Working together as one EDITORIAL TEAM Mark Kiemele – Editor editor@salishseasentinel.ca Cara McKenna – Reporter/Photographer caradawnmckenna@gmail.com Bronwen Geddes – Copy Editor DESIGN & LAYOUT Kelly Landry & Carmel Ecker ADVERTISING & DISTRIBUTION Manoj Sood ads@salishseasentinel.ca 604-943-6712 or 1-888-382-7711 PUBLISHER Gary Reith, CAO Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council 330-6165 Highway 17A Delta, BC, V4K 5B8 604-943-6712 or 1-888-382-7711 PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT #42922026 Undeliverable mail may be returned to: 330-6165 Highway 17A Delta, BC, V4K 5B8 circulation@salishseasentinel.ca

The Salish Sea map was created in 2009 by Stefan Freelan at Western Washington University

1. HALALT (250) 246-4736 chief@halalt.org www.halalt.org

7. SNUNEYMUXW (Nanaimo) (250) 740-2300 johngwesley@shaw.ca www.snuneymuxw.ca

2. HOMALCO (250) 923-4979 m.enevoldsen@homalco.com

8. STZ’UMINUS (Ladysmith) (250) 245-7155 Ray.Gauthier@coastsalishdevcorp.com www.stzuminus.com

The Salish Sea Sentinel is published monthly, ten times a year, by the Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council, representing 6,500 people in 11 member nations.

3. KLAHOOSE Qathen Xwegus Management Corp (250) 935-6536 www.klahoose.com

© Salish Sea Sentinel is all right reserved. Contents and photographs may not be reprinted without written permission. The statements, opinions and points of view expressed in articles published in this magazine are those of the authors. The publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, transparencies or other materials.

4. MALAHAT (250) 743-3231 caroline.harry@malahatnation.com www.malahatnation.com

COVER PHOTO: A woman pauses during the Women’s Memorial March on Feb. 14 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside – Photo by Cara McKenna.

6. SNAW-NAW-AS (Nanoose) (250) 390-3661 chris.bob@nanoose.org www.nanoose.org

5. TLA’AMIN (604) 483-9646 clint.williams@sliammon.bc.ca www.sliammonfirstnation.com

9. TSAWWASSEN (604) 943-2122 info@tsawwassenfirstnation.com www.tsawwassenfirstnation.com 10. TSLEIL-WAUTUTH (604) 929-3454 bbaptiste@twnation.ca www.twnation.ca 11. T’SOU-KE (Sooke) (250) 642-3957 administrator@tsoukenation.com www.tsoukenation.com Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council 8017 Chemainus Road Chemainus, BC V0R 1K5 (250) 324-1800 • www.nautsamawt.org

SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 1

Bear Lewis, a Squaxin Island tribal member, harvests geoduck during a low tide in Puget Sound. –Photo courtesy NW Treaty Tribes Flickr, used with permission.

FIRST SQUIRREL COVE GEODUCK HARVEST ‘GROUNDBREAKING’ The headlines in the newsletter that went out to the community in early January was set in bold type: Klahoose Shellfish Limited Partnership (KSLP) is proud to announce that there will be a harvest on our geoduck tenure just outside of Squirrel Cove. In what was called “a groundbreaking effort”, details of the Klahoose harvest were revealed. Along with it was a history lesson in how the harvest came to be. Divers went into waters planted with geoduck seeds in 2010 to dig up the cultured stock. “We anticipate the animals will be about 400-700 grams,” the announcement said, adding “the product will be heading over to China for the Chinese New Year at the end of January.” In 2008, then-chief Ken Brown was president of the Klahoose shellfish company and, with support of the board 2 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL

of directors and Klahoose council, he successfully negotiated the purchase of a 50 per cent interest in Argosy Sea Farms and its 34-hectare sub-tidal geoduck farm. The tenure was situated just outside of Squirrel Cove, the nation’s main reserve on the east side of Cortes Island. Two years later, Klahoose Shellfish entered into a partnership with the University of British Columbia to grow over 300,000 geoduck seeds that were planted under a canopy of nets on the ocean floor. An additional 600,000 seeds were later planted. The current president of Klahoose Shellfish is Chief James Delorme. The board of directors consists of Kathy Francis, Doug Bourque, Dave Cyr and Johnny Hanuse. Delorme said Klahoose was “the first Aboriginal nation to successfully create a

partnership in this rewarding industry. “This is a highly sought after, highly prized and valued product in China and we are eager to be a part of this industry.” After the first successful planting program, Klahoose Shellfish purchased the remaining shares of Argosy Sea Farms and became sole owner of the deep-water license. “Nine years after our initial purchase of the Argosy tenure, and seven years after planting, we are now beginning to harvest and get some returns on the original investments,” Delorme said. The company is currently planning its assessment of geoduck planted in 2013. And Delorme said that there is an opportunity for band members to be trained aboard vessels to learn the fundamentals of geoduck science and extraction. “In the near future, we wish to have greater

Klahoose are leaders in economic development in forestry, green energy and now in geoduck aquaculture. We anticipate great things to come. involvement from our Klahoose membership in this industry,” he said. “We will be working with training groups, such as North Vancouver Island Aboriginal Training Society, to build capacity. KSLP will design a training program to further existing knowledge and introduce band members to this sector. “This really is the start of a new day…Klahoose are leaders in economic development in forestry, green energy and now in geoduck aquaculture. We anticipate great things to come.”

OTHERS HAVE GEODUCK WOES

While Klahoose harvests, other nations around the Salish Sea have been hampered in their access to the large and pricey shellfish. Members of Stz’uminus First Nation blockaded a geoduck harvest by vessels from the Underwater Harvesters Association (UHA) in 2010. That harvest, approved by the federal fisheries department, was in Kulleet Bay within shouting distance of homes on the reserve lands. In 2013, Chief John Elliott wrote to the federal fisheries minister: “The monopoly the UHA holds over this resource is not an effort of sustainability and conservation; rather it is a profiteering scheme that has gone on long enough.”

SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 3

SHHH…THE ORCAS ARE LISTENING

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is aiming to reduce ship noise that’s harming endangered killer whales (orcas) by using sound-quieting machines, in an initiative it hopes to expand across the country. Port researchers have been studying noise reduction for several years and recently showed their underwater noise reduction technology to federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau. Kate Moran of Oceans Network Canada, which is working with the port on the technology, said they hope to expand the initiative across Canada. The port authority also announced it would cut harbour dues in half for quieter cargo and cruise vessels travelling through the Burrard Inlet, Fraser River and Roberts Bank terminals. They are trying to reduce vessel noise because the sounds hinder whales’ ability to hunt, communicate and navigate. It has been speculated that increasing noise could push endangered southern resident orcas into extinction; currently there are just 78 left. Some scientists have specifically highlighted the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project and sevenfold increase in tanker traffic it will bring as a death knell for the whales. But Duncan Wilson with the port authority said it’s a matter of all vessels. “There are tens of thousands of vessel movements every year in the Straight,” he said. “It’s bigger than any individual project. “Kinder Morgan, it’s not going to start operation tomorrow and so programs like this, over the next couple of years, we’re going to learn from this research.” Garneau, who announced an Oceans Protection Plan earlier the same day, said it’s necessary to better understand how noise affects at-risk or endangered marine species. “We have a lot of research to do to understand the environment,” he said. “But it’s great to see a team is in place. This is very encouraging. I think that we’re beginning to do something that I think is unique in the world.” 4 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL

ARTWORK REVEALED FOR SALISH CLASS FERRIES The artwork for the last of three Salish Class vessels commissioned by BC Ferries has been revealed. Musqueam artist Thomas Cannell’s work for the Salish Raven was revealed at the nation’s cultural centre on Feb. 9. All three new ferries will soon be cruising the Salish Sea, replacing two older vessels that are being retired. The Salish Eagle’s design by Stz’uminus artist John Marston was revealed last September while the Salish Orca’s design by Esquimalt artist Darlene Gait was revealed one year ago. The Salish Eagle departed the Poland shipyards where it was built on Feb. 11 and is set to arrive in BC this spring. The Salish Orca arrived in BC from Poland earlier this year. The Salish Raven will soon make the same 50-day journey.

I have tried to capture this enormous sense of being within my design concept for Salish Raven.

Thomas Cannell

Cannell said he is honoured that he was hired to create the design for the third vessel. “Ravens have always been my favorite to draw and study, their strength lies in recognizing opportunity,” he said. “I have tried to capture this enormous sense of being within my design concept for Salish Raven.” Cynthia Callison with the First Peoples’ Cultural Council, which worked with BC Ferries to find artists, said she is happy Coast Salish designs will be featured on the widely seen ships for years to come. The Salish Orca will sail the Comox-Powell River route while the other two will sail to the Southern Gulf Islands.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES: 10 YEARS AGO

FOCUS ON ENVIRONMENT AT COAST SALISH GATHERING “It’s funny that we are just coming to a time when Aboriginal people are taking the first steps in economic development.” That comment about environmental pressures being felt by our world was made by Steven Point of Sto:lo Nation, who is chief commissioner of the BC Treaty Commission. He was talking at the Coast Salish Gathering, which was held in late January in Cowichan territory. The Gathering was more than a family reunion for leaders from 100 Coast Salish Nations and Tribes from Washington State and British Columbia. It was held over common concerns about the environmental damage that is changing the way of life lived by all creatures of the world. Federal governments, as well as state and provincial governments from both sides of the border, sat alongside their Coast Salish

counterparts for the three days. There was talk of dead zones along our coast and the effects of environmental and cultural pollution that have caused us to lose our way. The Gathering served as a stark warning of what may be coming for all of us – the mustimuhw (people) – if we don’t change our ways. Around the Salish Sea, it’s the salmon that is “the canary in the coal mine”. The Pacific salmon has been the lifeblood for thousands of years, but now they are hurting. The Gathering heard that salmon are being fished out. Immigrant Atlantic salmon are bringing disease and genetic weaknesses. Rivers are drying up in late summer, making it more difficult to spawn. And there’s more flooding in winter, washing away eggs and fry.

Stephen Point, then chief commissioner of the B.C. Treaty Commission and map.

COURT ACTIONS LOOM FOR PIPELINE PROJECT The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion proposal may have received the thumbs-up from Canada and BC, but opponents are still hoping a court decision might stop the $6.8 billion project in its tracks. By an 8-2 vote on Feb. 22, Vancouver city council decided to request a judicial review of the environmental assessment of the pipeline project by the BC government. The Green Party’s member, Adriane Carr, who brought forward the motion, said she was particularly impressed by Tsleil-Waututh councillor Charlene Aleck’s submission to council. Meanwhile, an application was filed in BC Supreme Court on Jan. 31 that alleges that Kinder Morgan’s approval was tainted by government corruption. Democracy Watch and the PIPE UP Network are asking the court to review the Government of British Columbia’s approval of the company’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. The groups allege that the BC government created a conflict of interest when it accepted $550,000 in Liberal Party donations from oil companies, including Kinder Morgan. They also say that conflict was compounded when Premier Christy Clark received a yearly stipend of $50,000 from the party during the same years the donations were made, although she recently announced she is no longer accepting the payments. The application says that the financial benefits mean that Clark and her ministers should not have been allowed to make a decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline. SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 5

LOUISE HARRY A WEAVER UNLIKE ANY OTHER

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SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 6

The legacy of an innovative and unique basket maker—Louise (Francis) Harry— was celebrated in an intimate ceremony at the Museum at Campbell River in early February. People from Klahoose and Homalco (Xwemahlkwu) nations gathered with friends and neighbours to honour the memory and the work of a woman and an artist. In the room were two of Louise Harry’s sons, Norman Harry Sr. and Leonard Pielle. A song was sung, blanketing took place, witnesses were recognized and memories were recorded. Also attending were Colin Gabelmann and partner Robin Geary. Although Gabelmann is best known as a long-time BC member of the legislature and former attorney general, he and Geary were there as friends of Louise and her family. They presented the family with copies of a book they had published for the event titled simply Louise (Francis) Harry – Weaver. In the credits for the book, Gabelmann wrote: “This project was inspired by the desire of Norman Harry and his family on Cortes Island to leave a legacy of his mother’s work for future generations.” He told the gathering that “Our relationship began almost 40 years ago. A bond with the Harry family developed quite quickly.”

A few years ago, Gabelmann said, “Norman asked about getting his mother’s baskets back. We collected photos of all the baskets we could find.” Many of those photographs, along with a family tree, illustrate the 20-page book.

Brothers Norman Harry Sr and Leonard Pielle.

BORN AT CHURCH HOUSE

Louise Harry was born in the Homalco community of Church House at the entrance to Bute Inlet in 1911, according to information provided by the museum and its curator Beth Boyce. “Church House was a relatively new community then, with the Homalco people having moved there about a decade earlier after their village of Mushkin, on the east coast of Sonora Island, was destroyed by one of the infamous Bute winds. “Louise was part of a large family with several older sisters and a number of

Photo: Church House circa 1950s. –Photo courtesy of the Museum at Campbell River.

brothers. Little is known about her father, George Francis, but we do know that her mother, Mary Madeline (Wilson), was a talented basket maker. “Three of Mary’s baskets are in the collection of the Museum at Campbell River. At least one of Louise’s older sisters, Theresa (Leo), is also known to have made baskets, though sadly no examples of her work have been located. “In 1931, Louise married a Klahoose man named Tommy Piel(le), the brother of basket makers Jeanne (Dominick) and Anne (Chapman). The couple settled in the Klahoose community of Squirrel Cove and had two children before Tommy was lost in a fishing accident. Louise remarried several times and had several other children. Her last marriage was to George Harry. Louise died in Campbell River in 1987. She was 75.” The museum calls Louise Harry’s basketwork “innovative, distinctive and stylistically consistent.” The basket bottoms had an unusual feature with the slats narrower than those forming the walls. But it was the materials that Louise used for her work that really stood out. The museum said she was “the only northern Coast Salish basket maker known to have worked with hemlock root as well as the more commonly used cedar and spruce roots. Continued on page 8

SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 7

Descendents of Louise Harry gathered after the ceremony. Continued from page 7

“Two baskets in the (museum’s) collection were purchased directly from Louise, who specifically stated that she had made them of hemlock rather than cedar or spruce root. The hemlock root is whiter in colour than both the cedar and spruce and has a duller sheen.” Another distinctive feature of her baskets was that only cherry bark was used for decoration using either a red (natural) or black (dyed) bark. “On all of the examples of her work included in this inventory the colour white or yellow is entirely absent from the applied designs. This is unusual for northern Coast Salish baskets.”

MUSEUMS AND FIRST NATIONS

Chief James Delorme of Klahoose First Nation helped coordinate the ceremony. Ken Hanuse as a speaker, drummer and singer assisted him. After the event, Delorme said he viewed the ceremony as a form of reconciliation. 8 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL

It was the materials that Louise used for her work that really stood out. The museum said she was “the only northern Coast Salish basket maker known to have worked with hemlock root.

“The relationship between First Nations and museums is important. Museums generally do not give back artifacts they collect, but there are ways for the two groups to come to an agreement. “Reconciliation took place through Colin Gabelmann working with the museum,” Delorme said. While he recognized the important role that museums have in caring for artifacts, the Klahoose chief said his community was working on an opportunity for building its own facility that would include both a cultural centre and museum.

WORK OF THREE NATIONS

The Museum at Campbell River recognized the close ties between Homalco, Klahoose and Tla’amin (Sliammon) people. In addition to Louise Harry, makers of baskets in its collections include: Mary Madeline (Wilson) Francis was born in 1883 and her baskets are believed to have been made around 1918. Annie (Pielle) Chapman was born in 1885. Her baskets were made using cedar root rather than pine needles, a unique feature for northern Coast Salish work. Elizabeth (McGee) Wilson, was born in the 1880s. Her father, Opanius, was identified as the hereditary owner of the Upper Toba River watershed. Annie Wilson (Harry) was born in 1880 and lived until 1972. She was the daughter of former Homalco chief George Harry and Theresa Bob of Sliammon and harvested all her own basketry materials. To find more information, visit http://baskets.crmuseum.ca.

Above: Ken Hanuse and Chief Delorme hold one of the blankets given out during the ceremony. Top left: Family members read commemorative booklets.

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Salia Joseph of Snuneymuxw drummed while others sang at the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver.

HER WORDS MAKE CONNECTIONS

By Cara McKenna Dozens of people sat in attentive silence as Molly Billows read a spoken word poem written the day before last year’s U.S. election. “We have always prepared our children to live in a world that is already on fire,” Billows, who is 26, read to a crowd gathered at Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver on Jan. 19. “And if the catastrophe is coming in the morning, how will it be different than waking up on any other day? Yes, there will be a new face on an old system, but the fire and the fight will remain the same.” Billows, a member of Homalco First Nation, who has relations in Klahoose and Tla’amin (Sliammon), writes spoken word poetry as a way to connect with people viscerally and to boil down complex ideas into flowing speech. The poems discuss colonialism and Indigenous identity and many portray both anger and hope. Billows has a lot to say as a feminist, queer Indigenous person, who is relatively disconnected from Homalco territory. Adopted as a baby, growing up in Victoria and living in Vancouver since 2011, the poet has found urban connections. 10 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL

Molly Billows

“I’ve found it a lot easier to build community in urban spaces here,” Billows said. “There are a lot of urban Homalco, Klahoose and Sliammon people. “I shared my poetry (at Tla’amin) once which was really amazing. That kind of relationship building is a little bit less complicated.” As for most Indigenous people who grew up away from home, learning about Coast Salish culture has been a journey. But a significant factor in self-discovery was studying at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and making ties with a strong community of Indigenous students. Another strength came from the Idle No More movement, which began in late 2012.

“For me, it came at a really powerful moment, because it was when I was at UBC… and learning from the really amazing Indigenous professors there, and unlearning so many things that I’d learned growing up.” “It was the first time I’d ever really even seen Indigenous people celebrating being Indigenous at that scale and in such a public arena.” At the end of university, about three years ago, Billows began to get more deeply into writing and performing poetry, wanting to create “something that could be heard by a broader audience and something people could connect to, rather than writing academic paper after academic paper. “It just felt like the knowledge I was gaining wasn’t going anywhere. Poetry was a way I could compress a lot of these ideas and these feelings into a few minutes.” Performing at various community venues, including schools, has also helped Billows connect ideas to an audience beyond academics. “I can kind of connect to people in ways that I would find harder, and where there would be more resistance than if I just sat down and tried to have a straight intellectual conversation with someone,” Billows said. “In poetry spaces, even if they don’t agree with what I’m saying, people can connect to the feeling of it.”

LIVING THROUGH THIS APOCALYPSE

– By Molly Billows

Today I am writing to you from the edge of the catastrophe. Words emerge from the heavy air settled deep in my chest Hollowed sadness. The tightness of fear. The doomed weight of inevitability, of too late, of what now? But if the catastrophe is coming in the morning. It is born out of old narratives. Managed through recycled policies. I have already lived through this apocalypse, so have you. For indigenous people, for people of color on this continent, the catastrophe hit a long time ago. Today is just another symptom, the culmination of a system designed for our exclusion and our extinction We have already lived through this apocalypse. We called it first contact We called it slavery We called it smallpox We called it Japanese internment We called it Chinese head-tax We called it residential schools We call it foster care We call it stop and frisk We call it the war on terrorism We call it the war on drugs We call it the refugee crisis We call it standing rock We called it oka We called it katrina We called it Orlando We call it ICE We call it high youth suicide rates We call it the prison industrial complex We call it the Patriot Act We call it the Indian Act We call it Bill C-51 We call it a million different names. And if the catastrophe is coming in the morning how will it be different than waking up on any other day? If the catastrophe is coming in the morning then tonight we will make art, we will make love. we will make dinner. And in the way a white family might have a conversation about what to do if there is a house fire... In Standing Rock a family is having a conversation about what to do if militarized violence escalates… even if our only weapons are feathers and prayers. Somewhere in a living room in America a Muslim family is talking about what to do if the presidential level discussion of mandatory registration turns towards internment camps… making necessary plans. A latino family is talking about how to avoid a heightened risk of deportation… don’t open the door. A Black family is talking about the reality of living under the new Jim Crow, about surviving the next encounter with the police... keep both hands on the wheel. We have always prepared our children to live in a world that is already on fire. And if the catastrophe is coming in the morning how will it be different than waking up on any other day? Yes, there will be a new face on an old system, but the fire and the fight will remain the same.

SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 11

NANAIMO HOSPITAL STORIES ‘UNBUNDLED’ IN NEW BOOK Over the years, the Sentinel has heard elders refer to the “Nanaimo TB Hospital” or the “Indian Hospital”. One elder from Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose) nation talked about her joy when a health centre was built overlooking Nanoose Bay because she had been avoiding medical care for years in fear of going to any facility in nearby Nanaimo. Those vague stories have come to life in Gary Geddes’s new book “Medicine Unbundled”. The Thetis Island author interviewed Indigenous elders from across the country in what has been called the dark history of segregated Indigenous health care in Canada. The following are excerpts printed with permission. Joan Morris, or Joanie as she prefers to be called, is seated across from me at Ricky’s Restaurant in a small plaza on Admirals Road, a major street that cuts the Songhees Reserve in half. Apparently, you don’t argue with rank when it comes to colonial thoroughfares. She is spreading at least a hundred black-and-white photographs on the table, all associated with her mother’s 17-year sojourn in the Nanaimo Indian Hospital, which operated from 1946 to 1967. “That’s my mother when she was admitted. She was healthy then. This is her a few years later, after the injections, bloated and sickly.” The difference is shocking. Confidence and youthful exuberance are gone; and in their place a close-cropped woman with a puffy, unhealthy face and no light in her eyes. Joanie provides a running commentary on the photographs. “This is Uncle Ivan, a patient at the same time, who almost died from a botched operation. That’s the priest from Kuper who raped my friend. And this is the Nanaimo Indian Hospital where I was admitted at age two, and again at age five. I visited the place once after it closed to offer a prayer for those who 12 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL

Joan Morris

died there. I’d never felt anything so cold before – it was like the hand of death on my neck… “Shortly after I was born and my mother was shipped off to the Nanaimo Indian Hospital, I was living with my grandparents, Elizabeth and Andrew James, in Esquimalt Harbour. Grandmother was a midwife. Grandfather, a lovely man when sober, became violent and angry when drunk. “He survived residential school on Penelakut Island but never talked about it. All that went to the grave with him. The house in Esquimalt burned down when someone knocked over a kerosene lantern. That’s how we all came to be living with my great-grandparents, Tom and Alice James, on Chatham Island, my spiritual home…

I return the earlier batch of photographs, which I’ve scanned and placed in a leather-bound album so Joanie can keep them safe. I’m not expecting her question. “What did you think after looking at all those pictures?” She has something more than curiosity in mind, but I’m not sure what it is. I tell her the photos made me angry and upset at the waste of human lives, though I know it’s also because old photos always remind me of my own losses and the relentless passing of time. “This is just a drop in the whirlpool,” Joanie says. “We’ve lost thousands, maybe millions.” I understand her use of the pronoun “we” to include the indigenous peoples in the Americas, perhaps worldwide. She then talks about the spread of smallpox blankets and of German-speaking doctors showing up at Kuper when she was there, with long needles to inject “medicines” into the chests of students, one of whom died shortly after… Many Canadian historians dismiss indigenous people’s stories about smallpox and other deliberately introduced diseases as fabrications, arising from justifiable paranoia among peoples displaced and forcibly incarcerated at the schools. I certainly don’t dismiss those painful testimonies, so fresh in the minds of survivors, but I need more proof about smallpox and atrocities that occurred 150 years ago. It’s an issue that will have to wait. Medicine Unbundled: A Journey through the Minefields of Indigenous Health Care By Gary Geddes http://heritagehouse.ca

WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH FEBRUARY 14

Hundreds of people took to the streets in Vancouver on Valentine’s Day to remember Indigenous women whose lives were lost on the Downtown Eastside. The annual Women’s Memorial March, in its 27th year, aims to bring courage to the families and friends of women who have died. It also raises attention to the disproportionate amount of violence, in all its forms, faced by Indigenous women. On Feb. 14, people held photos of loved ones, drummed and sang songs, carried and left flowers along the route and held ceremonies in remembrance. Photography by Cara McKenna

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14 â&#x20AC;¢ SALISH SEA SENTINEL

SALISH SEA SENTINEL â&#x20AC;¢ 15

VOICES FROM DTES FRONT LINES HEARD AT LIVE TAPING ON MMIW A live taping of CBC Radio’s The Current in Vancouver on Jan. 24 was an opportunity for a panel of journalists and artists to speak about their work around the missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) crisis. But the real stars of the show were numerous Downtown Eastside (DTES) frontline workers who stood up to voice their opinions on the issue after the formal discussions were over. In a Q&A at the event, people who’ve been impacted by the crisis – many Indigenous women – stood up to share their thoughts and experiences, including Fay Blaney, a member of Homalco First Nation. Blaney works with Indigenous women on the DTES and has been lobbying for a national MMIW inquiry for years. The following is some of what she had to say.

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“This is an issue of male violence against Indigenous women and other women. “It’s a very seductive narrative that’s out there right now about colonization, especially with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that’s happened. The federal government started this entire (inquiry) process with a ‘families first’ agenda. “That was the narrative that moved forward and it seems like we’re stuck on that. I think that it is critical to look at colonization…you know, I do come from a reserve. “But I think what’s even more important than that is to look at the gendered violence. It isn’t an issue of only Indigenous men perpetrating this violence against Indigenous women. “But on the other hand, I’m a survivor of that. I was 13 years old and running away from my community, and my mother was

Fay Blaney

23 years old and running away from my community because of male violence. “On my reserve, there have been Indigenous women that have been murdered. The cops couldn’t care less. Today in Canadian society, there is very little attention being paid to male violence against any woman, much less Indigenous women, and unfortunately, we’re impacted by both colonization and gendered violence.

NAUT’SA MAWT NEIGHBOURS WORKING TOGETHER

HARBOUR PARTNERSHIP DRAWS A FULL HOUSE Chief John Elliott and then mayor of Ladysmith Rob Hutchins rode together in a traditional canoe during the Winter Olympics parade in the town in 2009. SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 17 The two men and their councils worked together for a decade and the cooperation continues today.

It was standing room only when people from Stz’uminus First Nation and Ladysmith gathered to talk about the future of the town’s waterfront on Feb 1. The partnership between the First Nation and the town was on display at the speakers’ table. Elder Ray Harris – wearing a paddle vest and cedar hat – was joined by architects and planners for the proposed project. Sitting in the front row of the audience were the councils from Stz’uminus and Ladysmith. The meeting at Agricultural Hall was the latest evidence of a ten-year relationship between leaders of the two communities. “Aggie Hall… I was here when Roy Orbison was here,” Harris told the crowd of about 200. “And the next night, my parents brought me to the longhouse. So, that’s what we’re doing now… We are now walking in two worlds. We’re lucky in that sense. “The opportunities we have are immense… Ladysmith harbour is very important to the Stz’uminus people. We love this place; we cherish it. “This was our paradise. Year round, the uplands and the ocean provided for us. What more could you ask for? “We will be a good partner,” Harris told the crowd.

ON THE WATERFRONT

Development of Ladysmith’s waterfront has been a topic of conversation in the town for more than three decades. Its Transfer Beach Park has become a 18 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL

popular venue for casual and formal activities. In 2016, the Stz’uminus community welcomed everyone to the park for National Aboriginal Day celebrations. But it is the industrialized area north of the park that has been difficult to manage, let alone develop. Adjacent to the park is Slack Point, made up largely of coal waste materials that reference Ladysmith’s mining days of a century ago. Next to that is a water lot area known as Dog Patch that is home to a number of live-a-board boats as well as many boats that are abandoned or derelict. Further north is the maritime society’s welcome centre along with moorage for vessels of both residents and visitors. Farther north, just beside the Western Forest Products sawmill, is the government dock that provides moorage for many commercial fishing trawlers and seiners.

On the uplands are the old railway workshop that now houses the Harbour Heritage Centre, an art gallery and the large, impressive workshop of the heralded carver, John Marston of Stz’uminus. A large part of the waterfront area, including the water lots and Slack Point, is a brownfield site, thanks to the impacts of past coal and forestry uses. Costs for cleanup, stabilization and dredging could be more than $30 million. “Industry and pollution have affected our way of life,” Ray Harris told the Aggie Hall gathering.

PARTNERSHIP BEGINNINGS

A decade of accords and other agreements – not to mention the regular meetings between leaders from Stz’uminus and Ladysmith – is largely due to the relationship developed between Chief John Elliott and thenmayor Rob Hutchins.

Left: Ray Harris. Above: Council members. Below: Map of proposed project. Stz’uminus First Nation

But the product of those two men’s vision hasn’t just been pleasant formal gatherings to sign documents. Water and sewer service agreements allowed Stz’uminus to begin work on its Oyster Bay development straddling the Trans Canada Highway two kilometers north of the town. When the town released its 1997 waterfront area plan, there was no mention of the First Nation, let alone any talk of partnerships. But as the town began publicizing its 2017 version of waterfront planning, a preamble to the process said: The Stz’uminus, despite their continuing and irrevocable presence since time immemorial, became increasingly alienated from the management of their lands for harvesting, cultural, spiritual and economic use. This was a result of settler-colonial processes, which divided and sold the land without the input of its original owners and imposed an oppressive reservation and forced residential school system.

Town of Ladysmith

Recognizing the legacy of past misdoings, the Stz’uminus First Nation and Town of Ladysmith are committed to working together to restore the cultural values, improve the ecological health and create economic opportunity on the waterfront and in the harbour. It is not only the town’s leaders who have recognized the value of forming closer ties with the First Nation. As Elliott said at the Feb. 1 meeting: “No matter what comes out of this… we will accept it if it has the best interests of everyone.” And of the relationship between the two communities, he said: “We need the town and the town needs us… There’s no way around it.”

Stz’uminus First Nation

Ap of prox . wa ter boun fro nt darie pro s jec t

Stz’uminus First Nation

COMMUNITY ACCORDS

The councils of Stz’uminus First Nation and the Town of Ladysmith have been meeting together regularly since 2007 to talk about their communities’ shared futures. Since then, they have signed two ‘community accords’ in which they pledged to strengthen their relationship and work together on matters of common interest. The latest agreement was the Naut’Sa Mawt Community Accord, which was signed in 2012. It laid out terms for mutual recognition and principles of cooperation, as well as ways to strengthen the relationship and include members from both communities. SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 19

NAUT’SA MAWT NEIGHBOURS

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COAST SALISH QUEST FOR LADYSMITH STUDENTS Students at Ladysmith Secondary School (LSS) are joining government and business leaders in the community to learn more about their neighbours at Stz’uminus First Nation. A new course – called Language and Land-based Learning – is on the curriculum at the school this year. The course for the 30 students includes learning the Hul’qumi’num language, meeting Stz’uminus elders, canoeing, studying weaving and carving as well as writing and taking photos. Perhaps the keenest attention will be paid when students visit a large workshop on Ladysmith’s waterfront. It’s the workplace for carver John Marston. Students will be watching, and participating, as a Coast Salish welcome figure is created in the coming months. The nutsumaat syaays (working together as one) project at LSS is part of the new Aboriginal-inclusive curriculum that’s been put in place at all BC schools this year. Last year, Marston began the two-year task of creating a Coast Salish ‘feel’ at the school. He carved traditional house posts inside the school’s main entry doors. The base for the welcoming figure was placed and the artist built a longhouse-type structure and hung woven cedar mats. Champions of the project include teachers Bill Taylor and Moira Dolen, principal Margaret Olsen and volunteer Duck Paterson. Stz’uminus First Nation was a supporter and Timberwest donated the 40-foot log for the panels and welcome figure. The Artists in the Classroom organization gave $10,000 to kick-start the project last year. Paterson said: “We have been very fortunate as far as donations… We still have a couple of baby steps to go, if anybody is interested, but it’s so close that John is starting the welcoming figure work now.” When the Sentinel last wrote about the project, Marston said he was pumped by the support that came from his nation as well as the Ladysmith community. “People have said ‘this has been needed for so long’ and this project has taken us to a place where we have started to have good conversations. Now other people own it, not just me. “These are the first steps on the long road to reconciliation,” he said. Teacher Moira Dolen agreed and said of the long-term impacts of the project: “This is going to transform the school and transform the environment here.” Donations More information from mdolen@sd68.bc.ca or by phoning Moira Dolen or Bill Taylor at 250-245-3043. John Marston starting work on the pole. – Photo courtesy Duck Paterson.

SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 21

Bill Taylor and Moira Dolen with John Marston beside a completed panel. – Photo courtesy Duck Paterson.

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NAUT’SA MAWT NEIGHBOURS

DESIREE FINDS HER DESIRE AT CREDIT UNION It didn’t take long for Desiree Samuel to decide where she wanted to work when she started hearing about the plans for Stz’uminus First Nation’s Oyster Bay development along the Trans Canada Highway just north of Ladysmith. “When chief and council announced that Ladysmith District Credit Union (LDCU) was going to be one of many businesses that were looking into being in the Oyster Bay

location, I knew wanted to apply for a position.” Last July, she began working at the LDCU’s only branch in Ladysmith. But with the opening of the Stz’uminus branch earlier this year, she will find her time divided between both facilities. “I have worked in the customer service industry for a good number of years,” Samuel said. “I enjoy the interaction with people. “I wanted employment where I can

continue to work with the public. I also wanted employment that, at the end of the day, I would have a good sense of appreciation and accomplishment.” She has become a committed supporter of the credit union and said, “I would recommend that the Stz’uminus members take advantage of everything that LDCU has to offer.” Samuel is the mother of three children with seven grandchildren.

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FROM RECONCILIATION TO CANOES, CANADA’S 150TH IS ‘CELEBRATED’ The City of Victoria is calling 2017 ‘A year of reconciliation’ as its guide to celebrations for Canada’s 150th anniversary. Meanwhile, the City of Vancouver has named its festivities ‘Canada 150+’ to acknowledge pre-colonial history and will include three First Nations – TsleilWaututh, Squamish and Musqueam – in its events. Other 150th-related events are in the planning stages in municipalities around the Salish Sea, including carving a totem pole in Duncan on Vancouver Island. But the estimated $500 million in spending by the Government of Canada isn’t getting all rave reviews (see story below). Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said: “Reconciliation is more than words. It is about understanding the past and deepening connections… Reconciliation means changing our practices and the landscape of the city to honour the past and create the future with our First Nations partners.” Meanwhile in Vancouver, this summer’s The Drum is Calling festival, a Gathering of Canoes and a Walk for Reconciliation are some of the ways the city 24 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL

is acknowledging Indigenous history as it plans the year of celebrations for the 150th anniversary of confederation. The drum festival in June will feature singer Buffy Sainte Marie. Gathering of Canoes will take place in July and the reconciliation walk in September. The city has already commissioned a logo from Musqueam artist Thomas Cannell. The Vancouver Native Housing Society said it would create a village of life-size Indigenous housing structures on the site of the festival. The totem pole project in Duncan will take shape throughout the year in a highly visible location in downtown Duncan. Schools and community groups will be invited to participate in the carving process and the totem will travel to community events to engage Cowichan Valley residents in the project. “The Cowichan Valley’s cultural identity is inextricably linked to Coast Salish First Nations heritage,” Mayor Phil Kent said.

MESSED UP IN CANADA?

An online campaign created by the federal government to promote the 150th

anniversary appears to be backfiring among many Indigenous Canadians. A Twitter account for the country’s 150th has been encouraging residents to enter a contest called #HeresMyCanada by submitting a 30 second video on “what Canada means to you” before the end of the year. The government also launched the #Canada150 hashtag for people to use since the country launched its year of events on Jan. 1. But many on social media have instead been using those hashtags to point out the federal government’s ongoing mistreatment of Indigenous people. “I say we brand every messed up thing Canada is still doing to Indigenous people as ‘#Canada150’ and #reconciliation,” @Khelsilem, a member of Squamish Nation, suggested. Other tweets included: “#HeresMyCanada: Over 100 Indigenous communities without direct access to safe, clean drinking water” – @MediaINDIGENA. “Half a billion is being spent on #Canada150, while underfunding services for Indigenous kids continues. Awful” – @EtanaCain.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Photos courtesy of Joanne Hammond.

Those ‘Stops of Interest’ signs one sees while driving along BC’s highways have taken on new meanings. That’s thanks to Joanne Hammond. She runs Pacific Heritage, a research and consulting company specializing in anthropology and archeology. But let’s let her tell the story. I’ve been working on a Twitter project lately to try to bring some attention to the perpetuation of colonial narratives through public history. The project came about in response to a campaign launched by BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) to update the roadside Stops of Interest that dot BC’s highways. When the first refurbished sign went up in my town, Kamloops, I was surprised and disappointed to see that only the paint had been changed. The tired, colonialist story remained: a vague celebration of Wild West heritage that continued to ignore and erase Indigenous peoples’ roles in the history and building of BC. At a moment where reconciliation is in danger of becoming little more than a buzzword, I believe MoTI and other agents of settler colonialism have a real obligation to change the narrative in our public history. Indigenous people and places need to be written back into BC history. Knowing the truth about what happened between Indigenous people and settlers here is essential to BC’s future, a critical step to righting the balance between us. Not only for the sake of Indigenous people (who already know they’ve been here the whole time), but also for the rest of British Columbians, who’ve been raised on the settler-first diet of self-serving colonial stories. An understanding of who Indigenous people were at contact, how different waves of settlers interacted with them, and how we have all been affected since, is essential grounding for any reconciliation we can hope to achieve. So I started to #rewriteBC. I offered alternative versions of the stories told on the Stops of Interest. My stories are based on settler histories and archaeological knowledge, all evidence readily available to anyone with the internet and a will. These are not Indigenous versions or perspectives (best left to Indigenous people). They are just other parts of the same history, details once recorded by non-Indigenous settlers, described by Indigenous witnesses, or inscribed in material culture and recovered through archaeology, details left out of the story we think we know.” http://republicofarchaeology.ca/blog/ SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 25

SENTINEL SNAPS

A group of elders from Snuneymuxw was recently spotted on a day out at the new Tsawwassen Mills mall at Tsawwassen First Nation.

26 â&#x20AC;¢ SALISH SEA SENTINEL

First Nation leaders from throughout BC attended. Inset: Wendy Grant-John.

‘HOW DID WE LIVE TOGETHER BEFORE?’

By Cara McKenna The concept of reconciliation is often thought of as improving relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. But it also means fixing things between First Nations. That was the message from Wendy Grant-John when she told the annual Joint Gathering about reconciliation between Vancouver’s three nations – Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh. “We sat down as three families, we got the lawyers out of the room, and we said ‘OK, how did we live together before?’ And we got an agreement and accord amongst ourselves. Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh (people) all come from the same families. We are now operating that way.” Grant-John is a Musqueam Indian Band councillor. She was also three-term chief of Musqueam First Nation, the first woman elected regional chief to the Assembly of First Nations and a former associate regional director-general for the then-named department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. The Joint Gathering, held in midJanuary, was co-hosted by the BC First Nations Leadership Council and the BC region of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Grant-John said that after reconciliation between the three communities took place, they then began to involve government.

“They no longer can keep us apart and fighting,” she said. “We are together saying ‘No, this is all of ours’… We probably have the largest land holdings, value-wise, in Canada right now because of where it’s situated.” The three nations together have purchased 90 acres of real estate in Vancouver’s Jericho neighbourhood, one of Canada’s most high-end neighbourhoods. But hundreds of years ago, it was a shared travelling site between the three nations. “We’re developing those lands based on our values,” Grant-John said. “We have more green space, we’re looking at revitalizing creeks in our community. The bottom line is not necessarily the revenue, it’s creating jobs for our people.” She concluded by saying that nations must find their own ways to build reconciliation. “It doesn’t mean for us to put our teachings into (the government’s) structure. It means for their structure to adapt to ours. We’re defining what topics we want. We’re saying what we feel we want to be able to explore with the government.”

TWO NMTC NATIONS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Canada’s associate deputy minister of Indigenous and Northern Aaffairs Canada (INAC) highlighted the work of Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council nations during the Joint Gathering. Diane Lafleur was in BC at the end of 2016 for a meeting with the

Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose) and Tsawwassen First Nations. “I continue to be inspired by the leadership of B.C. First Nations, whether it’s with comprehensive community planning, land management, financial management or education and health service delivery,” she said. Lafleur also spoke about the Tla’amin treaty coming into effect in April 2016 and the grand opening of Tsawwassen Mills shopping centre. “In addition to the mall, other examples of economic development are evident,” she said. “Like in T’Sou-ke, which is the most solar intensive community in Canada.” Lafleur spoke of the highlights at the beginning of three days of engagement meetings between Indigenous leaders and federal government officials. Meanwhile, INAC officials said they welcomed critiques from First Nations leaders about their operations, something community representatives weren’t shy about offering. Judy Wilson of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs said that despite a new federal budget with unprecedented investments in First Nations, not much has changed. “Seventy-five per cent is still retained within Indian Affairs machinery. That’s where funding goes, to keep those systems up and running,” she said. “And what hasn’t changed is we’re still wards of the government… In our territorial lands, the Crown still owns in BC, 95 to 98 per cent of it.” SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 27

SALISH SEA CALENDAR MARCH 14-15 Energy and Food Security Workshop open to all member nations of Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council, hosted by T’Sou-ke.

MARCH 16-17 Women’s Dialogue Session, at exʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Musqueam Cultural Centre, Vancouver. Hosted by BC Assembly of First Nations to bring together female chiefs, councillors and elected tribal leadership.

MARCH 28-29 Promising Practices Conference – Frontline workers delegated Aboriginal agencies, and Ministry of Children and Family Development invited at The Pinnacle–Harbourfront in Vancouver. More info from Kirstin Sware, Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council, 1-888-382-7711 or kirstins@nautsamawt.com

28 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL

M A R C H

AFTER ELECTIONS COMES TRAINING By Edith Moore NmTC Communications Liaison On February 8-9, through the snowstorm, a brilliant workshop was delivered on post-election leadership training by the Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council team, along with Laara Mixon of Carden Consulting. Thank you to the Songhees Nation for allowing us to host this on your traditional territory. Our member nations and the board of directors defined this training as a need and NmTC met the need with this outstanding, well-developed workshop. On so many levels I was pleased to be invited to attend the workshop, both as a Halalt community member and also as part of the NmTC team. The workshop was specifically designed to train our leaders and future leaders as they take on the roles and responsibilities of chief and council. The goal was to develop relevant training that meet the needs of our NmTC member nations and improve the governing capacity of their leadership. This was on point with what our members were asking for and truly met this need. Our nations have one thing in common, which is that our leaders are people who stand up for their communities to be a chief or councillor because of their heart and passion. Once those members are elected, a huge amount of learning has to begin to carry forward the needs of the community. Now we have training specifically designed to make sure they are better equipped to do this important job. Here are just a few of the topics that were covered during the training: • Characteristics of a good leader • Principles of negotiation • How to contract and manage professionals • Planning, designing and monitoring outcomes for leaders • Indigenous community engagement processes • Inherent rights and responsibilities • Financial management and budgeting processes • Indian Act and how it applies This workshop was filmed, so that the footage can be used to support future on-line training. This will maximize the flexibility of the program and allow for learning at one’s own pace. This is brilliant for meeting the needs of everyone, so if travel is a barrier for anyone then this is the answer. I would highly recommend this training and hope that one day it will be a pre-requisite to becoming a valued leader in all of our communities.

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