Against the backdrop of a possible province-wide referendum on Aboriginal land claims, an ongoing protest by members of the Shuswap First Nation in B.C. has been drawing much attention to Native concerns. In the meantime, some Christians have been attempting to raise a quiet but firm voice in favour of reconciliation.
Sun Peaks protest
The Sun Peaks ski resort, near Kamloops, has been the site of protests since last October. Protesters say they do not object to the presence of the resort; but they are opposed to a planned $70 million expansion project. They have built several protest camps on what they call Secwepemc territory; they insist that the land was set aside in 1862 as part of the Neskonlith Douglas Reserve, and maintain that their hunting and food-gathering rights are threatened by the proposed expansion. Sun Peaks spokespeople have claimed that the majority of Native bands in the area do not object to the resort’s plans.
According to The Province, there have been confrontations between some protesters and local citizens. There were also allegations of arson, after a log cabin built by the protesters burned down. Arthur Manuel, chief of the area’s Neskonlith Indian Band, has decried what he sees as racially-motivated violence, and has called for federal government intervention.
The conflict came to national prominence in February, when protesters turned their attention to the MuchMusic TV network. The broadcaster was planning to stage a festival called SnowJob at Sun Peaks the following month; protesters maintained that the festival would give the Sun Peaks expansion legitimacy. Despite the objections of prominent Natives such as Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and chief of the Penticton Indian Band, the festival went ahead as planned March 6 -11; the network claimed to have the support of the majority of area First Nations.
In mid-July an injunction was issued, ordering protesters to leave the Sun Peaks property. As of BCCN‘s Web Update deadline, the RCMP had stated that they would be clearing demonstrators out of the protest camps. BCCN spoke to several Kamloops Christians about the situation.
Valen Straley, who works with the Calgary-based Interact Ministries, has planted a church in the area, called Kamloops Native Fellowship; it has a small congregation of Shuswap, Cree and Chilcotin people. “I really feel for the Shuswap people,” he said, “because they haven’t really had a legal settlement. I think both sides really need to make an honest effort to talk about things. From what I understand, there hasn’t been a lot done to settle the issues.”
Jobie Mallett works with a school affiliated with The Feast, a Kamloops church; his wife is half Ojibway, and he does a lot of outreach among local Natives. “In my heart, I support the protest,” he said, but he expressed ambivalence about it. “I think protest causes a stir, and increases awareness; but I don’t think it brings long-term change. However, it does help Natives get their self-esteem back; it helps them feel that they have something to live for, and that they’re getting their heritage back.”
He added: “Judging from what I’ve seen, I think there is an injustice. The government does take advantage of Native people. The government makes them jump through a whole bunch of hoops, legally and politically; and it feels to me like they just strangle the Native people into quitting — and then the government gets what it wants.”
Henry Devries, pastor of Sahali Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, expressed a decidedly less sympathetic view of the Sun Peaks protest. “In the name of Christ,” he said, “all people are equal — and what these people are fighting for is special rights, which puts them above equality. I’m not in support of land claims. In my opinion, it would be best to have a hard-line law which covers the land claims issue from the perspective that no one owns the land.”
Opportunities for Natives, he continued, “are the same in this country as for anyone else. For example, if they want to farm, they can go out and do so. From my perspective, they need to start from where they are and move forward — not go back 200 years to what they used to have. I don’t believe they have a historical claim to anything.” Pointing out that Natives have been part of his church’s congregation, he added: “This is not a racial issue.”
“It’s very difficult to comment on the situation,” said Father Dale Normandeau, pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral. “The Catholic Church position is that it supports the Natives’ pursuit of land rights. What’s going on at Sun Peaks is a political process, and they’re trying to make a determination on whose land it is.”
While admitting that he didn’t “clearly understand all the ramifications and negotiations,” he asserted: “There’s two very different understandings of land. The Natives were originally nomadic. They didn’t have the same understanding of land as non-Natives. They saw themselves not so much as owners, but as custodians of the land.” Nevertheless, he says, “they would maintain that they were the First Peoples on the land.”
He said that members of his church were watching the situation closely. “We pray quite constantly that the parties involved will come to a just and equitable resolution. Everybody needs to sit down and come to a consensus; what’s needed is a common understanding and partnership concerning the use of the land.”
Truth & Reconciliation
Two key B.C. Native leaders, both of whom have supported the Sun Peaks protests, voiced many of their concerns at a recent Vancouver event. ‘The Truth Behind the Law,’ the third in a series of monthly ‘Truth & Reconciliation’ presentations sponsored by Canadians for Reconciliation (CFR), was held July 14 at Grandview Calvary Baptist Church.
Penticton chief Stewart Phillip referred to the recent controversy over Beijing beating Toronto in its bid to host the 2008 Olympics. Citing the concerns frequently expressed about human rights in China, he said: “Canada isn’t all that it’s been put up to be internationally. There is a myth that Canada is a peace-keeping nation, and has an impeccable human rights record… What an opportune time to make a statement about the violation of the human rights of Aboriginal people in this country.”
He stressed the economic context of Natives’ concerns. Industrialized society, he said, has consistently been run by “destructive, self-serving systems which really don’t distribute wealth. There are people who are really rich, and also devastating poverty. The corporate, business, industrial world, they see us as a problem — a hindrance to their accelerating economic development.”
The B.C. treaty process, he said, “was poorly designed; it was thrown together overnight, without any mandate to do it. We’re not convinced the government will act in good faith. They are just delaying, and meantime the resources have been coming out of our land.”
All people throughout the world, he said, “no matter who they are, are children of the Creator. The Creator has given us responsibility for stewardship of creation. As children of our Creator, we all have the responsibility to act. We also have a responsibility to leave a legacy to our children, of what the Creator gave us in terms of language, culture, et cetera.”
Drawing upon his experiences pursuing land claims objectives, he spoke of being invited to meetings under the guise of consultation with business interests. In one case, he said, “there were 1,200 hostile people waiting for us.” He added: “Good faith consultation is very rare.” As an example of good faith, he cited the present relationship between Penticton Natives and the people now running the Apex ski resort in Penticton. The previous owners, he said, were “arrogant”; a 35-day blockade resulted, and the Apex project went bankrupt.
The new owners, he stressed, consult carefully with Penticton Natives about all their concerns. “That’s a very special relationship.” Also, he said, after a variety of conflicts, Penticton’s Chamber of Commerce and City Council now demonstrate “a very high level of respect for the Penticton Indian Band. I think Penticton is a model.”
Reconciliation, Phillip concluded, “is a process, not an event. We need each other to help to reconcile these differences. Another element of the reconciliation process is faith. We have to have a certain level of faith that these things are happening for a reason, and that these things will be resolved.”
“We need to look at the essence of what racism really is,” said Shuswap leader Arthur Manuel. “One of the biggest aspects of racism is the removal of indigenous people from their land, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.” He added: “Most of North America is a treatied area. B.C. is one of the largest areas of territory where there is no settlement [of treaties].” He stressed the fact that many Natives extensively utilize land for subsistence, by fishing, gathering berries, and hunting.
Regarding the Sun Peaks protest, Manuel wryly stated: “One thing people — especially tourists — don’t want to see at a ski resort is a bunch of Indians drumming and handing out leaflets.” He referred to violence directed at Sun Peaks protesters. “More of this will happen if we don’t sit down and try to change things. Let’s sit down and reconcile this thing.” He expressed concerns about potential land claims conflicts across Canada, asserting: “We don’t want the situation to degenerate into the type of thing happening in Northern Ireland and the Middle East.”
He concluded: “Reconciliation is something that belongs in the hearts of people themselves.”
CFR’s Bill Chu cited an initiative called Reconciliation Australia as a model. Begun in 2000, and partially inspired by events at the Sydney Olympics, the movement has involved an estimated one million Australians in walks for reconciliation. Chu hopes to have a similar event in September, in Vancouver.
He referred to the Jubilee concept outlined in Leviticus 25 and 26. Jubilee, he said, represents “the forgiveness of debt, the returning of the land to the dispossessed, and allowing the land to recover.”
He also stressed the need for non-Natives to approach Native issues positively. “This is not about guilt. It’s about God-based sorrow over what has gone wrong . . . [and about] re-establishing a relationship between these two peoples. The challenge for the church is to ask ourselves: ‘How does God really want us to live together?’ The ministry of reconciliation was given by God to every one of us.”
Referendum?
During the recent B.C. election, Liberal leader Gordon Campbell promised to hold a B.C.-wide referendum on Native land claims. Since he took power as premier, no firm statement has been issued by the government, regarding the timeline, or the content of the referendum question.
As our web edition went on-line, BCCN had not been successful in attempts to contact Geoff Plant, provincial Minister Responsible for Treaty Negotiations.
At the Vancouver event, Manuel referred to racist comments which surfaced after the Quebec referendum, and said the proposed B.C. referendum had the same potential for division. The possible conflict, he said, would “probably put B.C. on the international map.” The referendum, he concluded, is “one of the election promises Gordon Campbell should break.”
Mallett also said he wasn’t in favour of the referendum. “I think it’s probably true that some people don’t know enough about the issues, and will likely vote based on their emotions.”
“I don’t think a referendum will solve things,” Devries asserted. “It’ll make things worse.”
“It is a very complicated issue,” said Straley. “I have a question about that — because basically, you’re asking a majority culture what to do with a minority culture. I have a feeling the result is going to be skewed toward the majority culture.”
“The position of the Catholic church,” said Normandeau, “is that it would support a referendum. It has to do with dealing justly with First Nations people. It’s part of the larger picture of what constitutes a just response.” However, he cautioned, “before they vote, people should make a study of the history of land claims issues, and come to a better understanding of Native concerns.”
Bill Chu has expressed serious objections to the possible referendum. He is convinced that most people in BC do not understand the complexity of the issues involved, and that many non-Natives don’t empathize with Natives’ concerns — and therefore, would likely make uninformed and unsympathetic decisions if a referendum was held. A few days after the Vancouver event, he issued a statement:
“Canadians For Reconciliation deplores the premier’s suggestion of a province-wide referendum to decide on the future of the Treaty process with the First Nations. Since the Royal Proclamation of 1763 decreed [that] all colonists must sign treaties with the Aboriginal people before the colonists can use the native land, the premier is wrong in following the mistakes of most of his predecessors in not honouring the treaty process. By themselves not honouring the Aboriginal neighbours while continuing a policy of oppression and deceit, they brought dishonour to all British Columbians.
“Furthermore, Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution affirms that Aboriginals have the same rights as before European contact. Thus, it would be wrong for the premier to attempt to remove the Aboriginals’ constitutionally-protected rights by a referendum.
“Finally, the 1997 Supreme Court of Canada’s Delgamu’uk decision affirmed the existence of aboriginal title and rights . . . and the need to consult with the Aboriginal communities before development in unceded territories. By suggesting a referendum, the premier demonstrates his ignorance and disrespect for the law and history of this land. If he chooses to do evil through the referendum, he — like Pontius Pilate — will be remembered as asking the mob to decide on the unthinkable, while he washes his hands of the crime about to be committed on humanity.
“CFR thus is asking all people of conscience to call their MLAs to stop this madness — or, failing that, to vote against [Campbell’s] use of the ignorance of the people to achieve the ‘certainty and finality’ mentioned in his election promise with respect to the Aboriginal title and rights.”
As for Christians, he concluded, “we should be reminded that ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’ is a radical but life-affirming departure from the greed and pragmatic ethics of the world.”