2011-2012 Annual Report - Sto:lo Nation

Library Technicians published an article written by the Assistant Librarian about the place ofFirst Nations in library classification systems. A copy of the article is available in the library.The Librarian and Assistant also provided administrative and document management supportto the Stó:lō Xolhmet S'olhetawtxw Sq'eq'ip (Stó:lō House of Respect Care TakingCommittee) and the Stó:lō Xwexwilmexw Treaty negotiations. The Stó:lō XwexwilmexwTreaty negotiating table met for 15 days between April 2011 and the end of March 2012. TheLibrarian prepares for and attends these meetings in the capacity of recordkeeper anddocument manager.Treaty-Related ServicesThe Stó:lō Xwexwilmexw Treaty Association (SXTA) continues to contract the SN/SRRMC toprovide technical support in treaty negotiations within the British Columbia Treaty Process.The SXTA is currently in Stage 4 of the treaty process, working toward an Agreement inPrinciple (see www.sxta.bc.ca). The SRRMC provides support at every level of SXTA’snegotiations with British Columbia and Canada. Significant effort was spent this year onexamining issues of land and governance, land status analyses, land use planning (S’ólhTéméxw Use Plan), Stó:lō heritage management, and inter-Stó:lō relations.Referral Review and ProcessingThe Referral activities over the past year were focused on the development andimplementation of a standard intake and analysis system for development referrals. Thiswork involved raising the profile of SRRMC referral management services and creating valueaddedengagement support for communities and leadership. The core focus was aimed atconnecting directly with communities, development proponents and government agencies.The Stó:lō Connect Web Portal (www.stoloconnect.com) is one of the SRRMC’s showcaseproducts and major achievements of the year. Stó:lō Connect is an INAC BC CapacityInitiative-funded (BCCI) project ($156,000 for Phase I of a 3-phase project), and is aimed atbridging the gap between Stó:lō referral technicians, leadership, the provincial governmentand development proponents. As a social network concept, referrals management andcapacity for analysis is delivered to all Stó:lō communities, substantially reducing overheadand administrative costs, offering open access to GIS and other data, and integratedcommunication tools. The project is the focus of a great deal of attention from Stó:lōorganizations, provincial and local government and development proponents, who are eagerto ‘Connect’ through partnership and support in upcoming Phases II and III. INAC is currentlyreviewing the Phase II ($118,000) proposal for BCCI funding. The Stó:lō Connect WebPortal, which launched in prototype-mode in December 2011, now has users in 8 Stó:lōorganizations/communities.Tools like Stó:lō Connect are perfectly suited to support initiatives like the ongoing negotiationof a Pilot Project for a Strategic Engagement Agreement (SSEAp) which would see theprovincial government supporting and funding efforts to streamline the referrals process, andthe S’ólh Téméxw Referrals Alliance as discussed below.The SRRMC hosts monthly S’ólh Téméxw Referrals Alliance (STRA) technical meetingsfocused on policy development and support for increasing the organization, effectiveness,Page 57 of 64