St’át’imc Runner

Fire
Story
Ambie
Alexander
saved his house
with sprinklers.
Page 4
The
Ts’k’wáylacw
Xáxtsa7
Líl’wat
Skátin
Ts’alálh
Samáhquam
Sek’wel’wás
T’ít’q’et
Xaxl’íp
Xwísten
N’Quátqua
My connection with
the
river
Kaley
Shields
on the
Fraser
Page 8
Volume IV Issue IX Tsepkw / September 2009
St’át’imc Runner
Fraser Sockeye
Crash Hits Home
Xwísten sockeye
fisheries were
closed by the Chiefs on
August 28. Only 8 days
of fishing was intended
to spare the dismally
few returning salmon.
The failure of
the sockeye in the
Fraser and predictably
on the Birkenhead coincides
with the return of
17 million Pink salmon
to the Fraser. Usually
unpopular, these fish
Legislation Dies
A proposal by
the First Nations
Leadership Council to
legislate aboriginal title
in BC law was voted
down unanimously by
Chiefs at an FNLC
assembly in August.
may yet fill otherwise
empty jars and freezers.
Questions as to
why the sockeye failed
to return will have to be
answered by an investigation.
While currently
maintaining they do not
know any clear cause,
top DFO mouth pieces
have told the media
that smolt mortality due
to sea lice infestations
in coastal fish farms is
not the cause. Page 6
A working group was
struck at the meeting to
review the mandate and
structure of the FNLC,
which is made of AFN,
UBCIC and First
Nations Summit executives.
See Pages 11-14
A collection of
Haida carver Bill Reid’s
writing is in print.
In letters, poems,
radio transcripts and
occasional thoughts,
the man's words
tower like the totems
he became famous
for carving:
stunning and true.
Page 15
artbeat
Solitary Raven
Border Patrol
Chehalis leadership has moved to discussion with the St’át’imc Chiefs
Council to resolve border issues arising from the In-SHUCK-ch treaty.
While In-SHUCK-ch has
been negotiating with BC and
Canada for fee simple title of a
small parcel at 20 Mile Bay,
Chehalis has been flagging the
deal since they heard of it. There
are really no lines on maps that
anyone can rely on - this part of
A­in­chut for AFN Chief
A-in-chut of Ahousat,
Maa-nulth, is the new
national Chief of the
Assembly of First Nations
in Canada. He won the
election in Calgary in the
early morning of July 24.
. His 88 year old grandmother
was with him.
Shawn Atleo's family values
helped get him elected,
and family is part of his
message. Leaders from
across BC came to
acknowledge him in a daylong
ceremony during the
All Chiefs Assembly in
August. Page 12
BC AFN Regional Chief -
With an election in October to replace Atleo,
candidates Stewart Phillip, Robert Shintah,
Shane Gottfriedson, Lynda Price, and Jody Wilson
comment on fish & FNLC. Pages 16 & 17
the Harrison Valley historically
was shared between St’át’imc and
Sto:lo people.
After dozens of failed
meetings with In-SHUCK-ch
treaty negotiators, Chehalis has
appealed to the SCC for help to
resolve the conflict. Page 10
Chehalis’ territorial map,
below, includes Xáxtsa7.
St’át’imc goes to 20 Mile.
20 Mile Bay
on Harrison Lake

Page 2
in
the
belly
of
the
runner
Ucwalmícw -
Fire in Seton
After the Emergencies
Ucwalmícw
- on the Inside
Pages 4 & 5
Tmícw -
Salmon Collapse
Restoration at Cayoose
Foreshore
Salmon In The Canyon
Pages 6 & 7
St’át’imc News
Youth -
Sustainable Living and
Leadership Program
follows the Fraser
Pages 8 & 9
Alkstálhcw -
Líl’wat Rejoins SCC
Chehalis Appeal to SCC
Page 10
Special Report:
All Chiefs Assembly
tackles recognition
Pages 11 - 14
Artbeat -
Bill Reid takes flight
in Solitary Raven
Page 15
International News -
BC AFN candidates for
Regional Chief
Pages 16 & 17
Zwátenlhkan aylh! -
Áopvls story by
. Bill Edwards
Page 18
The St’át’imc Runner
newspaper is printed
on 100% post-consumer
recycled paper.
The St’át’imc Runner September 2009
Xitolacw Tsipun
The “food cellar” up the hill
in Líl’wat is an instant success. The
store provides close access to everything
you need from a grocery
store. Everything. ‘Tsipun’ means a
root cellar, and this one is full.
Since it opened on opened
August 7, Office Manager Carl
Wallace said “We’re seeing growing
profits weekly, almost daily.”
The Tsipun is owned by the
Band and revenues from the
people’s food and basic goods
purchases will now stay in the
community, instead of going
straight into Pemberton businesses.
Inter Tribal Fishing
Treaty Turns 20
ITFT turned 20 on July 27. In
1989, representatives from seven
nations along the Fraser and
Columbia Rivers signed on to the
Treaty asserting their right and
ability to manage access to the
salmon resource cooperatively.
After a long hiatus, in which
many of the signatories departed
from the Treaty as a precondition
to receiving federal funding to
fisheries programs in communities,
the document has surfaced on
desktops for hundred of miles
around and has reached a new
level of implementation, as well
as a new level of urgency
People from south of
Lillooet Lake and N’Quátqua
are using the store as well.
There is great fresh
produce, in fact a huge variety
of foods. The store is
stocked to consider people’s
different needs, like low/no
sugar options, nut allergies,
organic and environmentally
friendly choices.
People are always
commenting how glad they
are not to have to go all the
way to Pemberton! The
store staff even provide
catering - they can supply any
kind of event from a full lunch
to picnic
The store is open from
7am to 9pm, and to 11pm on
Fridays and Saturdays. That
may change to shorter winter
hours with the weather, but
you can call and double check:
604-894-0111. The store is on
Black Bear Road, across from
the old store.
news briefs
DSTC Grads
This summer, the Upper St’át’imc
Language Culture and Education
Society graduated fifteen from the
Developmental Standard Term
Certificate program. The course is
delivered in partnership with
Thompson Rivers University.
TRU connects the program to the
BC College of Teachers.
The Certificate prepares
teachers and assistants to deliver
St’át’imc language and culture
curriculum in a school environment.
Graduates are: Aggie
Patrick, Tamara Ned, Iona
Napoleon, Florence Oleman,
Lesley Napoleon, Nicole
Napoleon, Tamara Napoleon,
Lemya7 (Neawana Michel),
Sheena James, and Mariko Kage,
Linda Redan, Marcel Adrian,
Gloria Casper, Sheldon Joseph,
Dolores Shintah. Classes continue
in Fall.
Tsepqw
literally means
“making
salmon oil”
or
September
Above, Janet Dan, Karen Anderson and
Linda Dan at the new grocery store check-out.
The store in Xitolacw has a great range of food
from fresh produce to frozen food, organic and
diabetic-friendly, and even an in-store kitchen
for catering and deli foods, as shown below.
Sek’wel’wás
Council
Cayoose Creek Indian Band has
elected Michelle Edwards to
Council in a bi-election.
Councilor Steve Frank stepped
down from his position and the
vote was held in July.
Nominations for
Xwísten Council
Bridge River holds a meeting
September 13 to nominate candidates
for their Chief and four
Councilors. The nomination
meeting will be at the Band office
from 12pm - 3pm that Sunday.
The election will be held on
Sunday October 25, voting to take
place at the gym from 9am-8pm.
LTC, SNH,
USLCES Share
New Address
Lillooet Tribal Council has
moved in with St’át’imc Nation
Hydro Fisheries. Their new building
belongs to Salish Enterprises,
a Xwísten corporation. They are
now located at 650 Industrial
Place, on the east side of the
Fraser River from Lillooet. You
can reach them at the old LTC
phone number, 250 256 7523.

Tsepqw 2009
Let the man go!
Let him go NOW!
He said Sea Lice, S-E-A- Lice
might be the reason for the
missing salmon,
he never said anything about
you or ANYBODY having
bugs....
geez man.
Berry Bizzy
Neva Quipp goes home to Skátin
with a few hundred pounds of blueberries
several times a summer. She splits
the take with the farmer and gets good
quality berries back to the people at
home.
Her daughter
Suprena Quipp works
picking blueberries in
Matsqui and has done
since she was little - at the
same farm. Her son, two
and a half, helped as well
this year. This farm
doesn’t use any sprays.
Picking berries is great
summer employment. If
you’re good at it, like
Suprena, “it makes for
good money.” Suprena is
in the middle of college
and planning to get back
before the new year.
Cheryl Pielle
in the blueberry field
- she can pick a thousand
pounds in five days!
“My thought is to get rid of
the DFO because
they’re mismanaging
everything.”
Robert Shintah,
Ts’k’wáylacw, BC AFN
Candidate for Regional Chief
The St’át’imc Runner
September 8, 2009
Dear Minister Shea:
On August 26 you sent
duplicate letters to many people dismissing
the impact of salmon farms
on British Columbia. I can only
imagine the response to collapse of
the world’s largest sockeye salmon
river, the Fraser River, has come
directly from Ottawa. Your letter
provides stark insight into the
Federal Conservative government’s
course of action.
With an entire ministry at
your disposal you told the public:
“The coastwide scope of the
decline that has occurred across all
Pacific salmon species suggests that
this decline is associated with much
larger ecological events than localized
salmon farming.”
This is entirely inaccurate as
there has NOT been a coast-wide
collapse across all Pacific salmon
species, quite to the contrary. The
people of British Columbia are
looking at a bull’s-eye collapse pattern
with good returns all around
the dead center – which is our
extremely valuable Fraser River
sockeye.
Really interesting – even
within the Fraser River, the
Harrison sockeye, which scientists
report migrate to sea via fish farmfree
Strait of Juan de Fuca, are
returning at twice the DFO forecast.
The missing Fraser River
sockeye salmon were observed as
smolts by DFO as they migrated in
the river. They were abundant and
large. They entered the sea in late
St’át’imc News
Page 3
Dear
Minister of Fisheries,
spring 2007, turned north into a
heavily industrialized salmon farming
area, where I examined some of
them as they were being infested
with sea lice and then they disappeared.
These are the only sockeye
that collapsed to less than 10% of
forecast.
While you are telling the
public all salmon species collapsed
coast-wide, your highest-ranking
BC official is publishing letters in
newspapers also telling us that fish
farms are not responsible for the
collapse because the lice species I
and others counted on the young
sockeye in 2007 are not found on
farm fish. First of all, there were
two species of lice on the sockeye
smolts, the large salmon louse and
the smaller Caligus. Second, the fish
farm company on the Fraser sockeye
migration route, Marine
Harvest, frequently reports Caligus
in their website data. Specifically
they report 16.5 Caligus per fish for
a total of 8 million breeding on the
Cyrus Rocks farm early this July as
our newest sockeye generation was
passing that farm. Because Caligus
frequently jump fish to fish this
species is also a strong potential disease
vector.
As he exonerates fish farms,
he goes on to say he will work with
First Nations and other fishermen to
conserve sockeye. Minster Shea,
you closed this fishery at the beginning
of the season there has been
extremely little fishing on this stock
of sockeye.
Continued on Page 6
- Alexandra Morton
the runner heard...
Harrison River sockeye are
returning in double the numbers
predicted. They migrate out along
the west coast of Vancouver
Island, where there are virtually
no fish farms. Chilko River smolts
were the largest on record in
2007, but have returned at less
than 10% of what was probable.
They migrate through the fish
farms in the Georgia and
Johnstone Straits.
“We can’t eat our rights.
I would like to see compensation
for our unfulfilled needs.”
- Chief Desmond Peters Junior,
Ts’k’wáylacw

Page 4
Ucwalmícw
The St’át’imc Runner September 2009
Staying home
to keep an eye
on the fire?
Ambie Alexander’s house in
Seton came within 40 feet of an out
of control wildfire. Spot fires have
left charred reminders of how very
close that came all around his property.
The charcoal in the middle of
his front porch shows that it’s not
only flames that can burn a house
down, but the sparks and ashes flying
from them.
Through radioed information,
Ambie was able to return to his
house in time to save it. He had been
ferrying cargo and supplies from
N’Quátqua back to Seton and
Ts’al’álh when he got the call that a
new fire had broken out just a kilometer
from his home. He raced back
and set up sprinklers on fence posts,
and that is what prevented his house
from being burned.
Alexander has a small field
of shrubs and bushes, a nursery,
growing near his home. He sells
these to rehabilitation efforts. The
sprinkler and hose system that keeps
that nursery going is what saved his
house. He moved the sprinklers
between the house and the fire.
It was hot! The earth is
scorched right up to tens of meters
from his back door. The sprinklers
made it impossible for the ground
fire to travel right to the house.
His irrigation system was not
so lucky. Many lengths of pipe are
burned and cracked. The ditch has
been flooded with the falling fir and
pine needles from the burned trees,
and crossed by fire guards. His family
worked for days to reopen them,
and yet the shrub nursery, yellowed
at the fence edge by the heat of the
fire, does not have water.
The crew that stayed in
Seton to stave off the flames was
small: Phyllis Peters, keeping communications
alive; Howard Shields,
Bruce Shields, Garry John and
Ambie stayed back to make sure no
homes were lost. Thankfully, they
succeeded and no one was hurt.
The two fires that sparked
the evacuation of Seton and
Ts’al’álh were man-made, and while
no one has been charged, persons of
interest are being interviewed. The
persons in question are not local.
Ambie Alexander raced home when he heard about the fires that had
started up right near his house. He set up sprinklers on fence posts only
meters from his back porch, but with that he stopped the fire from
burning down his house. Below, Merna Peters works on the irrigation
ditch, which became clogged with debris after the fire. The dead needles
from scorched fir trees near the blaze showered down in the wind.
Communities debrief after wildfire emergencies
Three St’át’imc
communities were evacuated
due to forest fires in July
and August. For Ts’al’álh
and T’ít’q’et, the fires came
so close - 125 feet and less
- that major restoration is
now required to forests,
and repairs are needed
where fire suppression
activities took place. While
Xwísten received an
Evacuation Order because
roads in every direction
were threatened by the
fires, the community itself
did not end up close to
flames.
Meetings to debrief
on the events have taken
place in all
three communities.
. Ts’al’álh
Councilor Ida
Mary Peters called a meeting
for September 2, in
Seton. Residents of
Ts’al’álh and Seton came
out to inventory sites disturbed
by fire suppression
activities and by the fire
itself. Irrigation ditches,
roads and fences were bulldozed
to make access for
fire suppression crews.
The Wildfire
Management Branch
(WMB) makes itself available
to repair the damage
Major restoration and mitigation on steep
slopes and in creeks is now required.
Communities have had ideas about how
to prepare for emergencies in future.
caused in its emergency
measures to prevent wildfires
from destroying communities.
The Regional
District, through the
Ministry of Forests,
reviews the work of the
WMB and makes assessments
and prescription for
forest values that need to be
restored.
MoF’s Forests for
Tomorrow program will be
key in putting people to
work replanting burned
areas. If logging
salvage
operations take
place, those
contractors
will become responsible for
replanting.
The Kamloops Fire
Center has the responsibility
to ensure First Nations’
interests are reflected in
rehabilitation plans.
Near Ts’al’álh, fire
guards were built right
along trails. They will be
working together with contractors
to restore those
trails. Chief Larry Casper
of Ts’al’álh struck up a
working committee
between his community
and the WMB, the local
Seton Fire Chief, the Indian
Band Fire Crew and MoF
to oversee rehabilitation
work and continue to
strengthen the valley’s fire
fighting readiness.
A major question
for both Tsal’álh and
T’ít’q’et is, what will happen
along the steep slopes
that border the communities,
now that the trees are
burnt and dead?
Geomorphologists
and engineers are studying
the slopes and making recommendations
for fanning
out the potential debris

Tsepqw 2009 The St’át’imc Runner
Major wildfires
burned across
the territory in
July and August.
Copper Mountain
- 838.4 ha
Ruby Bowl - 10 ha
West of Birkenhead
- 200 ha
Camel Back - 657.9 ha
Blackcomb Mountain
- 57.0 ha
Pitt Creek - 120 ha
Hot Spots
West and North
of Birkenhead
Tyaughton Lake
Big Dog Mountain
Seton Portage -
Goat Mountain
Ucwalmícw
Kelly Creek
Ore Creek
Hell Creek
Mt McLean
Page 5
Big Dog - 3,500 ha
Kelly Creek - 19,525 ha
Ore Creek - 2,400 ha
Hell Creek - 1,966 ha
Tyaughton Lake - 8,045 ha
Brenmer Creek - 72 ha
Copper
Mountain
Ogar
Lake
Blackcomb
Camel
Back
Blackcomb
- Ruby Bowl
Stein Valley
Mt McLean - 3,696 ha
Tuwasus Creek
Seton Portage - 1,753 ha
North Birkenhead - 50 ha
Ogar Lake - 50 ha
Tuwasus Creek - 720.3 ha
Pitt Creek
Brenmer Creek
Stein Valley - 9,200 ha
- Base map provided by Shannon James at Lillooet Tribal Council. Sketched forest fire areas are not exact. -
Continued from page 4
flow. If there appears to be
potential for a major slide
event, the Provincial
Emergency Preparedness
task force will become
involved.
Two fires in Seton
were man-made, and residents
are now closing off
foreign traffic from those
areas and demanding a
St’lát’limx Tribal Police
investigation into the causes
and perpetrators.
T’ít’q’et held a
meeting to discuss restoration
activities, the water situation
and the Community
Wildfire Protection Plan. A
fire guard that had been
built for the 2004 fire was
still there, but it had been
overgrown to the point that
firefighters had trouble
finding it. A fire guard is
basically a road dug deep
into the hillside.
The question came
up in one meeting as to
who “owns” a fire guard?
Who is responsible to
maintain it? One part of the
answer is that there is funding
available through
Community Wildfire
Protection Planning to
maintain those guards.
Access along a fire guard
then becomes a problem, as
people take to driving
along them and disturbing
the landscape as well as the
wildlife. The fire guards
were recommended to be
deactivated.
Brenmer Creek, near Doctor’s Bay on Harrison Lake
Photo - BC Wildfire Management Branch website.
A major question for both Tsal’álh and T’ít’q’et is,
what will happen along the steep slopes that
border the communities,
now that the trees are burnt and dead?
Decisions to restore
trails and ditches have
already been agreed to.
Lillooet Tribal
Council’s archaeology
branch has taken inventory
of important sites that have
been disturbed by the fires.
They are providing maps
with point locations, but
not explanations, to the
WMB and contractors who
will complete restoration
activities. The confidential
information is held by contractors
and Ministries in
trust, as Ucwalmícw prefer
not to have Culturally
Modified Trees, Trail
Marker Trees, and ceremonial
sites accessible by the
public at large.
The matter of traditional
burning to keep communities
safe was raised.
Reports by Kerry Coast.

Page 6
Tmicw
The St’át’imc Runner September 2009
Understanding only eight days of sockeye fishing.
Run Timing Aggregate Forecast In Season Estimate
Early Stuart 185,000 85,000
Early Summer 739,000 175,000
Summer 8.6 million 650,000
Late summer 573,000 400,000
Forecasts vs.
In Season Estimates
This summer, only 1.37
million sockeye returned to the
Fraser River. That is less than half
of the number forecast at the
ninetieth percentiage of probability
- the lowest probable number,
based on the estimated number of
successfully spawned females four
years earlier, and the number of
smolts counted leaving the lake and
river nurseries two years ago.
The largest group of failed
salmon was the summer run timing
aggregate, which includes Chilko
and Horsefly River sockeye.
According to the Pacific
Salmon Commission’s Fraser River
Panel, September 4, the harvest rate
was about 95,000 in test fisheries
(30,800) and aboriginal Food,
Fishery
Harvest
Test Fisheries 30,800
Aboriginal Food, Social
and Ceremonial
64,200
Social and
Ceremonial fisheries
on both
sides of the US-
Canada border.
This year
there were proportionally
more
three and five
year old summer
sockeye. This
seems to suggest
that it is really
the four year
olds that failed -
the smolts that migrated down the
river and out up the coast in 2007.
There are certainly expectations
that an investigation into the
causes of this collapse will begin
shortly. 2009 is the dominant year
in a four year cycle line for Fraser
sockeye, and the failure does not
Alexandra Morton, R.P. Bio
Tells Minister to fix it or resign
Continued from Page 3:
Your Ministry has absolutely no
valid scientific or legal reason to
omit fish farmers from the investigation
and ensuing action to protect
the Fraser sockeye.
You also wrote that DFO
has “taken significant action…”
by “monitoring” farm lice and
doing “ocean circulation studies.”
These are studies, not “significant
action.” Your letter tells people
you can’t protect our salmon with
closed-containment farms until
this is “practical and realistic” for
the fish farmers with head offices
in Oslo, Norway.
History is clearly repeating
itself. In 1997, DFO scientists
reported that the collapse of
Canada’s North Atlantic cod
stocks, one of earth’s greatest
human food supplies, was because
DFO ignored the science, misinformed
the public, offered plausible
but inaccurate theories, reprimanded
scientists who spoke
freely and took no action.
No one in DFO was held accountable.
Here in 2009, I would argue
you and your department are
ignoring the science, misinforming
the public, offering plausible
but unconfirmed theories and taking
no action on a highly documented
and obvious factor that
reoccurs worldwide wherever
there are salmon farms.
The Fraser sockeye contribute
far more to the economy
and employment than salmon
farms and they transport ocean
bode well. The dominant year produces
3 and 5 year old fish that
return in the lower years as well, so
a failure in this year impacts every
year. Mitigation is what is now
required - but mitigation of what? A
crash five years from now might
have different causes.
The Ucwalmícw
know how to watch
for indicators,
know how to let the first fish
of the runs go by.
When everyone does that,
fish go home to spawn,
no matter how few
or how many there are.
In Season Estimates
and Traditional
Management
Traditional indicators could
have been used in place of DFO's
ever wildly faulty guesses. The
Ucwalmícw know how to watch for
indicators, know how to let the first
fish of the runs go by. When everyone
does that, fish go home to
spawn, no matter how few or many
there are. When a new run comes
in, you simply leave off for a day or
two. When stocks are mixed, you
nutrients into much of this
Province feeding the trees that
produce oxygen, remove carbon
and help stabilize our climate.
The industry appears in
violation of many sections of the
Fisheries Act. Your record of fish
farm defense includes a recent
assertion that the industry’s bycatch
of wild fish is not a “significant
problem.” And you refuse to
acknowledge the science and act
on the information that the fish
farm viral ISA pandemic is
spreading in imported salmon egg.
If you won’t take these
steps (see Page 18) please resign
along with your Pacific Region
senior staff and make way for
people who will protect salmon.
The enormous pink salmon return
fish selectively. Fishing with dip
nets makes this possible - you can
see the difference in runs.
Instead these days, fishermen
are forced to rely on DFO's
scientifically produced forecasts to
tell them how much to catch and
when to catch it. Some science is
helpful. Straight DFO numbers are
not helpful.
Example: politics can get in
the mix. Tsawwassen First Nation,
BC’s poster-child treaty group, no
longer has an over-riding right to a
Food, Social and Ceremonial fishery.
They have a right to a percentage
of the Total Allowable Catch.
There was no TAC this year, so
they were not fishing. Until: the
PSC raised the stated in-season
estimate by 100,000 fish one weekend.
That created a TAC.
Tsawwassen caught maybe 2,000
sockeye, and then the in-season
estimate was reduced back down
again. Who knows which stocks
they harvested?
Catch Numbers
As of August 26, St'át'imc caught
7,100 sockeye from Sawmill Creek
to Kelly Creek. 10,614 altogether
were caught from Sawmill Creek to
the Nechako, the northernmost
fishing place on the Fraser. 10,781
more were caught on tributaries
within those landmarks.
In that same area, 1,354 Chinook
were caught in FSC fisheries.
St'át'imc took 503 of those. 418
more were caught on Fraser tributaries.
this year – fish that were allowed
to go to sea without farm lice, is a
clear statement by the fish themselves
that British Columbia can
have abundant wild salmon.
Wild salmon are a gift on a
magnitude far greater than any oil
well, river power project or the
few jobs from a Norwegian industry
that imports fish from the
south Pacific, throws them in our
ocean and pulls out less fish.
Read the list of 17,000
people and counting who have
signed my letter www.adopt-afry.org.
They are First Nation
chiefs, business people, politicians,
entertainers, environmentalists,
stream keepers, they are the
people of British Columbia, not a
fringe group you can brush aside.
Minster Shea, you have failed in
your response to the collapse of
earth’s largest sockeye run.
Alexandra Morton, R.P. Bio
Echo Bay, BC
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com

Tsepqw 2009
The St’át’imc Runner
Restoration.
Tmicw
Vital places have been fragmented by industrial development.
At the confluence of Cayoosh Creek and the Fraser River,
we are putting the pieces back together.
Page 7
In an ecosystem
where plants have been separated
from themselves by
roads, people are now doing
healing work. Known as the
Cayoose Foreshore
Restoration effort, many
have come together to repair
an important place on the
Fraser.
Over the last hundred
years, a saw mill, a rail
yard and bridge, construction
of the Hydro power
canal, agriculture and cattle
grazing all uprooted natural
events. The recovery phase
that is now being overseen
primarily by restoration
biologist Odin Scholz is
coming about fast and thick.
Since community
sessions late in 2006 established
common ground on
focusing road access off to
the side of the foreshore,
access roads to the river
beach have largely been cut
Top: coyote willow moves in
to “Party Central”: once a
road and party pit.
Mid left: asparagus naturalized
among roses.
Mid right: deer tracks show
their presence here.
Left: Biologist Odin and his
dog Aquila.. Trees in the
background were put up for
bird use.
off. Now, where roads were,
logs are cabled to boulders
and the coyote willow, cottonwood
and rose bushes are
stepping into the safe space.
Within a year the roads have
become plant, animal and
fish habitat once again.
Once the rush of new
growth filling in the gaps
has “defragmented” the situation,
traditional forms of
management will be looked
to.
The plant values in
this area are huge. Balsam
root, the Indian hemp and
coyote willow which are
used for fibre, the black
Hawthorn and chokecherry,
the clematis whose fluffy
seed was collected, all these
are staples of the
Ucwalmícw culture. As people
choose to return to the
culture, they often run into
the problem of actually not
being able to access the
basic building blocks of it.
Many species have
been grazed out by cattle,
and others simply paved
over. Some introduced
species are naturalizing, like
the asparagus that mingles
with the rose bushes and the
apricot whose stone ends up
in the bear scat just the same
as the choke cherry seeds.
When the river rises
in spring, the willows and
other shrubs growing back
will buffer the strength of
the flow and provide protection
for juvenile fish that
may otherwise be swept
downriver too soon.
Long term goals are
to restore the mariposa lilies
and balsam root, and other
plants that have been gone
too long. A nursery has been
built on the Cayoose to cultivate
them.
What this project
shows is that nature can
recover, if only it has a little
help and if only we stop sustaining
the impacts we do.
There is still road access to
the beach, because just as
the plants have to be able to
interact with each other, so
do the human users of the
area. The Lillooet Naturalist
Society and the Cayoose
Indian Band, who co-manage
this restoration, have
engaged all users of the area,
formerly known as “the
Pits” - or - “Party Central.”
With the support of everyone
to restore the area that it
can be shared by the deer,
bears, birds and reptiles
alike, real change can happen.
Kerry Coast
Salmon In The Canyon
Salmon in the Canyon is in
its second year of celebrating one
of the world’s most important,
longest and most productive salmon
bearing rivers - n’Sát’atqu.
the best salmon river in North
America. A hundred people came to
celebrate the initiative formed by
the Lillooet Naturalists Society and
Sek’wél’was.
Salmon dinner was served,
special guests received, and music
played. The event is to celebrate
Chief Perry Redan of Sek’wél’was
spoke to the people about the connection
between the Ucwalmícw
and the salmon. Mayor of Lillooet
Dennis Bontron offered a few
words as to the need to protect the
salmon, including the idea that, if
protecting the Fraser sockeye meant
shutting down coastal fish farms,
then “so be it.”
Ruby Berry, member of the
Georgia Strait Alliance and the
Coastal Alliance for Aquacultural
Reform, presented on the threat to
wild salmon caused by those
coastal fish farms. Open-pen fish
farms, there are 80 in the salmon
smolts’ migration pattern to get to
the northern Pacific Ocean, can
hold up to a million salmon. Berry
wondered, what does a million
salmon look like? A biologist
friend afforded, ‘that’s forty elephants.’
Berry did not know what
40 elephants looked like. The
friend explained further, ‘that’s like
a town of 30-40,000 people. In a
net.’
The Salmon festival provided
local restoration groups a place
to show off their projects and gather
support for wildlife preservation
initiatives.
Gilbert Redan demonstrates the capacity of grizzly jaws
on biologist Ken Wright. Below, Chief Perry Redan and
Lillooet Naturalist Society member Kim North at the Festival.

Page 8
Youth
The St’át’imc Runner September 2009
Youth explore
N’Sat'átqwa7,
and discover
sustainability
Top and bottom left, from Kinney Lake into the headwaters. Top right, rafters beside the
river to set up camp. Bottom right, hoodoos below Sheep Creek bridge. Photos by Kaley.
You have to use a canoe to
travel on the headwaters of the
Fraser River. It takes days of paddling
to get to open water where a
raft with an outboard motor can be
used.
Kaley Shields, of Tsal'álh
and Xwísten, was the youngest of
ten young adults to find that out
this summer, when they traveled the
entire Fraser River from Tete Jaune
Cache, at the confluence of the
Robson River, to the open ocean at
Tsawwassen.
From August 6th to the
30th, Kaley was outdoors. She says
of the adventure, "I'm still the same
person, but I've definitely changed.
I feel totally connected to the land.
I think about where my food comes
from, how the water in the river is,
and about being sustainable."
Led by two men and two
women with extensive backgrounds
in ecology, fisheries, recreation,
learning and leadership, the trip was
a laboratory for experiments in
many fields.
As the voyagers traveled
through beautiful and diverse
places, their witnessing was put to
work each evening in sessions.
Each traveler got a binder with sections
on sustainability, watersheds,
leadership, salmon, green
economies and more. "We did skits
on deep ecology, simplicity and
bioregionalism. We read articles
about interdependence, how you
can't live without the sun, or water,
and if you take any one thing out of
the picture the rest fall like dominoes."
The campers experienced
interdependence among themselves,
taking turns cooking and playing
games that highlight teamwork and
trust. "We all learned something
from each other."
Every night was spent in a
tent, many of those in wet tents,
camping along the beach. There
were a few treats like at Xaxtsul,
Soda Creek, visiting the Heritage
Center there and sleeping in the
“I feel totally connected to the land.
I think about where my food comes from, how the
water in the river is, and about being sustainable."
tipis there. This one was Kaley's
favourite, one place she will return
to. "My spirit was just soaring. As
soon as we got there I got a really
good feeling. I felt like when we
left my spirit stayed there for a few
days, I just wanted to go back."
The group visited organic
farms, salmon monitoring programs,
and helped blaze trail
through Devil's Club patches with
the Fraser Headwaters Alliance.
"Ever since I came home I
haven't been able to watch TV. It's
just boring. I slept outside for a
couple of nights. I highly recommend
people from here go on that
trip."
Native youth from Stellat'en,
Tsawout and Lillooet took the journey.
While cooperation between
native and non-native people on the
river was not a formal subject of
any sessions, the young people did
end up talking about what it's like
to be from the same place your
ancestors have spent thousands of
years, and what it's like to be a second
or third generation European
Canadian. "I talked to one of my
friends, they're all my friends now,
about it, and she wanted to know if
I felt connected to the land." The
friend's grandparents were born in
Canada, but their parents were
from Scotland and the UK.
Her favourite page of the
binder is part of an article called
"The Great Turning," by David
Korten. "Lots of people when they
talk about history skirt around the
fact that there were native people
here when Columbus arrived. This
article says, "Our nation was built
on land taken by force from Native
Americans."
The beginnings of communications
between tomorrow's
leaders, native and non, will be
very important in a global economy
built on sustainable communities
at thegrass roots level. "In
Nahatlatch we talked about how to
make resource-based communities
more sustainable. Like here, we
are struggling just for a recycling
program. When I got home I went
to the store for some apples, and I
looked on the labels. They were
from Washington and New
Zealand, far away places."
Kaley has
already worked near home on the
land. Earlier this summer she
helped count spotted tailed frogs in
the Yalakom and McGillivray systems,
and previously worked in
pine beetle mitigation efforts.
Already accepted to Thompson
Rivers University in Kamloops for
upgrades, she plans to study psychology
if she can get her education
funding. "It's either school or work. I
want a job that's really varied, or else
six different jobs! I could be a high
school counselor. When I was in
high school I had sessions with a
good counselor, but then they were
replaced. I got to know the new one,
then she was replaced. By the time
the third counselor came in, I said
this is enough. But initially it did
help me."
The Sustainable Living and
Leadership Program takes ten people
on this journey every year. Kaley
wrote a cover-letter and an essay on
learning goals for the trip. She was
sponsored to go, at a cost of $1,500,
by the Lillooet Naturalists Society.
The SLLP itself is sponsored by
Stellat'en First Nation and Finn
Donnelly's Rivershed Society of BC,
the program makes one request of
each participant at the end of the
journey: what will they do when
they get home to share what they
learned with others? Kaley has
received support from her dad for
her plan to take a group of five-totwelve
year olds out in canoes to the
pictographs part way down Anderson
Lake. Kaley is nineteen.

Tsepqw 2009
The St’át’imc Runner
Síxa Síxa
$90k to tourism plan
Page 9
Upper St’át’imc Language Culture and Education Society
received a grant from federal diversification fund
targetting Mountain Pine Beetle impacted economies
in Western Canada.
Leaders visit Xwísten
Xwísten hosted a meeting
of technicians from as far away as
Okanagan and Snuneymuxw.
Nanaimo’s Jeff Thomas, above,
with Susan Anderson-Bain of
Tsawout Fisheries, were among the
experts who met to discuss the
Pacific Salmon Treaty between
Canada and the USA. DFO is sponsoring
these meetings as part of its
requirement to consult with
Aboriginal people on its plans for
the treaty, as the sockeye and pink
chapter is being renegotiated.
The treaty is intended to
UBCIC online archive
seeks photo IDs
The Union of BC Indian
Chiefs is developing a new online
archive. One of the features is a
photo collection that goes back
many decades. They don’t have
all the information for maany of
those pictures, and are appealing
to people to take a look online
and see if they can help identify
some of the people, places and
events that are shown there.
The Link...
regulate commercial and other
fisheries to a sustainable degree. In
the past when there has been no
treaty, over-fishing on many stocks
was a negotiation tactic.
As Chief Perry Redan
pointed out, the treaty states “the
country of origin has responsibility
to manage and access that fishery.”
As the country of origin for key
stocks, he observes, St’át’imc
should be part of that Treaty and
applying management strategies to
Canada and US fisheries. So
should Sto:lo, Carrier, and all.
If you have access to an
internet connection, check it out!
UBCIC also has a great
archive at their Vancouver office
at 342 Water Street, dowtown.
Complete with microfilm records
of all “The British Colonist”
newspapers, records of every
Indian Agency since there were
Agencies, and a library that
would keep you busy for years.
http://gsdl.ubcic.bc.ca/cgi-bin/library?site
=localhost&a=p&p=about&c=ubcicpho&l=en&w=utf-8
Whose
house
was this
photo
taken in?
If you
know,
call the
Union!
The Society will implement
activities promoting the St'at'imc
culture. The Society will strengthen
tourism within Lillooet through key
activities including: a strategic plan
and study dealing with the feasibility,
construction and operation of a
new St'át'imc Heritage and Learning
Centre; a new initiative termed
"St'át'imc Cultural Experiences" to
collect and evaluate community
assets to promote tourism; as well
as the development and pilot testing
of tourist-marketing materials.
Funding of $90,000 is provided
through Western Economic
Diversification Canada under the
Community Economic
Diversification Initiative (CEDI), a
component of the federal Mountain
Pine Beetle Program.
"This contribution to the
work of the Society will move us
closer to the realization of our
dream to build the St'át'imc
Heritage and Learning Centre in
Lillooet. The Centre will serve as a
Cultural Tourism hub that will also
support and promote the revitalization
of endangered St'át'imc language,
culture and arts." said Chief
Larry Casper, Tsal’álh. Chief Casper
The Upper St’át’imc
Language, Culture and Education
Society (USLCES) has contracted
with Colin Inalsingh to fill the position
of "St’át’imc Heritage Centre
Project Coordinator". This project
is titled "St’át’imc Heritage and
Learning Centre Project; Building
the Economic Infrastructure.”
Colin has recently relocated
to Lillooet from Ontario. He is
interested in and committed to
Community success through using
leadership experience to inspire
others and enhance their quality of
life. Colin recognizes the need for
promotion of St’át’imc Heritage
and Culture and strongly believes
USLCES Board:
President - Norm Leech
VP - Lloyd Narcisse
Treasurer- Susan James
Secretary - Dolores
McDonald
Community Reps:
Carl Alexander
Lloyd Narcisse
Pauline Michel
Marilyn Napoleon
Ida Peter,
Dolores McDonald
is a longtime Board member with
the Society.
USLCES has been fundraising
for the building of a cultural
center in Lillooet for over a decade.
They have architectural plans, commissioned
as a contest between
BCIT graduate students in 2006.
Tourism operations over the
past three years have included
feasts, tours and storytelling in the
T’ít’q’et s’ístken, educational walks
in the Seton spawning channel, and
a store front on Main Street to promote
community tours like
Xwísten’s guided walks above the
Bridge River fishing camps.
USLCES announces
New St’át’imc
Heritage Centre
Project
Coordinator
that Tourism is an ideal and sustainable
conduit to showcase and maintain
St’át’imc Heritage and Culture.
He has 5 years experience in
the Ontario provincial government,
most recently as Senior Manager in
the Ministry of Government
Services. Colin is an entrepreneur,
including 5 years as owner/president
of GlobaLink Corporation during
which he harnessed business
management skills. He is currently
enrolled in a Masters of Business
Administration program focused on
Community Economic
Development
Colin started on July 1, and
will be with us until the project
ends in March 31, 2010. You may
contact Colin at his email address:
colini@tricolour.queensu.ca.

Page 10
Alkstálhcw
The St’át’imc Runner September 2009
Líl’wat Returns to SCC
Chief Leonard Andrew made a
presentation to the St’át’imc Chiefs
Council at their July meeting.
Prior to that, Líl’wat Council made
a decision concerning the abeyance
letter that was sent to SCC in 2005:
that they would like to participate
once again with the SCC.
In 2005, the negotiations
with BC Hydro triggered the
abeyance letter. Líl’wat was going
to negotiate with BC Hydro separately,
and this never happened.
Líl’wat had a few meetings with
BC Hydro, but have now decided to
come back to the SCC table for
hydro negotiations.
Also, Líl’wat wanted to
have a protocol among the
St’át’imc communities for working
together. “Way back we started
talking about the issues and the
Declaration. When Líl’wat pulled
out (of SCC), Chief and Council
looked at all the issues and how fast
the community was growing, this is
even separate from the Olympics.
There were a lot of deficits and
when I became a Chief, I decided to
try do something about this. I
always have said we are St’át’imc
and we are one. When we are talking
about Líl’wat Nation we are
really talking about our community.
Would like to begin working with
all our neighbours and begin working
with the Nation.”
“There is change coming
and we are going to have to start
dealing with this. What are we
going to look like in 10, 12, or 20
years? We have economic development
happening, building schools
and homes for our people. We are
now dealing with our territory and a
lot of our dealings are with our territory.
“What are all our dealings
as a tribe? A lot of issues are
important to us all. Look at
Chehalis and what is happening
there because of treaty.
“All Líl’wat is asking really
is to have a protocol amongst ourselves.
We already have protocols
with other neighbours. Basically
Barrick Gold - “Mine.”
Barrick Gold is the
largest gold and copper mining
company in the world. Barrick
has a mining claim near Poison
Mountain in northern St'át'imc,
and this summer has contracted a
Prince George company to do
exploratory drilling.
This Canadian corporation's
reputation is also the worst.
Most recently the company saw
fit to fire on protesters in
Tanzania, killing one and wounding
many. The list of broken
promises to the list of indigenous
nations around the globe is too
long to even begin.
The claim was explored
in the 1980's and never mined.
Technology has greatly advanced
since then, so a new exploration
was required to assess the potential
value of the claim.
The Xwísten Lands and
Resources found about the plans
in May, and called for a meeting
to find out what the company's
plans were. While Barrick had
apparently been consulting with
communities north of the
St'át'imc border, Xwísten was not
on a list of Bands provided to the
company by BC ministries,
because they do not have a
Forest and Range Agreement.
The FRA's include a map of a
community's stated traditional
territory.
Over the summer, twelve
drill holes have shown about 16
grams of copper per ton of gravel,
and 12 grams of gold.
Exploration was slowed when
the camp had to be evacuated on
August 30. A wildfire on Big
Dog mountain burned one of the
old camp's cabins, and came very
close to the new camp.
Barrick will decide whether to
sell the claim or keep it depending
on the results of the new
explorations.
Chiefs discuss shared
areas with Chehalis
Chehalis now feels there is little
time to resolve their land
dispute with the In-SHUCK-ch
of southern St’át’imc. A ratification
vote on the treaty
group’s Final Agreement may
be as close as next Spring.
Several areas of land are at
issue for Chehalis, but most
especially 20 Mile Bay on
Harrison Lake.
The St’át’imc Chiefs
Council met on Tuesday,
September 1, in Líl’wat. All eleven
community Chiefs were present.
Important guests from
Chehalis were also in attendance.
Chief Willie Charlie, Councilor
Boyd Peters, Fran Douglas, Senior
Research Assistant, Aboriginal
Rights and Title, and
Archaeologist Gordon Mohs came
to discuss the question of our
shared areas along the Harrison
Lake.
Chehalis has now
approached the Chiefs Council
since their discussions with In-
SHUCK-ch have been fruitless.
What are the inter-tribal
boundaries? Traditionally the families
there were cooperative; both
sides recall sharing the lake and
valley for hunting, fishing and
gathering. Now that the land is
assigned cash values by a modern
economy, it becomes difficult to
share.
The In-SHUCK-ch
Agreement in Principle, in the BC
treaty process, was revealed in
2006. This document came as a
shock to Chehalis, whose then-
Chief Alex Paul believed he had
reached agreement with the In-
SHUCK-ch Chief Negotiator that
areas around and south of 20 Mile
Bay would not be in the treaty
negotiations. 20 Mile Bay is now
an important part of the proposed
Treaty Settlement Lands. It is also,
and has always been, an important
village and burial site for Chehalis.
The fee simple title ownership of
the place would be unacceptable to
Chehalis, and they have always
made this clear.
The treaty controversy
within St’át’imc, home to three
other formerly attempted modern
If the treaty was ratified, BC
would recognize fee simple
title ownership of the property
by In-SHUCK-ch. BC and
Canada maintain, in the treaty
itself, that this does not affect
anyone else’s aboriginal rights.
Chehalis thinks it does, and
their last option is to take up
the issue with the St’át’imc as
a whole.
day treaties with BC and Canada, is
substantial. The matter has not
been addressed directly between the
Chiefs. A ratification vote on the
Final Agreement is imminent. This
will force Chehalis, according to
Mohs, to provide proof of their
strength of claim to lands as far
north along the lake as Port
Douglas, Xáxtsa7. This is where
solid lines on maps come in.
Such legalistic and exclusive jurisdictions
is not part of indigenous
history in many cases, particularly
this one.
Chief Harris of Xáxtsa7 has
explained how the families along
the lake were always in a state of
accommodation and support, even
while the rest of the two countries
may have been at odds. They relied
on each other, and relied on the
hunting, fishing and gathering lands
between them respectfully and
mutually. The Lillooet River provided
a great trade route from the
Fraser valley to the interior.
Several of the St’át’imc
Chiefs spoke to the ideal situation
of an open, honest and evolving
protocol between Chehalis and
St’át’imc in these lands. Chehalis
responded that they have exhausted
their good faith in discussions with
the treaty group, which actually
asserts that St’át’imc has no interest
in those lands.
Several Chiefs were able to
point to examples of other shared
area protocols, such as that between
Líl’wat and Squamish; with
Nlaka’pamux to the east, primarily
regarding fisheries, and the beginning
of dialogue with Tsilhqot’in to
the north and Secwepemc to the
north east.
Further meetings between
the Chiefs Council and Chehalis are
anticipated.
Next SCC meeting:
Tuesday October 6, Xwísten

Tsepqw 2009
The St’át’imc Runner
All Chiefs Assembly
Page 11
Recognition
Legislation:
dead in the water
The Discussion Paper on
BC Recognition and Reconciliation
Legislation proposed by the First
Nations Leadership Council and BC
early this year has been laid to
rest. On Friday, August 28, at the
All Chiefs Assembly in Squamish
territory, the passing was marked
with a song from Nuu-chah-nulth
representatives. The song of going
"on a new path, in a new direction,"
from the house of
Maquinna, formalized the break.
From the meeting of well
over a hundred Chiefs, elected and
hereditary, a group of eight Chiefs
was struck up to review the structure
and function of the First
Nations Leadership Council. Many
noted that the Council was engaged
in high-level negotiations concerning
aboriginal title, and that it
should not be doing this.
The exploration of legislation
had been mandated by three
provincial organizations whose
elected leadership constitutes the
Leadership Council. That is, the
First Nations Summit, the
Assembly of First Nations - BC,
and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs.
The scope of the mandate
was clearly not narrow enough, and
the influence of the BC participants
in writing the Discussion Paper,
which described and defined the
scope of the would-be legislation,
produced a document that would
have the indigenous nations recognize
crown title on their lands.
The crown cannot produce
a deed or other proof of ownership
of these lands. It is precisely the
rejection of crown title, jurisdiction
and authority of any kind on
unceded and unsurrendered lands
that, for a hundred and fifty years,
the nations have organized their
protest around.
Almost every Chief present
or represented at the August meeting
believes that the proposed legislation
would reduce the full
scope of aboriginal title to something
that would be defined and
interpretable through a provincial
Act, and, as legislation, be changeable
and interpretable at the
province's discretion. This would
be a seismic shift from the current
Hereditary Chiefs of the
Ned’u’ten Nation,
supported by the Lake
Babine elected Council,
read from a letter to the
Premier of BC,
Gordon Campbell:
“We own and have
jurisdiction of our
traditional territories.
We have not consented
to this initiative.
It is our opinion
that the province does not
have the jurisdiction to
make such laws.
The BC First Nation
Leadership Council does
not represent our clans or
territories, therefore they
cannot represent to you
that they have our approval
for the proposed
legislation.
Enacting such legislation
would be intended Crown
conduct that would
interfere with our inherent
rights, traditional governing
and land systems.”
internationally recognizable legal
status of aboriginal title lands.
The nations' true title is
proven over and over through use
and occupancy, oral and cultural
identity and tradition, archaeological
evidence, and, perhaps most
significantly, the recognition of the
nations by each other of their borders
in longstanding Accords and
Treaties between them that
enshrine those sovereignties.
What was the proposed
legislation?
The stated objective
was that the legislation
would be used to implement
the stated aims of the
"New Relationship."
The initial idea was to make
a BC Act that would create
a procedural legality whereby
provincial decision makers
would be bound to consult
and accommodate to a
minimum standard.
While this is a courtdirected
reality, the
province does not follow it
with any consistency, nor
does it have a definition for
itself as to what would be
the minimum legal requirement
in consultation and
accommodation. The legislation
would define the
province's responsibilities,
for itself, in these areas.
The concern is that
if a piece of legislation was
written by, for and in consultation
with First
Nations, that would legitimize
and give power to
BC's asserted jurisdiction
here. It would appear that
First Nations accepted BC's
ability to define its obligations
to them using its own
laws.
What is the status of the
New Relationship?
Separation.
Divorce. Paperwork. Court
dates. The only thing BC
has to show for its grandly
stated intentions is Forest
and Range Agreements.
These were designed by
the province after the
Haida case.. FRA’s were
disputed in court by Huuay-aht,
and found to be
dismally inadequate, in no
way upholding the "honour
of the crown," as they
were said to be. They were
then replaced by Forest
and Range Opportunities.
What is "the honour of
the crown"?
We are not sure
what "the honour of the
crown" refers to. We are
more familiar with the
"dishonour of the
crown." There is not a
single treaty Canada has
made with indigenous
nations that has been
upheld. Even very recently
negotiated agreements,
such as with the
James Bay Cree and the
Algonquin Trilateral
Settlement, have quickly
been rubbished at key
junctures.
What will happen next?
Many Chiefs noted
that there is now only a six
month window before the
2010 Olympics, when world
media will be focused on
BC and Canada. The Chiefs
were repetitive in their
calls for action before and
during that time, suggesting
various plans to attract
world media to the outstanding
land question
here.
Many other struggles have
been won because of world
attention, such as in the
ending of the apartheid
regime in South Africa.

Page 12
All Chiefs Assembly
The St’át’imc Runner September 2009
"BC is like a chronically
unfaithful husband.”
Continued from over
Lawyers who worked on the
Discussion Paper, and now the
Concept Paper - an inventory of
options as they see them, defended
the idea that if BC was to introduce
the new legislation, it would force
BC to uphold the minimum standards
that Canadian courts have
identified are required to uphold the
mythical "honour of the crown."
A recurring and powerful
doubt was presented by a number
of speakers. Why on earth would
BC turn 180 degrees and meaningfully
acknowledge and respect aboriginal
title right now? To this day,
BC begins every aboriginal title or
rights court case with the assertion
that indigenous people have no title,
and never did, and if they ever did,
it was replaced by crown title when
Governor James Douglas said it
was, in 1858.
Lawyer Murray Brown of
Woodward and Company put it this
way: "BC is like a chronically
unfaithful husband. He cheats on
his wife every day and twice on
Sundays, then one day comes home
and says, 'honey, I've changed,'
while at the same time he's texting
his girlfriend. They are in the business
of denial. That is the basis of
BC."
The new “Concept Paper” -
written by dozens of lawyers who
work for First Nations, was presented
by the Leadership Council’s
Recognition Working Group. It recommends
next steps, one of which
is to have a Declaration made by
BC to contradict their earlier
Declaration that “all the lands
belong to the province in fee.”
A team of lawyers commissioned
by Chief Wayne Christian,
Chair of the Shuswap Tribal
Council, presented an opinion on
the correct origins of aboriginal
title, and gave recommendations
that point to the use of international
Professor June McCue assisted in preparing a paper, “Towards
Recognition of our Inherent Rights,” commissioned by Chief Wayne
Christian, Secwepemc, to describe another way to pursue recognition.
law to remedy the land issue here.
They suggest implementation of the
UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, and legal pluralism
within Canada. They reject
discussions with BC, a junior government.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip,
President of the Union of BC
Indian Chiefs, said, "BC has
exploited the Leadership Council."
Over the three days, discussion
returned to developing a way to
define the Council’s powers, and
what the basis of unity for the
nations will be.
Grand Chief A-in-chut -
“It’s Our Time”
Continued from front page:
Atleo was escorted into the
meeting by members of the host
Squamish nation, who sang a song
that was sung in 1906 in England.
"When the chiefs went to England
to find the honour of the crown, we
sang this song. We sing it now to
our new Chief, still looking for the
honour of the crown in its dealings
with First Nations," explained Chief
Ian Campbell of Squamish. A number
of Squamish Chiefs honoured
the new Grand Chief with their
presence throughout the day-long
ceremony.
Representatives from
indigenous nations throughout
British Columbia came to acknowledge
him as their national Chief,
and declare their support for his
leadership. Many presented him
with gifts, many wrapped him in a
blanket, and many sang for him.
All offered their assistance and an
invitation to their territory.
The formal acknowledgement
was a ceremonial key to
Atleo's future leadership. The representative
leaders agreed that he was
their Chief in the Assembly of First
Nations.
The new Grand Chief was
presented with valuable gifts. From
the Dakaw Tlingit, the words of a
sacred song: "Our voice will be
heard again on our grandfathers'
lands; my sisters pray to your
raven." From the Kwagiulth, the
symbol of "a new promise for all
our communities, all our families" -
a gold Sun pendant. From Nuuchah-nulth,
a carved paddle presented
by a young girl, in recognition of
A-in-chut's commitment to women
and youth. Sto:lo gave the Chief a
Coast Salish moon to hang in his
office in Ottawa. Nlaka'pamux people
gave s'ts'wan. Heltsiuk fishermen
gave herring roe on hemlock
bows. Some leaders recommended
their Elders' prayers.
In a brief address at the end
of the day, A-In-chut mentioned
goals of strengthening families and
addressing
Canada's
Comprehensive Claims Policy,
which is based on the goal of extinguishment
of aboriginal title and
underscores the BC treaty process.
Atleo is the Chief of a modern-day
treaty First Nation in BC,
Ahousat. He was the elected leader
of the BC region of AFN for several
years. He is Chancellor of
Vancouver Island University.
Above, Wichanninnish, Shawn’s uncle, Cliff Atleo.
Below, A Squamish lady congratulates the new Grand Chief.

Tsepqw 2009
The St’át’imc Runner
The Common Table Report
All Chiefs Assembly
"For those of us in the treaty process, this is our last chance."
Page 13
Key participants in the Common Table to
advance treaty First Nations’ position
at negotiating tables
reported to the Chiefs Assembly on their
progress, or, unfortunately, lack of progress.
On August 10, First Nations
involved in negotiating treaties met
with BC and Canada to address the
concerns of the Common Table.
The Common Table represents 64
First Nations in treaty negotiations,
a little more than 50% of the treaty
tables listed with the BC Treaty
Commission.
The Table was formed two
years ago. In negotiations, the First
Nations have found that BC and
Canada come to the table with fixed
negotiating positions on key issues,
and no one has been able to advance
them at all.
For the August 10th meeting,
the Common Table had requested
written responses to their concerns
about the government's bottom-line
positions. Instead they
received speaking notes for BC
Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and
Reconciliation, MARR, George
Abbott, and federal Minister of
Indian and Northern Affairs Chuck
Strahl.
Responding to the legislative
proposal at the All Chiefs
Meeting in Vancouver last month,
Chief Negotiator Robert Morales
said, "Our challenge is, how do we
get the government to move on
recognition?" Currently the BC
Treaty Commission does not
require that the governments recognize
aboriginal title before entering
treaty negotiations. In fact, recognition
is explicitly denied in the governments'
approach.
"We can do it through negotiation
under the BC Treaty
Commission, through legislation, or
through litigation. Our group
(Halkomelem Treaty Group) is currently
in Washington with a petition
that has a lot of support. Canada
says we shouldn't be there because
we haven't been to court in Canada,
but we have had a lot of nations
come and tell us that they have tried
to win what we want in court, and
failed." Morales was one of the
founders of the First Nations Unity
Protocol which developed the
Common Table.
Tim Raybold spoke for
Chief Robert Louie of Westbank
First Nation: "The Common Table,
for Westbank, was
basically our last
hope for the BC
treaty process. What
the Common Table
has shown us is that
the federal and
provincial governments
are not prepared
to do what it takes to meet the
needs of treaty First Nations in this
province. They're not going to do it
for treaty First Nations outside the
Common Table, either."
Gwaans, Beverly Clifton-
Percival, is the spokesperson for the
Common Table. "We are still waiting
for the written response to our
concerns, so we can get a legal
analysis of that and we will add it to
our litigation strategy."
In Luuxhon, 1999, the people
argued that Canada was guilty
of bad faith negotiations in the
treaty process, as it was negotiating
over the same lands simultaneously
with three First Nations.
Now the people will be
arguing that the governments are
engaged in bad faith negotiations
because they simply will not negotiate
these several matters.
The aspects that have
proved to be non-negotiable for the
colonial governments are in six
somewhat overlapping areas. The
constitutional status of treaty settlement
lands is currently that aboriginal
title is extinguished, and any
lands held by the First Nation are in
fee simple, with underlying title
held by the province.
In the area of governance,
treaty First Nations would, under
the current mandates, be reduced to
municipal powers of law making,
constantly overshadowed by
provincial and federal law. The
Common Table argues that treaty
First Nations must be able to pass
"distinct laws" that are the laws that
govern in key areas.
In fisheries, the Common
Table seeks better management
roles for treaty First Nations, and
the guarantee of the Food, Social
and Ceremonial right, rather than a
straight allocation.
Tim Raybold, left, attended to speak for Westbank’s concerns.
“The Common Table, for Westbank, was basically our last hope
for the BC treaty process. What the Common Table has shown us is that
the federal and provincial governments are not prepared to do what it
takes to meet the needs of treaty First Nations in this province.
They're not going to do it for treaty First Nations
outside the Common Table, either."
Robert Morales, right, is Chief Negotiator for Hulqominum Treaty Group.
"Our challenge is, how do we get the government to move
on recognition?"
Gwaans, Gitxsan,
is the Chair of the
Common Table.
"We are still waiting
for the written response
to our concerns,
so we can get
a legal analysis of that
and we will add it
to our litigation strategy."
Fiscal relations - including
own-source revenue and taxation,
are an area where would-be treaty
First Nations want to be secure that
their communities will not be
allowed to fall below socio-economic
levels of other comparable
communities.
Shared decision making on
traditional territory is currently
reduced, within the government
mandates, to the treaty First
Nation's ability to sit on a regional
board along with other stakeholders:
they want this changed to
ensure meaningful co-management
of the territories.
Recognition and certainty,
which includes overlapping claims,
is a chapter of the six complaints
that identifies the governments'
unwillingness to allow the treaty to
develop over time, and that the governments
do not recognize preexisting
aboriginal rights within the
treaties being negotiated.
BC responded to the
Common Table, through George
Abbott, that they would negotiate
the outstanding issues at individual
tables. BC referred to the incorporation
of their work in the New
Relationship into treaty language as
progress.
BC, Canada and the First
Nations Summit are the Principals
in the treaty negotiating process.
While they are meant to have meetings
twice a year, they have not
actually met for years.

Page 14
All Chiefs Assembly
The St’át’imc Runner September 2009
All Our Relations
“We,
the Indigenous leaders of
British Columbia,
come together united
and celebrate the victory
of the Tsilhqot’in and
Xeni Gwet’in peoples
in securing recognition
of their Aboriginal title
and rights
and all those
Indigenous Nations
and individuals
that have brought
important court cases
over the years
resulting in significant
contributions
in the protection and
advancement of
Aboriginal title and rights,
including the Nisga’a,
Gitxsan, Wet’suwet’in,
Haida, Taku River Tlingit,
Musqueam, Heiltsuk
and Sto:lo
­ shining light
on the darkness of years
of Crown denial of our
title and rights.
After pursuing
different pathways,
we now come together
to make this solemn
Declaration
out of our common desire
to be unified in affirming
our Aboriginal title.
This Declaration was made shortly
after the Tsilhqot’in decision, where
Xeni Gwetin proved their aboriginal
title to at least 50%
of the traditional territory.
Based on discussions
at the All Chiefs’ Assembly,
it was recommended by leaders
that this document be put forward
as the basis
for working together now.
The structure of the
First Nations Leadership Council
is under review
by a newly appointed working
group, and they are to use this
document in their consideration of
the future role and function
of the Council.
“As the original Peoples to
this land, we declare:
We have Aboriginal title and
rights to our lands, waters and
resources and that we will exercise
our collective, sovereign and
inherent authorities and jurisdictions
over these lands, waters and
resources,
We respect, honour and are sustained
by the values, teachings
and laws passed to us by our
ancestors for governing ourselves,
our lands, waters and resources.
We have the right to manage and
benefit from the wealth of our territories.
We have the inalienable sovereign
right of self-determination. By
virtue of this right, we are free to
determine our political status and
free to pursue our economic,
social, health and well-being, and
cultural development.
During the day of celebration for the new Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Chiefs danced together
in the spirit of cooperation that brought them together to support Chief Shawn Atleo to become the first Grand
Chief from BC to Chair the Assembly since Grand Chief George Manuel, Secwepemc.
We have diverse cultures, founded
on the ways of life, traditions and
values of our ancestors, which
include systems of governance,
law and social organization.
We have the right to compensation
and redress with regard to our
territories, lands and resources
which have been confiscated,
taken, occupied, used or damaged
without our free, prior and
informed consent.
We will only negotiate on the
basis of a full and complete recognition
of the existence of our title
and rights throughout our entire
lands, waters, territories and
resources.
We acknowledge the interdependence
we have with one another
and respectfully honour our commitment
with one another where
we share lands, waters and
resources. We commit to resolving
these shared lands, waters and
resources based on our historical
relationship through ceremonies
and reconciliation agreements.
We endorse the provisions of the
UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples and other
international standards aimed at
ensuring the dignity, survival and
well-being of Indigenous peoples.
We commit to:
Stand united today and from this
time forward with the Tsilhqot’in
and with each other in protecting
our Aboriginal title and rights.
Recognize and respect each
other’s autonomy and support each
other in exercising our respective
title, rights and jurisdiction in
keeping with our continued interdependency.
Work together to defend and
uphold this Declaration.
We, the undersigned, represent
First Nations who carry a mandate
to advance Title and Rights in our
homelands today referred to as
British Columbia and exercise our
authorities in making this
Declaration. We welcome other
First Nations not present today to
adhere to this Declaration if they
so choose.
Signed by First Nations leaders on
November 29, 2007

Tsepqw 2009
The St’át’imc Runner
Artbeat
Page 15
Solitary Raven,
Legendary Flight
“Every time the vandals
melt down the shiny baubles of our past,
the goldsmith puts them together again in a different form.”
Haida artist Bill Reid
- Yaahl Sghwaansing, Solitary Raven -
is in print with a collection of writings.
Bill Reid is one of the most
famous native artists from North
America. His work has been commissioned
by royalty - Haida and
British; governments and museums;
and even other artists. His
larger-than-life jade carving of a
Chief and men in a boat - “The
Spirit of Haida Gwaii” - decorates
the Canadian $20 bill, and can be
found in person in the lobby of
Vancouver’s International Airport.
He is not so famous for his
writing, but that may change with
the publication of “Solitary
Raven,” a collection of his letters,
poetry, radio broadcasts and other
written wonderings. This June, a
second expanded edition of the
book was released by Douglas and
McIntyre. Reid’s wife Martine provides
an afterword to bring the
man into human perspective, and
the book is edited and introduced
by Robert Bringhurst. Reid began
work on this book with Bringhurst
shortly before he died. It is eleven
years since Reid’s passing.
The articles and musings in
this volume are crafted as grandly
and beautifully as the classical
Haida sculpture for which the artist
is most famous. The perfectionism
to be seen in Reid’s artwork continues
in his wordsmithing.
While he tackles familiar
and unpleasant subjects, such as
the 1862 smallpox outbreak, or the
modern condition of the young
man who is unemployed, alcoholic
and uneducated in any culture, the
artist brings a kind of insight to his
subjects that reveal to us the formlines
of the tragedies and potential;
the ovoids and connectives of history,
ending in a picture that completes
with space for transformation,
in fact the expectation and
demand of the reader’s transition -
of mythical proportion - in their
perspective.
Reid’s mother was Haida,
and his father Caucasian. He grew
up in Victoria thinking he was an
“us,” as his mother referred to
Europeans, and Indians were
“them.” It wasn’t until his early
twenties that he discovered the
timeless and enduring strength that
“they,” had provided the world,
and himself, when he visited Haida
Gwaii and saw the totems and old
houseframes, the bent boxes and
masks. “Their great triumph was
their continued affirmation of the
exploring spirit of mankind,
unquenched by the limitations of
the physical world and the restrictions
of their own society.”
Yaahl Sghwaansing,
Solitary Raven, was one of the
artist’s two Haida names. He was a
man whose capacity for total
despair at the state of the world is
balanced like bird wings with his
freedom of vision - hoping and
imagining the renewal of his
beloved Haida people and particularly
the great artists whose now
graying work he studied. “First,
this should be remembered about
Indian art: it is a dead art. As dead
as that of classical Greece, of
ancient Egypt, as dead as the rotting
cedar of the grey, dismembered
ghosts of the totem poles
you’ll see in the main room of the
art gallery during the Indian show
there.”
Then, “…it seems impossible
that an art can survive the passing
of the conditions that produced
it.“ But, “It may be that other
carvers will appear to carry on and
perhaps create a new type of pole,
as fascinating and monumental as
those that were left by the great
sculptors who built so well in the
remote villages of the coast.”
Yaahl Sghwaansing in this
collection provides us concise and
meaningful histories of Haida society,
and explores how and why and
by whom - “highly trained, specialized
and talented artists” - the great
sculptures came about. He goes
into some detail about the language
he developed to identify key characteristics
and functions of west
coast style.
The reader can discover,
through the artist’s eyes, and his
translations into English of what
those eyes saw, the names of the
aspects of what make a great piece
of Haida art.
He relates stories of taking
down the last remaining totem
Yaahl Sghwaansing, Solitary Raven. Bill Reid.
“And that I think is the great
mystery: how little men,
painfully pecking away day after
day, sometimes week after
week, at pieces of stone, could
hold such powerful visions that
their final realizations transcend
them and their time, become
independent of their creators,
come to possess existences
separate from those who made
them, and separate from us
who come after.”
poles at Tanu and Skedans, shipping
them back to the UBC museum,
and taking measures for their
preservation. He writes about how
what he saw affected him. He studied
only the oldest specimens of
Haida art, relying on the remaining
pieces (in various museums around
the world) and photographs. One
totem took him four years to carve.
Reid uses the English language
as masterfully as he used
cedar trees and adzes. In his poem,
“Out of the Silence,” he writes:
“…you can build from the cedar
tree / the exterior trappings / of one
of the world’s great cultures.” With
words, Reid has embarked on decorating
the inner culture of the
human being.
He wrote clearly about the
necessary preconditions for the
kind of revival typically reserved
for the Phoenix: “The Haidas must
have their ancient lands back unviolated
if they are to reestablish
links with their distinguished past
and build on it a new future.”
His devotion to precise
beauty convinces us of how the
change is to be brought about. As a
jeweler, which he also was, he contemplated
the endless transfiguration
of gold loot through the ages,
thinking that even traces of treasure
from the sacking of Troy may
remain, recast again and again, in
modern gold adornments. “Every
time the vandals melt down the
shiny baubles of our past, the goldsmith
puts them together again in a
different form.”
The physical blends with
the figurative. “And that I think is
the great mystery: how little men,
painfully pecking away day after
day, sometimes week after week, at
pieces of stone, could hold such
powerful visions that their final
realizations transcend them and
their time, become independent of
their creators, come to possess
existences separate from those who
made them, and separate from us
who come after.”
As I write this review in
Coquitlam, “Solitary Raven” at
hand, the west coast rains are dropping
unhindered from the sky, the
cedars all around laughing in their
element. Similarly, Reid’s prose is
freshening the forest in my mind,
showering my thoughts with life
and sharing the carefully, longdeveloped
nourishment for the cultivation
of works of beauty.
Kerry Coast

Page 16
International News
The St’át’imc Runner September 2009
Five Candidates for BC AFN Regional Chief
Nominees for Chief of the
Assembly of First Nations, BC
Region, explained their action
plans on three key issues for the
nations in BC borders:
1) St’át’imc and others have
been calling for an inquiry into the
salmon situation. I’m affected just
as much as everyone else because
we live on that in the winter. My
thought, for the longest time, is to
get rid of the DFO because they’re
mismanaging everything.
It’s our inherent right and
we don’t need to be told by DFO
when and where to fish. When we
stop signing those agreements with
the Department then we’ll be able
to get control back on our own fisheries.
We’ll be able to manage it
better than they have. When management
is coming from the grassroots
people, then it will make bigger
and better fisheries.
We’re going to have to get
the First Nations Fisheries Council
and Inter Tribal Fishing Treaty talking
and working together.
We need to work together
with the commercial and sport fisheries
as well, and the fisheries in
the United States.
2) I’ve talked to Roger
Williams and Chief Marilyn
1) What will be your first steps in
response to the salmon crash,
In terms of the salmon, and also in
terms of the people who are going
without any this winter?
salmon, title, and leadership.
Robert Shintah, St’át’imc
“My thought,
for the longest time,
is to get rid of the DFO
because they’re
mismanaging
everything.”
Baptiste. They got 100% rights in
their area. Everywhere they go their
title comes with them. We can also
go back to Delgamuukw and the
fishing cases to make our stance
stronger.
The only way I’m going to
be any good as regional chief is to
follow the people, I can’t do it
alone. One of my biggest things is
unity. In 1997, I brought our community
into the Union even though
we were part of the First Nations
Summit.
3) I was part of the Leadership
Council. I want something done
with all of us together. When I get
in, a terms of reference is the first
thing we’re going to do. Pretty
much everybody has a declaration
just like the one from the Lillooet
Tribe, those are our guidelines. First
and foremost in all of those is that
we never ceded our land titles.
When they talked to the king, they
talked about education, housing; we
never gave up our right to those.
Appointments, in part:
UBCIC, VP
Chief, Tskway’lacw
Lillooet Tribal Council Chair
2) In what ways will you advance
the victory of aboriginal title to
20,000 hectares in Tsilhqot’in
territory in the 2007 Williams
decision?
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip,
Okanagan
1) Without question, the wild
salmon stocks in BC are in a state
of crisis. More importantly, if we
do not immediately respond to this
crisis, wild salmon stocks may
completely collapse and in some
cases some runs may become
extinct.
We need to plan, organize
and covene an all-party 'Emergency
Salmon Survival Summit asap.
2) We need to raise the public
profile of our ongoing support for
the Tsilquotin Court Case Appeal.
More importantly, we need to
immediately begin to organize
fundraising events at the community,
Nation and. Provincial levels to
cover the legal costs of the Appeal.
3) Before the so-called First
Nations Leadership Council is
allowed to continue, our Indigenous
communities need to develop precise
Terms of Reference to ensure
accountability and transparency
mechanisms are solidly in place and
to guide the advocacy role of the
FNLC.
Appointments, in part:
Union of BC Indian Chiefs,
President since 1996
Penticton Indian Band, Chief
3) What will you do in your role
within the First Nations Leadership
Council to make that body more
responsive to the Chiefs of the
Union of BC Indian Chiefs , the AFN
and the First Nations Summit?
“Before the so­called
First Nations
Leadership Council
is allowed to continue,
our Indigenous
communities need to
develop precise
Terms of Reference
to ensure
accountability and
transparency
mechanisms are
solidly in place and to
guide the advocacy
role of the FNLC.”
Lynda Price,
Ulkatcho
“We must rally again to bring our issues
to the International level and hold Canada
accountable for their lack of support on the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
1) DFO have offices set up on
a one block radius in down town
Vancouver and we must have correct
data and resources to address
this important issue. I would
engage the communities and fisheries
organizations to see what
current plans have been established
to date along with recommendations
to protect salmon
stock and habitat as well address
the issue of shortage of food supply.
Further, identify what regulatory
controls are in place to prohibit
more polluting along the
Fraser River. Oil spills, pesticides,
secretion from waste disposal
all contribute to the current
state of health of our rivers. I supported
the OKIB in their efforts to
get Salmon River listed as an

Tsepqw 2009
The St’át’imc Runner
International News
Page 17
Since A-in-chut was made Grand Chief of the National Assembly of First Nations,
his former position as head of BC Region will be filled September 30th - October 1st.
Chief Shane Gottfriedson,
Secwepemc
Jody Wilson Raybould,
Kwakwaka’wakw
“Building nationhood
among ourselves is
one of my goals.”
1) First Nations people rely on
salmon to feed their families period.
We will protect that food source at
all costs, it is our inherent right to
feed our communities in traditional
ways. Several factors need to be
addressed, including mismanagement
by the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans, the allowance
of commercial and sport fishermen
and environmental factors.
I am proposing an immediate
Salmon Summit that includes
First Nations experts and leaders,
DFO and stakeholders from Alaska.
Our people are preparing food storage
for the winter, and there may
not be enough. This is unacceptable.
First Nations people of B.C.
will have the first right to fish.
2) The Vickers Decision is
imperative to the advancement of
Aboriginal rights and title because
it acknowledges that Aboriginal
title land is not subject to Crown
interpretation. I see it as the obligation
of the Regional Chief’s office
to support First Nations communities,
and in this particular case, my
job would be to assist the
Ts’ilhqot’in people to bring the federal
and provincial governments
together to seek further resolve for
this matter. The province has
already ruled that Aboriginal title
exists, now the Tsihqot’in people
have to work out exactly what that
means for them.
From a personal experience
perspective, I am very proud of the
work of my Council at the
Tk’emlups Indian Band of maintaining
a rights based approach to
our land, the direction we received
from the community.
We need to celebrate each
others victories. We need to continue
to gather on our traditional
land and include our people, our
elder and our youth in these types
of decisions. We will continue to
fight for our title and rights.
3) I have worked closely with
the FNLC, in Health and
Economic Development at the BC
AFN. I feel strongly that we need
to bring the decision power back
home to our communities. The
true political power is in our people
on our land. In order to do
this, we must improve communication
among each other and with the
Leadership Council. Building
nationhood among ourselves is one
of my goals. I see that strong communications
lines as the biggest
challenge to overcome. The First
Nations Leadership Council should
be responsible to foster such communications.
Appointments (in part):
Chief, Tkemlups Indian Band
Tourism Kamloops, Board
Forest Products Sector Council,
Director
2011 Western Canada Games
Venture Kamloops Board
1) First Nations’ Aboriginal and
Treaty rights to fish were confirmed
in Sparrow and other court cases.
The ability for us to exercise these
rights has been severely frustrated
by over-fishing, mismanagement
and climate change. There has been
a call for a “Salmon Summit” to
investigate what happened to the
fish. There have been similar investigations
in the past. These events
do not help our citizens who will
have no fish for the winter.
Over the last few years those
of us who rely on Fraser stocks
have been working together to find
solutions to problems around sharing
FSC fish. We need to be working
together now to do two things:
Work with other First Nations for an
emergency response/compensation
process so that people have acceptable,
healthy, nutritious food available
this winter, and pressure DFO
so that FSC can be delivered to all
communities, even in times of low
abundance. In the longer term we
need to take control of the management
of the fishery in partnership
with DFO. This was a central
theme during the ‘Common Table’
negotiations I chaired last year.
One of the keys is fair land and
resource settlements for our
Nations; which includes fish for
both FSC and economic purposes.
2) My campaign message is
“Building on OUR Success”.
Since Tsilhqot’in our Nations have
been meeting to develop a litigation
strategy to advance title and rights.
Many Nations favour getting behind
the Tsilhqot’in and pooling our
resources to help them conclude
their legal battle; the outcome of
which will have far-reaching consequences
for all Nations. It simply
makes sense for Nations to rally
behind the best title cases which
“It simply makes
sense for Nations to
rally behind the best
title cases which
advance our interests
in a cost­effective and
organized manner.”
advance our issues in a cost-effective
and organized manner.
3) The Leadership Council is
relatively new. While there is a
need for provincial organization, we
can never lose sight of the fact that
each of our Nations are independent
with their own right to self-determination
as the proper title holders to
their lands. My election platform
stresses ‘Nation Building’. Each
Nation is responsible for its own
governance. I will work with our
Nations’ leaders to advance our
interests, limit duplication of administration
and make the most effective
use of our political and financial
resources.
Appointments (in part):
BC Treaty Commission
BC Bar Association
Minerva Foundation for BC Women
We wai Kai First Nation Council
endangered river and will work
with communities along the Fraser
River too.
2) I will respect the wishes of
the Tsilhqot’in Nation and “Xeni”
as we move forward to address the
advancement of their case. I look
forward to a resolution from the
Chiefs in assembly resulting from
the Task group formed on August
28, 2009.
We have not ceded, surrendered
or extinguished title to our
lands and territory here in BC and
we have a number of court cases
that prove that. The Honour of the
Crown is in question.
I applaud our respected
leaders who rallied together to
protected our Aboriginal Title and
Rights by ensuring they were
entrenched in the Canada
Constitution Act, 1982 S. 35. We
must rally again to bring our
issues to the International level
and hold the elected representatives
of the Federal Government
accountable for their lack of support
on the UN Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples..
3) The purpose, guiding principles
and ongoing process of the
FNLC are clear in the March,
2005 Leadership Accorddocument.
The Chiefs in Assembly could
develop a Terms of Reference,
strategic plan and work plan and
time lines. The Chiefs are elected
to their positions every two years
and to ensure continuity, reports
on progress and implementation
plans can be clearly communicated
to the Chiefs in assembly.
Appointments (in part):
Ulkatcho Council, Chief
University of Northern BC Director
Director, Carrier Chilcotin Tribal
Council
President of West Chilcotin Forest
Products
SD #27 School Trustee

Page 18
Sqwéqwel’s sBill Edwards
Na skela7sá cwilh láti7 kwens
sqwá’len, sqwál’min’an izáwna,
skéla7s kwens qwatsáts skul. tákem
i swín’acwa skwátsits wa7
nahentsálem, ucwalmícw t’u7
skwátsits. Pála7 papt wa7 qweznítas:
Ápa7. Nilh ti7 wa7 twéww’et,
nilh iz’ wa7 naheném i
tewtwéww’eta t’u7 káti7: Ápa7.
Nilh múta7 kwa Tsu7cwínem,
Petsklhánk, Pexwpánk; o, tákem
swín’acws skwátsits wa7 nahentsálitas,
ao kwénswa lexláxs i núkwa,
lhwá7as múta7 ts7áwna.
Nilh aylh nsplan wa7 skúla, wa7
múta7 sqwál’min’an, wa…7 ses
káti7 alkst slha7 ti skukwpi7lhkálha,
wa7 qwel’qwal’él’t, wa7
qwel’qwal’él’t, ao kwens zwáten
lhas ínwat, pála7 t’u7 na qan’imensána:
qwal’út.s ku áopvls:
“Apples”, tsut. Gee! Cataká7em
láti7 ta twéww’eta.
“Gee”, tsútkan k’a, “Wa7 k’a kwas
sáwlhen swátas ku qwenán ku
áopvls”, tsútkan. Cataka7emlhkán
t’elh. Qwatsátskan, nilh skákelcals i
núkwa. Nilh malh kwsút.stum’cas
ta pápl7a lhláku7 ntmícwa, nsmat’
láku7.
T’ákkalh láti7 nilh sáwentsas:
“Tsícwkacw ha?”
“Nka7?” tsúnlhkan.
“Náq’wtsam’ ku áopvls?”
“Ao káti7!” tsúnlhkan, “Ao káti7
kwens tsicw.”
“Sqwál’en, xwem, sqwál’en,
xwem!” Nása cwílh k’a malh
sekném. K’ámálh, t’ákkan tsa7cw,
tsútkan kws cuz’ um’entsálem ku
áopvls.
Zwátenlhkan aylh!
The Old Trail
Áopvls
WORDSEARCH
Find the St’át’imcets words
from The Old Trail!
na skéla7sa… before…
sqwál’en tell someone about
something
sqwál’min talk about, report
on something
qwatsáts leave, set out
skul school
tákem all
wín’acw different kinds of
skwátsits name
nahentsálem I was called
qweznítas they used
twéww’et boy
i núkwa the others
alkst work
Recorded by Aert Kuipers,
transcribed and translated by
Rose Whitley, edited and glossary
supplied by Henry Davis.
Before the time I was talking about,
before I went to school, I was
called by different names, Indian
names. One they used was “Apa7”:
it’s a boy’s name, it’s what we use
for all little boys. Then there was
Tsu7cwínem, Petsklhánk,
Pexwpánk. Oh, they called me all
kinds of names. I don’t remember
them all. There must have been
more.
But I was already in school when
what I’m talking about happened.
We were working close to our
Superior, and he was talking away,
but I didn’t understand what he was
saying. The only thing I heard him
say was “apples”.
“Apples”, he said. Gee! One of the
boys raised his hand.
“Gee!”, I must have thought, “He
must be asking who wants an
apple.” So then I raised my hand
and off I went, followed by the others.
I was rescued by someone from
back home, who happened to be
mixed in with the others. We were
going along, and he asked me:
“Did you go there?”
“Where?” I asked.
“To steal apples.”
“Certainly not!” I said, “I certainly
did not go!”
“Tell him! Hurry! Tell him!
Hurry!” he told me. It turns out
they were going to get whipped.
And there was I, going along as
happy as can be, because I thought
I was going to be given some
apples.
The St’át’imc Runner September 2009
The Message Board
n í t cw 7 ú t s e n ú qw
a lh á w í n a cw ao y 7 e
h á k l’ e t’ ao cw m n’ s z
e qw e t w é w w e t s n
n ú m á t’ m e ts v a 7 í
ts á k u s kw á ts i ts í t
á x s qw á l’ m i n t’ qw a
l ú qw u 7 i n ú kw a a s
e t’ á 7 r ao n’ s í s ts a
m z l’ á l’ a l k s t á z
e n e x lh ú l’ u z í t qw
z í n a s k é l a 7 s a
B.C. First Nations Leaders invited to First Nations
Aquaculture Meeting September 15, 2009
As a result of the recent Morton case, Canada and B.C. are
currently conducting a review of the manner in which
aquaculture is managed in B.C.
The Aquaculture Working Group and the First Nations Fisheries
Council are working together to ensure that First Nations interests
are well represented in this process. The Fisheries Council
and the Aquaculture Working Group are hosting a discussion session
relating to a Statement of Solidarity on Aquaculture management
on September 15, 2009. This is the afternoon prior to the
UBCIC meetings at Harrison Hot Springs. A resolution which
will relate to the outcome of the meeting will be presented at the
UBCIC meeting and at upcoming First Nations Summit and
BCAFN meetings later in September.
The following is a list of recommendations
sent by biologist Alexandra Morton
to Fisheries Minster Gail Shea:
# 1. Within your investigation on the fate of our sockeye,
require full disclosure of the health and stocking
of every salmon farm in BC from 1986 – present
and run analysis against health records
in enhancement facilities near and distant from salmon farms,
including the 2007 salmon farms
from Campbell River to Port Hardy.
#2. Close the fish farm fishery on the Fraser migration route just
as you have closed commercial and sport fishing.
# 3. Apply the Canadian Fisheries Act to fish farms
and start laying charges for violations.
#4. Support the Canadian fish farmers
who want to reinvent their industry on land,
with an eye to siting these facilities in job-starved towns
#5. Ensure that marketing of both farmed and wild salmon
is maximized to benefit us all,
instead of driving down the price of both
#6. Remove your science branch
from the political DFO body
and reinstate the Fisheries Research Board -
which was a cutting edge, world class, Canadian,
scientific powerhouse.
Start using, instead of muzzling, your scientists.
#7. Form local area management councils
compromised of the people who depend on wild salmon
and understand the complexities of their regions.
#8. Apply the phenomenal wealth of science now available to
harness the salmon’s own remarkably successful biology to
restore our runs.
RESOURCES
for small rural communities:
* Education and Training
* Community Economic Development
* Agricultural Planning & Management
* Facilitation and Co-operative Planning
* Housing Project Management Assistance
* Ecological Research
and Experimental Design
* Integrated Resource Management -
Forestry and Forest Health
Landscope Consulting Corporation
Box 198, Lillooet, B.C. V0K 1V0,
Phone (250) 256-0056
Land, Community, and Policy Planning

Tsepqw 2009
The St’át’imc Runner
Page 19
A few months ago, we submitted
an article listing ways to support
adolescents (ages twelve to
eighteen.) The next step is learning
ways to encourage youth towards
independence.
1. Community Values Youth
It truly takes a village to raise a
child, and young people need to feel
important to adults in the community.
- When young workers at a
store or restaurant helps you, be
friendly and compliment them.
- Be patient with young
workers! Don’t show irritation if
they make a mistake as they are just
learning their jobs.
2. Youth as Resources
Give young people useful roles in
the community.
- Ask for their input in decisions
that affect them. If you are on
a decision-making
board, invite youth to join – and
then really listen to what they have
to say.
- Involve youth in fundraising
or charity events. They will
learn by watching you in action, but
they will learn more if they’re given
a meaningful task to complete.
- Encourage youth to mentor
their peers. Teach them how they
can help other youth by listening to
them and helping them work
through their problems.
3. Service to Others
- For one hour or more a week, do
something for someone else,
CFDC
of Central
Interior
First Nations
Dale M. Tomma
Jordan George
#215 - 345 Yellowhead Highway
Kamloops, BC
V2H 1N1
Phone:
(250) 828-9725
Fax:
(250) 828-9972
E-mail:
cfdc_loan@cfdcofcifn.com
St’lát’limx Tribal Police Update
How To
Empower Youth
- Small Business Loans
- Business Planning
Development
- Entrepreneurial Training
Youth help prepare grounds
for indigenous gathering.
whether it’s making a financial contribution
or helping someone out.
- Design and send cards to
hospitalized children, elders, or people
in the military.
- Organize or participate in a
fundraiser and donate the proceeds
to a great cause.
4. Safety
Everyone should feel safe everywhere.
- Create a loving, violencefree,
safe home environment.
- If weapons are a part of a
bullying threat, take the threat seriously.
Inform the Police.
- Leave a situation immediately
if you feel troubled enough to
use violence. Go for a walk and
calm down.
- Parents must decide when
a teen’s welfare is endangered and
take action. Intervene, monitor
behaviour and perhaps seek professional
support.
For more on these topics,
Check online at http://www.searchinstitute.org/.
St’át’imc
Restorative
Justice
Project
Corporation
Giving communities
direct participation
in the administration of Justice.
Addressing
discipline and healing
of the offender.
Creating an alternative
to the Canadian Justice
System.
Call: 250 256 7393
Fax: 250 256 7343, or:
statimcjustice@yahoo.ca
classified
Office Space
Office space for rent
Office Building located on
Bridge River Reserve
-includes six office spaces
-reception area
For inquires please call
Bradley at 250.256.7423
To buy classified ads
or other advertising,
call The Runner at
250 256 7523,
Lillooet Tribal
Council.
Ad deadline is the
25th of each month.
In
Loving
Memory
of
Ulha7
The St’át’imc Runner
is produced at the Lillooet Tribal Council
PO Box 1420, 650 Industrial Place
Lillooet, BC, V0K 1V0
Publisher Kerry Coast.
The St’át’imc Runner Editorial Board is:
Chief Perry Redan, Susan James,
Marilyn Napoleon, Pauline Michell,
Rosalin Sam, Clarke Smith, Dolores McDonald,
Georgina Nelson, Marie Barney, Randy James.
Please contact us to contribute letters, stories or articles.
Telephone: (250) 256 7523 Fax: (250) 256 7119
E-mail: statimcrunner@yahoo.ca
Please join the
family as we
remember
and celebrate
the life of Ulha7
–
Edward Napoleon
Writers Wanted
The Runner seeks freelance
contributors. Like to write?
Coverage of community events,
is an important part of our
newspaper. Youth interests,
sports, culture and health initiatives
want more coverage, and
as the newspaper grows it
needs people to feed it with stories
and pictures.
Assignments are available each
month and a camera can be
provided. Pitch your story idea!
Freelance work, deadline
defined, pay per article.
Perfect for high school student.
Call for more info: 250 256 7523
September 12, 2009
Julianne Hall
11 a.m. Brunch
Drumming and dancing, open microphone
6 p.m. Dinner
Drumming and dancing, open microphone
All drums are welcome
- St’át’imc hand-drums and powwow style -

Page 20
Nilh ti7!
Community Events
The St’át’imc Runner September / Tsepqw 2009
2nd Annual
Roots Gathering
October 1, 2 & 3
At the Ucwalmícw Center
10 Paul Road, Tít’q’et
Workshops:
Herbal medicine making
- using wild plants,
Canning fruits and vegetables
Food dehydration
Cob (earth clay) oven baking
Beneficial worm farming
Root cellaring
Raising chickens
Basic horsemanship
Pit Cooking
Seed Saving
Traditional tool making
Native plant gardens
Smoke house construction
Basket making
Horseback Archery
For info on workshop times,
phone the Ucwalmicw Centre
(250) 256-0101
“Inside the Olympics
Industry”
What the Olympics are really all
about, and what Whistler can expect
post 2010
Dr. Helen Lenskyj, Professor of
Sociology (Sports Studies)
University of Toronto
Saturday, Sept 12, 2009
6:30 pm
@ Whistler Public Library
Admission by Donation
“This event is for Olympic
Supporters and Critics, Volunteers
and Staff of VANOC, Athletes, and
those of you who are just curious.”
Sunday Speakers Series
Every Sunday, 2-4pm at the
Squamish Líl’wat Cultural Center,
Whistler
6th Annual
Baby Days at Bridge River
Thursday September 29, 10am-2pm
Parents or parents-in-planning
of infants and toddlers
are welcome to this Health Fair at
the new Head Start location.
Thank You N’Quátqua!
from Seton and
Tsal’álh...
Saturday,
September 12
Lunch at noon at
Crane Hall
Celebration all
day,
Dinner and
dance
Come and help
us thank our
neighbours for
helping us
during the fire.
In-SHUCK-ch Gatherings:
September
Monday 14th - Tipella
Tuesday 15th: Skátin
Wednesday 16th: Baptiste
Monday 21st - Mission
Tuesday 22nd - Vancouver
Wednesday 23 - Chilliwack
The Líl’wat Barrell Racing team competed
in Kamloops in provincial Championships,
September 5 - 7.
Prepared byUnion of BC Indian
Chiefs, November 15, 1980.
Because of extensive political
action, and the 1981
“Constitution Express” trip to
Ottawa and England, Section 35
of the Canadian Constitution,
1982, was added and solves
some of the problems this Paper
raised. ...continued from August:
INDIAN NATIONS AND
THE CONSTITUTION
A Position Paper
ulation -- the right to perform
Indian songs and dances and make
bannock.
4) The Resolution on patriation
entrenches equalization payments
to provinces (these are Federal
grants paid to provinces out of revenues
collected from various
sources to enable them to share in
the total wealth of Canada more or
less equally.)
This provision makes it a
constitutional requirement that
provinces extend their programs
and services to all Canadian citizens.
Does this mean that
provinces will be compelled constitutionally
to assume jurisdiction
and full responsibility for all programs
and services used by individual
Indians?
This is very probable. The
fact is that the special relationship
which has existed between Indian
Nations and the Canadian Federal
Government will be terminated.
Provincial governments will
3) The Resolution on patriation
spells out a Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms which
includes a 'non-discriminatory'
clause. Another clause refers to
protecting the 'traditional rights
and freedoms' enjoyed by native
peoples (Indian, Inuit, Metis).
How will the Canadian courts
interpret these provisions in the
future when individual Indian
rights issues are being adjudicated?
One very likely interpretation,
given a constitutional
requirement for "non-discrimination"
is that individual Indians,
Inuit and Metis will share the
same rights together and with
Canadian citizens. The special
legal rights of Indian individuals
would be considered "discriminatory"
and therefore illegal under
the Canadian Constitution.
Traditional rights and
freedoms in this context become
cultural rights of a minority popassume
the powers and responsibilities
now held by Indian
Governments and the Canadian
Federal Government. Indian
Governments will for all practical
purposes be considered by the
Canadians as defunct -- non-existent.
FEDERAL INTENTIONS:
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
AND FACTS
The measures which are
now underway to patriate and
amend the Canadian Constitution
appear to be designed to remove
all constitutional impediments to
an accelerated termination of the
special status and rights of Indian
Nations by eliminating Canada's
administrative responsibilities
now carried out on behalf of
Britain.
Canada seems intent on
nothing less than the total assimilation
of Indian peoples and the
complete destruction of Indian
Governments.
Current Canadian intentions
with respect to
Constitutional amendment should
not come as a surprise. The fact
that a new Constitution appears
geared to a termination policy,
rather than to any recognition or
enhancement of Indian rights, is
entirely consistent with longstanding
Canadian objectives and
practices.
Any exhaustive analysis of
Federal policies and practices
would have given us a clear picture
of Canadian intentions with
respect to Constitutional changes.
For purposes of this statement, the
following examples will illustrate
that there has been no qualitative
change in Canadian objectives
with respect to Indian Nations
since Canada confederated. The
only element that does change
from time to time is Canadian
strategy and rhetoric. We offer the
following evidence:
Continuing next month