Posts By: First Nations Drum

By Peter Kakepetum Schultz

I’m sitting in front of my computer the morning after the closing ceremonies for the North American Indigenous Games, the largest sporting event in Canadian history, and the sadness has begun to set in.

This feeling of sadness is one shared by 6,700 athletes; their families, their supporters, and 3,757 volunteers who have just taken a step into history.

These people planned, coordinated, and participated in the largest North American Indigenous Games to take place since the games began in 1990.

The North American Games brought more than 6,000 youth to the city and this was a concern for the organizers of the games. These young people and their exemplary behavior have given a gift of long lasting pride to their families, communities, and ancestors.

Organizers successfully provided a forum for honoring First Nations youth. The sadness that came with the close of the N.A.I.G. is eased by new friendships, the sense of accomplishment, and the pride that resulted from this phenomenal gathering.

For the past ten days Winnipeg Manitoba has been host to the North American Indigenous Games for 2002. These games have demonstrated to the world the abilities of First Nation people from across Turtle Island.

These capabilities were clearly not limited to athletic abilities.

Strength came from the more recognized older role models coming together with youth. Many skills and talents were incorporated into the planning and coordination of this event. For ten days Winnipeg was the beating heart of the great medicine wheel – Mother Earth.

The meaning of opening ceremonies
The opening ceremonies were performed on Sunday July 28, 2002.

As I sat in the Winnipeg stadium, which was filled to capacity, I was made clearly aware of what the games meant.

The opening ceremonies were not just an exercise in protocol. Winnipeg Stadium became a teaching lodge. APTN became the eyes of the world and the audience was introduced to the culture, history, and humanity that is the essence of First Nations people.

Alex Nelson from British Columbia, chairperson for N.A.I.G., commented that Winnipeg had welcomed their visitors and the city had now been “transformed into a house of learning.”

Importance of these games is the sense of pride that they are instilling in all people. The honor that was bestowed upon youth was transformed into a gift that they were then able to give back to their families and relations.

The speeches by dignitaries and honored guests echoed the themes that First Nation people have used to raise their children for generations: Have fun, be proud, play hard, and stay safe.

That is the way to survive. Humor was restored to this dignified ceremony that was filled with protocol by the National Chief Mathew Coon Come. Athletes began a wave in the stadium during the speech by Peter M. Liba ( Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba).

Mr. Coon Come stood and raised his arms to carry the wave across the political stage. This action injected a true First Nation quality of humor into the circumstance. It also focused people upon the fact that these games truly were a First Nations’ event.

One of the most emotionally rewarding occurrences of the night, for me and many people that I spoke to, was the raising of the flag that marked the games officially opened.

The N.A.I.G. flag was passed from the original men that had carried the torch of the Pan American Games to the Winnipeg Stadium over thirty years ago. The flag was passed to the Tommy Prince Cadets.

These men who were referred to as the Frontrunners had endured a long difficult journey and were ultimately served the serious injustice of not being allowed to carry the torch into the stadium. This glory was handed to someone else.

It was done by someone less deserving of the honor that was associated with this act. The carrying in and passing of the flag at the 2002 ceremonies to the Cadets (who are named after one of Canada’s most decorated war heroes) was a very powerful moment.

Rising flag; growing pride
Watching the flag rise stirred a feeling within those present that a fortress had been reclaimed. Dignity was restored to the Frontrunners and to all First Nations people. It was with great pride that we watched this great wrong finally being corrected.

As with all injustice the undoing of that past wrongful act does not mean that what occurred should be forgotten but it does allow people to move forward in a positive way. This was a spectacular healing moment for those in attendance.

Throughout the games a cultural village was established at The Forks. The cultural village was the focal point for many of the out of town guests. This Winnipeg landmark is historically significant as a place where First Nation people have met for thousands of years. It is located at the point where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet.

At the exact point where the two rivers meet is an island named Spirit Island. Spirit Island became the center of a wheel. From this center point the North American Indigenous Games have provided a spiritual center. On Spirit Island the sweat lodges are located.

Sweat Ceremonies took place every night and were open to anyone who wished to attend them. A Sacred Fire burned for the entire ten days. This is also where the Sacred Bundle of the N.A.I.G., which is carried by Ray Tootoosis of Hobema First Nation in Alberta, resided for the duration of the games.

Musical expression was highlighted by the incredible line up of performers like Susan Aglukark’s performance at the opening ceremonies. Theme nights at the cultural village allowed the showcasing of more localized and fast rising stars like WarParty a rap group from Alberta ( a particular favorite of my grandson, James ), Breach of Trust from Saskatchewan, Brothers of Different Mothers from Vancouver, and more established artists like Tom Jackson, C-Weed, and George Leach.

The cultural village presented a variety of activities like Music, Pow-Wow dancing and singing demonstrations, storytelling, an Elders tent, and many Metis cultural demonstrations and presentations.

What was obvious when you entered the village was the vitality of the youth who were central in all of the sporting events. New York athletes were particularly exuberant and demonstrative when they captured a medal. They provided the crowd with entertaining moments when they ran through the crowd chanting their victories for all to hear.

Thousands of strong and healthy children, young women, and young men were everywhere. The sense of this being one big family was clear.

Despite the fact that many of the people attending the North American Indigenous Games have never met each other before that was not the way it felt as you walked through the crowd.

The cultural village demonstrated the many positive aspects of the Red Nations’ culture. Kinship and diversity existed in this village. Representatives of the 200 Indigenous languages came together here and lived in harmony for ten days.

Memories to cherish
People will be taking this instilled pride home. They will be carrying positive memories of the games with them on their journey through life.

One example of this is Wade Kaye who traveled from a tiny community called Old Crow First Nation in the Yukon. This young athlete came to represent his fly in community located one hour North of Dawson by plane.

The community has a population of 300 and Wade is taking home 2 bronze medals that he won in the track and field competitions. He and his community are winners through his dedication and hard work.

As one speaker commented at the closing ceremony “We are healing and the world has begun to heal with us.”

This is the fundamental benefit of why the N.A.I.G. are taking place and why they are growing in size each time they occur. They demonstrate the strength and vitality of First Nations people.

The time has come for the world to walk to a new viewpoint on the medicine wheel journey and to see First Nation people for what they are – strong, proud, survivors.

The most profound integrity was demonstrated by a member of Team Saskatchewan. Alexis Beatty from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan was the only wrestler to arrive in her weight category.

For this reason the gold medal was automatically awarded to her.

She showed us all the meaning of honor and integrity when she declined the medal and later said, ” I did nothing to earn it…so I didn’t take it.”

Miss Beatty provided us all with a shining example of what we can be if we make choices carefully: proud of ourselves. All the athletes came away from this experience as winners. All of the world has benefited because First Nations people and certainly Alexis Beatty have given us a demonstration that life is the greatest teacher.

By Staff Writers

A government-sanctioned trophy hunt for grizzly bears in the province of BC commenced September 1st, despite growing evidence that the hunt is unsustainable and growing opposition from the public.

On July 16, 2001, just one month after he was sworn in, Premier Gordon Campbell, overturned a three year province-wide moratorium on the sport hunt of grizzly bears announced by the previous NDP government in February 2001.

In its place, the Liberal government announced a number of regional moratoriums and the formation of a scientific review panel established under the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection (MWLAP). In the press release of the day, the Liberal government announced that MLWAP biologists confirmed the existence of “at least 13,000 grizzly bears in British Columbia.”

The Grizzly Bear Scientific Panel is charged with reviewing methods currently used to estimate grizzly bar populations as well as issues relevant to grizzly bear conservation such as clear cut logging. The panel will make its final report to government by December 31, 2002.

Just last month, a July 2002, an internal discussion paper entitled Atrophy in British Columbia Bear Management was leaked to The Vancouver Sun, in which a MWLAP biologist from Terrace, BC, warned that the BC Liberal government could be jeopardizing all wildlife management in the province by continuing to support the annual grizzly bear hunt.

MWLAP biologist Dionys de Leeuw, said that the negative impact of grizzly hunting has on all hunting in the province could damage genuine public support for all wildlife conservation.

de Leeuw, warned that because the government ignored widespread public opposition against the grizzly hunt, the public may become cynical and ignore all government initiatives on behalf of wildlife, no matter how well-intentioned.

“In North America, the purpose of wildlife management has traditionally been to provide game for hunters and BC is no exception. In the case of grizzly bears, any management of this species will be increasingly regarded by the vast majority as only providing animals for a miniscule number of hunters to participate in a contemptible sport.

“Viewed in this way, continuation of the trophy hunt may have the unfortunate consequence of grizzly management atrophying. Why should anyone support a wildlife management regime that encourages an activity the vast majority find repugnant?

“At a time when government spending is at an all-time low, any further decrease in public support will spell doom for all wildlife management, including management and protection of grizzlies.” wrote de Leeuw.

Inconclusive data
In an earlier paper, de Leeuw, cites inconsistencies in government data that estimates grizzly bear populations at 5,000 to 8,000 in 1972, to 6,000 to 7,000 in 1979, and 10,000 to 13,000 in 1995, without any credible scientific explanation to support the population estimates.

In his latest report, de Leeuw, said that by defending the grizzly hunt, the government and hunters are “actively working against all hunting” and tarnishing British Columbia’s international reputation.
“All the BC public … will be held in contempt ‘by association’ for participating in a society that continues to allow this hunt.

It is like supporting bear or tiger baiting, dog or bull fights, and other abusive animal entertainments.

“We will be viewed as a culture that both condones reprehensible abuse of animals, and is unable to accommodate the interests of the majority who justifiably want to change that abuse.”

A grizzly controversy

A 2001 Compas poll found that 76 per cent of all British Columbians, including 78 per cent of Liberal voters, support a moratorium on grizzly sport hunting.

The hunt, which commenced last fall, kills about 300 bears per year.
It’s quite the little controversy.

On December 3, 2001, after an 18-month inquiry, Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis, ordered that MWLAP, the BC biodiversity ministry, must release precise grizzly kill location data to Raincoast Conservation Society.

Loukidelis ruled that MWLAP had not established that releasing the data “could reasonably be expected to damage grizzly bears or interfere with their conservation.”

Going beyond simply ordering the information released the Commissioner commented on the ministry’s underlying motivation to object “to disclosure on the basis that the disputed information will be used to publicly criticize the work of the Ministry.”

Raincoast wants to submit the data to a panel of independent scientists so they could use it to review the hunt on what Raincoast said would be an impartial manner.

Raincoast, a non profit organization promoting research and public information with the goal of protecting the Great Bear Rainforest to ensure the long-term survival of coastal ecosystems and their dependant life forms such as grizzly bears and wild salmon.

Raincoast has been fighting the provincial government for years over precise location kill data for years, arguing that government data is inconclusive and real estimates of the grizzly bear population range from 4,000 to13,000 bears.

On November 29, 2001, days before Commissioner Loukidelis ordered MWLAP to release the data to Raincoast, the European Union (EU) banned the import of grizzly bear hunt trophies from BC, citing that the hunt was unsustainable.

The fifteen EU countries leading wildlife experts had been reviewing BC grizzly management regime and found that the hunt was unsustainable as a species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITIES).

Over 50 per cent grizzlies killed in BC are shot by foreign hunters with 35 per cent of European origin and the species is officially classed “at risk” throughout its dwindling range in Canada.

Then on January 15, 2002, the BC Liberal government, judicially challenged the Commissioner’s order for the release of the grizzly kill data, on the heels of the provincial Finance Committee recommendation that the budget of the over-stretched Commissioner’s Office be slashed by 35 per cent.

The government was joined by the Guide-Outfitters Association of BC, in the Supreme Court in May to keep exact kill locations. The Liberal government argues that it wants to keep the information secret to:
– keep anti-hunt activists from disrupting a legal hunt
– encourage hunters to continue to provide information on hunting sites to the ministry
– prevent poachers from going to sites where bears have reportedly been killed

But in his ruling, Loukidelis wrote that, “It is entirely appropriate for an applicant – and especially public interest groups – to exercise the right of access under the [Freedom of Information] Act in order to obtain information for the purpose of assessing and criticizing the performance of government.”

Raincoast director Chris Genovell commented: “I think clearly the government have something to hide and they have gone to extra lengths to keep this information suppressed and secret.

“They are spending taxpayers’ dollars on challenging [Loukidelis’] order and that’s hypocritical given what the Liberals said during the election that they would be the most open and transparent government in Canada.”

Raincoast lawyer Randy Christensen said he believes the involvement of the guide-outfitters is a delaying tactic to keep the data secret for as long as possible.

“Our concern is the longer this information is delayed, the less likely it is that the scientific panel will see it.”

By Richard Lorenzen

The connection between the First Nations People and the land has always been secondary only to the importance of family and band. The land sustains us and in many ways is part of each person.

We have lost that intimate contact with the earth for the most part, to our loss. Those that have maintained the link to the land have done so mainly as subsistence survivors. It is a great day when one meets a band that have achieved prosperity on the land of their forefathers.

That land is hot, dry and beautiful. The last desert in Canada. Here on September 9th, 2002 two ceremonies occurred. In this setting of stark beauty the NK’MIP band (inkameep) opened the first Aboriginal owned winery on the North American continent, Nk’Mip Cellars. Early the same day the band opened its Nk’Mip Desert and Heritage Centre, an ecotourism site.

Chief Clarence Louie says that the opening of the winery represents a thirty-year desire by the Nk’Mip to use the grapes grown on its own Inkameep Vineyard to produce its own wine. Thus going from “soil to glass”. Opening

The winery is a joint venture between the band and Vincor, an international corporate body that includes many of the important vineyards and wineries of the Osoyoos area. Vincor is the fourth largest producers and marketer of wines in North America.

Opening ceremonies
The opening ceremonies were held first for the Desert & Heritage Centre. Then we climbed the hill to the winery where the opening for the Nk’Mip Cellars took place as the sun set over Lake Osoyoos.

Master of Ceremonies Gerry Barrett, from the native voice of Manitoba NCI-FM introduced two elders who, in the language of the Nk’Mip said prayers and blessed and cleansed the sites with smoke.

The Okanagan Drummers performed traditional songs throughout the ceremonies and sage rope cuttings. Ross Fitzpatrick and Robert Nault of the federal government congratulated the Nk’Mip on their initiative and entrepreneurial spirit.

Donald Triggs, president and CEO of Vincor International, spoke to the excitement and high expectations he and his whole company have for this joint venture.

Chief Robert Louie of the local band made a presentation of a native basket and congratulated Chief Clarence Louie and his Band on their accomplishments.

Chief Clarence Louie talked not only of the past progress but outlined the future projects that the Band will build on these past successes.

Dinner was then served to the guests and visitors. The meal was made up of traditional foods the Nk’Mip have feasted on for centuries. Served with the wines of the Nk’Mip it was fabulous. The diners were entertained throughout by fancy dances, the hoop dance being particularly spectacular. Speeches were given from the visiting dignitaries.

The site of the winery building is one of the most attractive in the South Okanagan. It is situated on a bench overlooking the shores of Lake Osoyoos.

Architect Robert Mackenzie has taken note of the curves and angles of the surrounding hills and local tradition to produce a stunning building that seems to bridge the contrasts between the tract of natural desert on one side and the cultivated vineyards on the other.

The prominent arch is taken from the ancient pictographs that show the People sheltering under just such arches.

Filled with local art among the metal machinery and vats of a working winery it pays homage to the past while pointing to the prosperity possible in the future. With its natural colours and textures the building makes a statement with out discordance with its surroundings. It is a great addition to the tourist destinations in 0soyoos.

I would suggest that after visiting the Desert and Heritage Centre that the visitor cool off at the winery’s patio above Lake Osoyoos.

Wine in production
The 18,000 square foot Nk’Mip cellars will produce 15,000 cases or 135,000 litres of wine per year. The winery is set up to handle sixty percent red wine and forty percent white grapes. The wine will be fermented in temperature controlled tanks and equipment specifically selected to handle the grapes, juice and wine as gently as possible.

Selected French and American oak casks will be used to age them perfection. The wines produced initially will be a merlot, pinot noir, pinot blanc and a chardonnay.

These will be available at the Nk’Mip cellars’ wine shop, discerning restaurants and the twelve VQA retail stores located throughout BC.

The staff
The winery will have the guidance of two capable vintners. Winemaker Randy Picton said that he was excited about the opportunities in this new setting. He was trained under two University of Davis graduates in the art of wine making.

After taking his diploma for Business Administration at Mount Royal College in Calgary, he completed the Winery Assistant Program at Okanagan University College in Penticton.

In 1997, he was qualified by the Summerland Research Centre as a member of the VQA sensory panel. He will be charged with passing on his knowledge to band members employed by the winery in his art. Thereby preparing the generation for another step on the bands progress forward.

Mr. Picton will be assisted by James “Sam” Baptiste. Sam is a proud, capable man. He is proud of his heritage, his forefathers and his land. His pride is well justified in all three.

His capability has been demonstrated in his position as manager and winegrower at the Inkameep Vineyards since 1982. He has performed with enough skill and with such great results that he has been named to provincial agricultural advisory boards.

His peers have honoured him by naming him to the presidency of their association. He is an accredited viticulturist and proud of the name winegrower.

“Wine makers only preserve what the winegrowers tend and care for all year,” he asserts. Holding a hearty bunch of grapes in his hand he said, “This is what it’s all about.” The winery will surely produce spectacular wine with these two working together.

The task of welcoming visitors will fall on the shoulders of Donna Faigaux, Hospitality Manager. She is a five-year veteran of the sales division of Vincor International, Atlas Wine Merchants. She too expressed her excitement in her new challenge and what she calls Nk’Mip dynamite wines.

In addition to overseeing the wine retail shop, tasting and touring programs she will act as liaison between the Band and Vincor. In her spare time she will work with the winery’s sales agents.

She brings to this position great enthusiasm and, besides her five years with Atlas, experience as president of the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society, position she was elected to in 2001 having been a board member for four years. She also is a director on the BC Wine board information Centre Board.

I noticed the quiet pride and assurance felt by all I met and spoke to. Darren Baptiste, a young man working on the finishing touches to the winery when I visited one morning, told me that he is looking forward to a good job some where in the wine industry.

He told me that he and another young man, Jason Baptiste, will be training as winemakers, at the end of their apprenticeship one will remain with the Cellars and one will seek employment elsewhere.
He was sure that he will have a good future no matter what happened.

I wish all our young people had that assurance. I am sure that Darren will do well if the informative tour he gave me is any indication. He reminded me that much of this economic growth that feeds this pride is because of the efforts of the Chief Clarence Louie. All I spoke to assured that all who wished to work could work.

Heritage Centre
I spoke of the fact that there were two openings to celebrate on the ninth. The temporary home of the Nk’Mip Desert and Heritage Centre was opened. The Centre is multi-tasking under the guidance of Brenda Baptiste, a nurse, who oversees the operation of a tract of land that is first dedicated to maintaining the existence of the deserts unique plants and animals.

There are twenty-three species present on the site that are at high risk or exist only there. These include the Western Rattlesnake, Bighorn Sheep, Arrow-leaf, Bitterroot and Antelope Brush. Bear and deer are also present. The Centre will only plant seeds from the site to protect against possible contamination from foreign plants.

The Centre promotes respect and understanding of the Osoyoos Band’s history and culture. One offshoot of this goal has been projects that uncovered aspects of the Bands past poorly understood or forgotten. They have been returned to the People memories and will again live.

When you visit make sure you hear the story of the Residence Children. Visitors may visit daily from May to October and see many of the sights traveling the 1.4 kilometres of wheelchair accessible interpretive trails.

One of the reasons I stressed Mrs. Baptiste’s standing as a nurse is the rattlesnake population on site. It really is nothing to fear but is a serious concern to a group of wildlife biologists who are conducting a study, partially funded by the winery and Vincor, of these endangered reptiles.

This project is trying to find out about the snakes behaviour and survival in the area. To this end they are implanting four rattlesnakes with radio transmitters to track their movements. The local vet took special training to perform the operation.

Chief Clarence Louie said, “Our two new business ventures will provide added opportunities for our band members, breaking the cycle of financial dependency and moving us closer to our goal of self determined economic success.”

There now exist ten corporations involved in tourism, recreation, agriculture, construction, forestry, retail, and now wine. The winery is the second phase of a twenty five million Nk’mip project that includes a pro level golf course that I am assured will see amateur if not professional tournaments, an all season RV park, the Desert and Heritage Centre and an Inn and conference centre fronting the Lake Osoyoos.

By Cher Bloom

In the contemporary British Columbia Aboriginal Movement, there has hardly been a change implemented in the last thirty years, which has not been touched by the strong, firm, determined but gentle hand of Margaret Vickers.

A professional psychotherapist, teacher, healer, singer, designer, artist, athlete, and advocate for the rights of Aboriginal people in many parts of the world, this sensitive woman’s clear vision and influence have made her an unsung icon of her generation.

She was born Margaret Ruth Vickers on July 3, 1949, eldest daughter and third born of seven children, into the Eagle tribe of Lach Lan, (the village of Kitkatla) on Dolphin Island.

At this time, natives were considered “non-citizens” of Canada.

“At my birth, they used forceps to pull me out. Thus started my struggle with professional medical people for the rest of my life.”

Margaret’s father is Arthur Amos Vickers, a descendent of a hereditary Chief of the Tsimchian, Tlingit and Heiltsuk Nations, and a survivor of residential school abuse.

Margaret’s mother, Grace Isabel Freeman, was British / Canadian. It appears that her roots were also Jewish.

“My mother was a teacher, nurse and missionary. Because the government wouldn’t allow missionaries into China during the Second World War, she and my father settled on Dolphin Island. My mother was a victim of medical mismanagement in Prince Rupert, during the birth of my sister Faith. Believing that Grace was an Indian, the hospital staff left her in the hallway instead of the operating room. It was a breech birth, the baby died. My mother almost died too. The ironic thing was that Faith was born and died on Remembrance Day.”

“I’ve always listened to the elders. In my childhood, their words were more important than textbooks. At ten, I went to the elders on both my mother’s and father’s sides. It was the first time I’d met my mother’s Vancouver family. I wondered why they were so white, and why they hadn’t been part of my childhood. I discovered that neither of my parent’s families had agreed with the marriage. My mother lost her Canadian citizenship and became a status Indian. Grace was the first white woman to be elected chief counselor of the community.”

Growing pains
Margaret’s family moved to Gitxsan territory in Hazelton. Hazelton Amalgamated Elementary School was attended by Indian and white children; Margaret was “a double outsider”.

She wasn’t Gitxsan or white. At twelve, she became the first female to win first prize in every track and field event held at the school.

In 1962, the family relocated to Victoria. As the only Aboriginal female in Oak Bay Junior High School, Margaret experienced racial prejudice on several fronts. She became very competitive, and excelled in physical education and drama.

Despite the oppression she experienced, the family matrilineal teachings (based on love, spirituality, community and understanding), remained stronger than the patriarchal based teachings of the dominant white society.

“I wanted to become a teacher. At that time, I was assessed, counseled and directed toward the General program, which didn’t lead to University. I shut down. I’d had my balloon popped. I fared poorly on the psychiatric evaluation. There were questions about yards and families, systems, beliefs, values and customs-culturally oriented topics. I spoke from childhood experiences.

We didn’t have a rake in our yard (we used clamshells), we didn’t have fences – (people respected each other’s territories). Since many questions seemed non-applicable and irrelevant, I didn’t respond.

The authorities interpreted that to mean that I couldn’t comprehend the level of questioning. They figured that I should be happy to accept any job available. I stood my ground. I refused to attend school. I was called in and sent to the principal. I expected to be trapped, (as was the custom in Hazelton).

Instead, the principal, Rudyard Kipling, asked me about my background. I replied that I was from a village with half the population of this school, – that I was experiencing culture shock. He took great interest in my perceptions. He saw that I was well-read and cognizant of these complexities, but also very upset by racial prejudice.

The social culture of the school taught me that I couldn’t trust anyone, (I’d never had to lock anything before.) I felt compelled to continually prove myself. I was given a probation of three months in the academic program. I excelled.

I was also very intuitive, but that was not recognized at that time. I came from a bloodline that was “set apart” for healing, for spirituality and for positivity.

In Mount Douglas Senior Secondary, I became President of the Student Council. I went for all available positions including political ones. Prejudice continued, but I worked hard, and made friends easily.”

Speaking up

At fifteen, Margaret started working at Woolworth’s. She purchased her own clothes and helped support her family.

She later became a student and President of the Student Union at the Institute of Adult Studies, where she fought to make the Institute into an official college. Two years later it became Camosun College.

In 1967, Margaret became the first and only First Nations “Miss Victoria”. At nineteen, she was at UVic, where she completed her teacher’s certification.

“In the seventies, Fred Quilt was kicked to death in the interior by R.C.M.P. I couldn’t understand this. This was when the American Indian Militancy was rising to power. That’s when the dominant society realized that we weren’t going to be as quietly submissive as our parents and grandparents had been. We began to peacefully resist colonial oppression by the federal and provincial governments.”

In 1971 Margaret was hired as the village administrator in Kitkatla, where she learned to do intergovernmental relations. In 1972, she became a counselor in the Native Indian Program at Camosun, and then became the college’s faculty representative.

Shortly thereafter, she became the first and youngest female First Nations Representative on the Senate at UVic. She helped to initiate the only B.C. Native Indian Teachers Association, and the first Professional Native Women’s Association. She became Vice President there for three years.

She coordinated the Indian Education Resource Centre at UVic, and was then hired as a consultant, by Harold Cardinal, author of “The Unjust Society” and “Rebirth of Canada’s Indians”. When Harold was hired as the regional director for the Department of Indian Affairs, in Edmonton, Margaret joined him as his contracted Executive Assistant.

“After Harold Cardinal was fired by the Federal Government, (because he was not willing to be controlled), everyone on contract was let go. That heralded the beginning of my participation in numerous political protests.”

Gallery opening
In Edmonton, in 1978, Margaret opened the Eagle Down Gallery, the first Native Indian owned and operated art gallery in Alberta.

“Natives use eagle down for ritual cleansing and healing, the same way the Roman Catholics use incense. When eagle down is spread around in ceremony, it means: peace be with you.

Participants leave unresolved issues outside the longhouse, they listen and observe. Later, if someone has trouble, they remember the ceremony and know what to do.”

Margaret sponsored fifty Canadian native artists including her eldest brother Roy, who held his first exhibition at her gallery.

“Since people weren’t used to Traditional West Coast Art, the gallery became a learning experience for everyone. Many of the gallery’s best patrons were Jewish. They contributed hugely to the gallery’s success. During that time Margaret created and co-hosted 20-minute educational, promotional television programs featuring the artists, and later co-founded the Edmonton Art Gallery Group for promotion.

“Years ago, Aboriginal artists sculpted stone. The book “Stone Images of B.C.”, by the late Wilson Duff, gave 30,000 years of history to B.C. First Nations. The mask on the cover is from Kitkatla. Wilson Duff had been the Curator of Ethnology at the B.C. Museum. He was the visionary white man who set up the Museum of Anthropology at U.B.C. He requested my help with my people’s spiritual history. He later committed suicide. He wished to reincarnate as a First Nations person from Haida Gwai or the Tsimshian Nation.”

In 1977, Buffy Ste. Marie headlined a huge conference in Edmonton. Margaret attended her concert, and was allowed backstage.

“I was dressed in contemporary aboriginal clothing, which I had made. I entered with the authority of my lineage. Buffy was interested in meeting me because of my support of Aboriginal art. She told me to “Help them (the artists), because artists are like prophets, they tell you what is coming. They tell you what the world is like through their own souls and creativity. They tell the dark as well as the light.”

Buffy became one of my first teachers in Alberta. That night onstage, she said, “For all you radicals out there, first get the facts straight before you shoot off your mouth!” It was the best advice she could have given. Research the subject as quickly and efficiently as possible, and then negotiate. It was the desire for reconciliation and restitution that led me into intergovernmental relations.”

In 1980, after selling the gallery, Margaret accepted a contract with the B.C. Museum as an artist and consultant. She developed a kit for blind patrons, using the concept of a bent cedar box containing a mask.

“I used different textures for the various colours-gravel in the black, which represented the exterior covering of an animal, a bear, wolf or bird, (so they could feel the form lines). I used a slippery red paint, which represented the interior, the animal’s anatomical structure-the inside form lines. People were able to see with their hands, what the mask looked and felt like, what it represented.

Death and dying
In 1982, Margaret set up a volunteer program at Hospice Victoria, incorporating her own experiences with death and dying. For two years, she and others helped hundreds of families go through that turmoil. The approach was spiritual but non-religious.

“I am Christian but I integrate traditional ritual, beliefs and customs into my offerings. I don’t call myself a Medicine Woman, -other people do.”

Among the guidelines instituted for volunteers and staff at the hospice, was a rule that if someone was grieving, they could not continue to work there. The Hospice refused to accept her resignation.

“I told them that this was worse than a tenfold death.”

Margaret learned that the U.S. Immigration Law regarded her as “a Canadian born American Indian,” which gave her the right to live in either country. She sold everything she owned, and moved to Hawaii, where she resided from 1984 until 1986.

She became the Legislative Assistant and Constituency Affairs Manager for Representative Cam Cavasso in the State Capitol, where she helped provide a liaison between the State of Hawaii, and Aboriginal Hawaiians. She also accepted a contract with Small Business Hawaii.

In 1986, she returned to B.C. because her father had a stroke and nearly died. Vickers & Father

“I relocated to B.C. within 24 hours. An anonymous donor provided my ticket home.”

In 1987, Margaret returned to Hazelton to become the administrator in Kispiox, (also known as Anspayxw), “the hiding place”, a town known for the most destructive and violent behaviour patterns in B.C.

First native woman on council

In 1989, Margaret became the first and only Aboriginal Woman to be on the Premier’s Council for Aboriginal Affairs in B.C., under Bill Van der Zalm.

“I had to remind him that he came from a culture who wore wooden shoes and reclaimed land from the sea.”

She helped the Province of B.C. come to the Treaty negotiating table. Prior to that it had been between the Federal government and Aboriginal people.

Margaret had been on death’s door three times. In 1972, she fell into a coma in Kitkatla. Her funeral had already been prepared. In 1975, Margaret again became comatose, this time in Victoria. In this state, she met her dead ancestors. It happened a third time in 1990.

“That was a turning point for me. I had come out of a sauna in Skidigate, Haida Gwai, and again fallen into a coma. I met my Mom’s mom, who sang to me, and my Dad’s dad, who had been killed by a drunk white driver in Prince Rupert. They were both peaceful and happy. As I returned to life this time, I had flashbacks of traumatic abuse I had sufferred as a child. I had been beaten and raped. It had started when I was four. It had come from victim offenders. I developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I couldn’t cope.”

Margaret gave up inter-governmental relations, and signed into a treatment center called The Meadows in Wickenberg, Arizona. The centre was the only one she could find, that treated patients with negative codependency tendencies (they put other people’s ideas and needs above their own), as she had done most of her life. She had been a workaholic overachiever.

She helped the other patients with her empathy and understanding. She was encouraged to become a therapist.

Margaret completed a one-year training program in three months. She studied more academic psychology at the University of Ottawa, in Phoenix. She remained in Phoenix and became an independent advocate for Native Americans in psychiatric institutes.

“Of forty psychiatrists working at Desert Vista Hospital, I could only work with three. They were open to the spiritual realm, and multicultural customs. They allowed me to bring in local Medecine People to translate diagnoses and therapeutic approaches into the patients’ own tongues. I was flown all over the States to help Native patients. I didn’t use medical jargon.

I sang and used my drum. Patients knew me as a survivor. I helped them to find their new walk in life. I helped them kick their addiction to prescription drugs and hold their doctors accountable. Canada is somewhat backward in this regard.

In 1994, I returned to B.C. My mother had been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. It was too late to stop the destruction of her body. They gave her two to three months to live — she lasted a year and a half. She died at home on May 12, 1995, on her birthday, with all of us around her. It was an extremely powerful experience.

We sang “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and “Amazing Grace”. She kept asking every last one of us, every grandchild, until we all agreed we were ready to let her go-we were all there for two weeks. She died a painful but peaceful death. She was my best friend. Her teachings are always with me, I can feel her presence. It took me a long time to get over her death.

My whole family is now in recovery from self destructive behavioural patterns.”

When Margaret returned to work in 1996, she trained frontline workers to do proactive intervention, before a crisis or violent act happens.

In 1999 she moved to Jerusalem, and worked helping Jews to make “Aliyah”, which means “becoming a citizen of Israel”, and claiming and owning their Jewish roots (as she was investigating hers).

“I will consider myself Jewish when I finish tracing my lineages. I am unearthing bits of history from my mother’s sister.”

Margaret returned to Canada where she continued her sabbatical, to design clothing, create ceremonial regalia, and write prose.

Today…

In 2001, she became the Medical Office Manager and the Facilitator for Small Group Psychotherapy for Dr. Phillip Ney, M.D. This is her current occupation.

“I think it is the oppression of my generation, which has motivated me to rise above the cultural “stuff”, to another domain. I no longer have much time for politics. (I meet with MLA Murray Coell from time to time on a voluntary basis.)

My life flows like a river. I create time for people of all cultures who desire to direct their behaviours and attitudes into channels of healing.

Margaret Vickers owns a small home in the Tsawout Nation in East Saanich. As a result of the Elder’s conference held in Saanichton in July, 2002, she has been invited to facilitate healing seminars, in communities throughout B.C.

“Margaret means “Pearl- it begins with a small agitation and results in a treasure.”

By Ronald B. Barbour

John Trudell, the archetype warrior-poet has just released his fourth CD entitled Bone Days, which offers a jarring, steely, glimpse at the gritty underbelly of the world through his sometimes cynical eyes.

Trudell is a humble man whose rich and colourful life has included a four-year stint in the American Armed forces serving in Vietnam, front-line political activism with the American Indian Movement and the subsequent bombing death of his pregnant wife and children as a result of his activism, and a twenty-year musical career that has had him rubbing shoulders with the best in the business – with the likes of Jackson Browne, Jesse Ed Davis, Jeff Beck, and Tony Hymas.

Trudell’s songs, which he refers to as his art, are an extension of his words and the process he goes through with writing starts with the concept of the album.

“There is a process,” says Trudell, “but part of it is, I just write. Whenever it comes on me and I get these ideas, I write.

“Every album represents a concept to me. As soon as I know what the concept is, then I start writing some things specifically for this particular album. So part of it is that and the other part is that I just go back and I find things that I wrote 20 years ago, or 15 years ago or 10 years ago. And then I incorporate the old stuff with the new stuff and then I’ll go sit down.

“So when its time,” Trudell says, “what I’ll do is sit down with whoever is going to make the music and we’ll talk about what kind of texture, what kind of feel, musical sound we want to have with any given song. We’ll work that out so maybe I’ll sit down with Mark (Shark, Guitarist) and say ‘I’d really like this song to have some Hendrix /blues feel to it or something.’

“And other than that, I don’t try to get in it any more. I give them that then they try to take the lyrics and usually we’ll start off with 18 sets of lyrics and the 12 or 13 that can bring the music are the ones that we end up using. We never write the music first.

“My feeling is that the music becomes an extension of the words,” says Trudell. “I use the words to express what it is that I want felt and then the music becomes an extension of that. So it’s almost like that it becomes a part of that poem and then it becomes a musical poem. That’s been our system.”

And the source for his songs is the world around him.

Crazy Horse, the opening track on Bone Days, for instance, deals with the Indian belief that we are intrinsically connected to the earth.

“One does not sell the earth that people walk upon – we are the land? How do we sell our mother? How do we sell the stars? How do we sell the air? … possession, a war that doesn’t end…” (from Crazy Horse, John Trudell, Bone Days, on Daemon Records, 2002)

“I think we wrote Crazy Horse, well I wrote the lyrics to it in 1988-89, somewhere in that time-frame,” recalls Trudell. “Well actually I wrote the lyrics for a project called “Oyahte” which came out of Europe, out of Paris, so I wrote the lyrics for that project … Jean Richard was producing it. He and a man named Tony Hymas (keyboard player, Jeff Beck Band).

“I wrote these lyrics and Tony and Jeff Beck made the music to go with these lyrics, so it was a whole different performance. So whatever agreements were made on that, were made on that, but I had these lyrics that I wanted to use within my own style. And so right around the beginning of 1990, we came up with the music that we have for it now, and we’ve been performing it live since then. It’s just that we’ve never got around to recording it until now.”

Native themes…for everyone
Although many of his songs are written with and around Native themes, Trudell is quick to note that he writes his songs for all people – and these days, with the world “being turned into an industrial reservation, the next Indians are a different colour than us. The next Indians are their own citizens,” says Trudell.

“When Bone Days came around, I thought that what I wanted to do with this particular CD is – I wanted to open it and close it – Crazy Horse at the beginning and Hanging from the Cross at the end. I wanted to open it and close it specifically around Native themes.

” I wanted the opening and closing song to be straight, up-front that this is Native. And everything in between, I wanted it to reflect that it could be any person. The story that goes on in between, inspired by Native but not limited to Native experience.”

Growing popularity
Trudell’s work has not gone unnoticed in Native American circles with being awarded the very first Native American Music – Living Legend Award given out in 1998, and then followed up in 2000 with Trudell’s release of that year, Blue Indians receiving three Nammys – Trudell winning Artist of The Year Award, Song of the Year for the title track, and Jackson Browne winning Producer of the Year Award.

Although all of his releases have sold relatively well overall, the movement has been slow but consistent, without ever having a surge of sales with any of his titles. With only his last foue releases being available in CD format, Trudell is in the process of satisfying the cries of his fans for the reissue of his earlier works.

“Next February will mark the 20th anniversary of the first thing I ever released (Tribal Voice). We’re going to take all six cassettes: Tribal Voice; the original Grafitti Man; another cassette with Jesse Ed Davis called Heart Jump Bouquet; another Tribal Voice called …But This Isn’t El Salvador; and then another music one after Jesse died that I wrote with Mark Sharp called Fables and Other Realities; and a children’s cassette that I put out using my daughters who were 9 and 10 at that time and I called that Child’s Voice.put all that together and release it as a little box set after the first of the year.”

On tour
Trudell and his band Bad Dogs will be touring Bone Days in Italy and France in mid-July for a few weeks and will return to begin work on his next release which he hopes to have out sometime in 2003.

As for Trudell touring Canada, he hopes to come back to the west coast but it will depend on his ability to tour the album in North America.

“In the early ’80s I spent a lot of time in Vancouver,” says Trudell. “I really like that area. But I’ve never been there with my band. It’s kind of like a little dream I have. Because the Native community, when I was there in the ”80s, the Native community, actually the activist community, they were very supportive of the issues we were involved in so it was like having another family there.

“But the issues that we were involved in, they shifted to the south and certain things, so it’s been years since I’ve been back up there. But I would really love to take my band up there. Maybe that will get to happen one of these days.”

By Natasha Davies

If you can live your life without writing then do so — it will be a lot easier that way. But if you’re desperate to write because it is so much a part of you, forget about having any sort of personal life.

This advice comes straight from someone who knows all about writing, its challenges and rewards – Thomas King, Canada’s celebrated native author.

“When people ask me what they have to do to become a writer I say, ‘Don’t get involved with anyone, don’t get married, don’t have any children, learn to live on as little as possible, and then see if you could afford to try to be a writer.’ But of course no one takes that advice,” King explains, in his deep and calm voice.

King hasn’t exactly followed his own advice either. He began writing “seriously” at the age of 40, to impress a very special woman, his wife. Before that he was busy working regular jobs in order to raise his family.

Born in 1943 to a Cherokee father and a mother of Greek and German descent, King grew up in Northern California, received his PhD in English literature at the University of Utah, and worked for a number of years at the University of Minnesota as Chair of their American Indian Studies program. A Canadian citizen, he returned home in 1980 to accept a position as Professor of Native Studies at the University of Lethbridge.

Finding inspiration
As a young reader, King found himself inspired by N. Scott Momaday, author of House Made of Dawn, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969. The book received a lot of attention and brought even more attention to Native writers, both literary and oral. At the time, there were few published native writers. However, it led King to think, “If they bought one book about Indians, maybe they’d buy another one.”

With that thought in the back of his mind, King believed that writing would be a real possibility for him, one day. In the eighties, King’s creative and critical writing were widely published: articles, stories, and poems of his appeared in many journals, including World Literature Written in English, the Hungry Mind Review, and the Journal of American Folklore.

He has also edited a book entitled The Native in Literature (1987) and a special issue of Canadian Fiction Magazine (1988) devoted to short fiction by Canadian Native writers.

His first novel, Medicine River, published in 1990, was turned into a television movie that starred Graham Greene and Tom Jackson.

Other books included Green Grass, Running Water, which was nominated for the Governor General’s Award in 1993; One Good Story, That One; and Truth and Bright Water. He also writes books for children, and a popular CBC radio series, The Dead Dog Café Comedy Hour. His latest book is DreadfulWater Shows Up.

Cowboys and Indians
One of the biggest obstacles for Native writers is that North Americans have grown up on a particular kind of Indian in literature, according to King.

“You never know how big a market there’s going to be in non-native North America for novels about Indians, especially if you’re trying to do something different than the old cowboy and Indian routine or the historical western stuff,” says King.

“There are many non-natives who have written about Indians, so you have this backdrop against which you have to write. If you move away from that backdrop, as a lot of native writers try to do, than it puts you on the fringe because people aren’t used to seeing Indians in those roles; they’re not used to seeing some of narrative strategies.”

King notes that the stereotypical Indian gets repeated over and over again in different ways and varieties.

“Basically you still see that cliché Indian character pop up in books. You would think by now, non-natives or natives would be able to get around that but those images are pretty well burned into our minds,” says King, citing the stoic, innocent, loner type; or the savage Indian type.

“It’s disheartening in this day and age to have it repeated,” says King. “The fact of the matter is publishing houses are only going to publish so many books a year by native writers that deal with native issues.”

For aspiring writers seeking an audience, King suggests contacting native publishing houses that “look kindly” at their work. Another option is to solicit literary journals, native and non-native.

“Of course the other thing that may happen are native writers doing non-native material, and that’s legitimate. Just because a person is native doesn’t mean they have to write about native issues,” says King.

“It’s a slow process. Don’t wait until 40 like I did,” advises King, with a soft chuckle.

Native style
There’s a difference of narrative strategies between native and non-native writers, observes King. Non-natives who write about Indians usually write about the historical Indian; their books are set in the past.

“But when Natives write about native material, for the most part we write about the present. I’m not sure why that is, but it seems to be the case,” says King.

A good example is a new book entitled Porcupines and China Dolls, by Robert Alexie. A terrific book, King says, that deals with present day concerns. “Its narrative strategy is one that North American readers aren’t going to be used to – they may even find a little bit on the laboured side. But for native readers, what they’ll hear is some of the overtones of oral literature and oral story telling.”

New book, new direction
King’s latest book takes him from his usual “serious, adult writing” to a more fun style of writing. Thumps DreadfulWater, is a Cherokee photographer living in Chinook. An ex-cop, he gets to play detective when a computer programmer is found dead in the band’s new resort and casino just before its grand opening. Writing under the pseudonymous Hartley GoodWeather, Thomas King plans on making DreadfulWater a series of detective books.

“This book will get to more get more native readers than included Green Grass, Running Water, which is more complex,” compares King. Green Grass, is currently scheduled to go into filming next spring.

How does King find motivation and ideas for his writing today?

“To be able to hear a good story well told is a wonderful thing,” says King.

“At this point in my career, I guess I have to look to myself for inspiration. I have friends who are writers who are kind to me and say nice things to me when they read my work, which is encouraging. I also hang out with all sorts of weird native people. They tell their stories, and sometimes bits of those stories become bits of my prose. I keep my ears open.”

Currently, King is a professor at the University of Guelph where he teaches Native literature and Creative Writing. He will appear at the Vancouver International Writers Festival at Doing Canada Proud, an event that takes place on Wednesday, October 23 at 8:30 pm at Performance Works on Granville Island. For more information, visit the Festival’s web site.

By Staff Writers

A new report released by the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (PFRCC), recommends the temporary emptying of fish farms at the northern tip of Vancouver Island to prevent doing “irreparable harm” to the wild pink salmon runs of the Broughton Archipelago.

The scientific council established by the federal government recommends that all of the 20 salmon farms of the Broughton Archipelago be emptied six weeks prior to the return of juvenile pink salmon in mid-April to prevent these salmon from being infested with sea lice that have plagued the salmon farms of the area in recent years.

“The PFRCC recommends that the time for action is now,” said the report released last November. “While recognizing that some may argue that more study be done prior to implementing any measures to protect juvenile pink salmon passage, the PFRCC concludes that such a strategy may lead to irreparable harm to the Broughton Archipelago pink salmon stocks.”

The council wants Heritage Aquacuture and Stolt Sea Farms, the two companies that operate the 20 farms to empty their pens to prevent the transmission of sea lice to pink salmon stocks.

“Pens have to remain empty for a full six to eight weeks. That will break the life cycle of the sea lice. Then as young salmon start moving out to sea, the pens could be restocked,” said council scientist Brian Riddell.

Earlier this year, only 147,000 adult pink salmon returned to spawn in the archipelago, compared to the 3.6 million that returned two years ago.

The dramatic drop is possibly due to the sea lice from the fish farms killing the young salmon.

The council, formed in 1998 to oversee the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), said that while there is no proven link between sea lice from the fish farms to the huge decline in wild salmon stocks, the evidence for such a link warrants a temporary closure of the farms.

Lack of evidence
Stolt Sea Farms vice-president Dale Blackburn said the council’s recommendation is premature and impractical. Blackburn said until there is a definite link between fish farms and the decline in wild stocks is established, Stolt has no plans to empty any of its pens.

“In a perfect world, if we had all the science and had the alternate sites to move to, and there was a direct link, yes we would do that,” said Blackburn. “But the fact of the matter is we don’t have the sites to relocate to and the science is by no means conclusive.”

Blackburn said Stolt prefers the council’s “higher risk option” that calls for a careful study of sea lice and the development and implementation of a sea lice control plan.

BC Salmon Farmer’s Association executive director Mary Wallin said in a press release that the association is prepared to work with the PFRCC to determine the cause of the decline in wild salmon stocks.

“Any sort of human activity poses some risk to nature. The key is to weigh those risks, reduce them as much as possible and manage them over time,” said Wallin.

DFO minister Robert Thibault, said the government will look at the report’s recommendations and take appropriate action.

Blood-sucking parasites
Sea lice are a blood-sucking saltwater parasite that attach to salmon leaving small, open lesions. Whereas it used to be common to have four or five sea lice attached, urgent alarms have rung now that up to 65 lice are being found on a single salmon.

Sea lice are the most serious problems facing the salmon farming industry worldwide. Outbreaks like the current one are associated with the dense crowding of salmon that occurs in net-cage farms.

The farms use bright lights at night to enhance growth and it appears that the lights are also fueling the rapid growth of sea lice. Wild salmon and other fish are attracted to the bright lights and this likely is increasing their exposure to the parasites on the farmed salmon.

Alexandra Morton, an independent biologist who has monitored the levels of sea lice in the Broughton Archipelago for the past two years called the council’s report “groundbreaking.”

Morton said that she holds out little hope for the government taking any real action, but said the report is visionary “because it addresses the biology of the situation and not just the politics.”

She hopes other interested stakeholders such as fishermen, environmentalists and First Nations will apply pressure to both Victoria And Ottawa to see that something is done.

“There are so many people wise to this now. But it’s only going to be through a concerted push by all of us that this will be a reality.”

By Lloyd Dolha

A flotilla of 14 boats from the Bella Bella area comprised of First Nations, environmentalists and commercial fishermen damaged the construction site of an Atlantic salmon hatchery at Ocean Falls in protest of the expansion of fish farming on the BC central coast.

Approximately 60 protesters, largely from the Heiltsuk First Nation, the Nuxalk First Nation and the Forest Action Network (FAN), arrived by boat to demonstrate their opposition to fish farming when some forty of the protesters tore open the gate to the Omega Salmon Group’s fish hatchery construction site and tore down the wooden forms for concrete foundations.

The Omega hatchery at Ocean Falls, the site of a traditional Heiltsik village formerly known as Laig, is considered by many to be the symbolic beginning to the expansion of fish farming on the BC coast.

The 20 fish farms operating in the Broughton Archipelago on the northern tip of Vancouver Island near Alert Bay have been blamed for virtually wiping out the pink salmon run of the area in a recent scientific study.

“That is an infringement on our hereditary and inherent right of our people when others come into our land and develop commercial ventures that destroy the Nuxalk way of life,” stated hereditary Nuxalk head chief Nuximlaye at Bella Bella before the boats departed.

“The farmed salmon will introduce new disease to the natural stock and decimate them. It is like when small pox came into the valley and killed our people. Now they want to do the same to the salmon,” he said.

Protest to cage expansion
The Nuxalk were joined by the Heiltsuk First Nation to protest the expansion of open-net cage salmon aquaculture. The Heiltsuk are launching a court challenge to stop the expansion of fish farming.

They argue that recent case law compels the provincial government to adequately consult with First Nations prior to developments that may affect the interests of the First Nation such as issuing tenures in their traditional territory.

Clement Lam, a 35-year old member of the Forest Action Network, has been charged with mischief and will appear in court in Bella Bella on February 26.

“This protest is a symbol of how communities are losing patience with a government who is ignoring them and ignoring science while promoting dirty fish farming,” said Edward May, spokesperson for FAN. “As the destructive industry expands, inevitably the heat of protest will rise.”

Irresponsible practices
In a related development, a Norwegian-based salmon farming multinational, Pacific National Aquaculture (PNA), has been charged with irresponsible fish farming practices.

PNA is charged with 17 counts of provincial fisheries laws relating to fish escapes. The charges involve three PNA farms in Clayoquot Sound, concerning incidents between August 2001 and February 2002.

The charges range from failure to prevent escapes, failure to report escapes, to unauthorized release of fish into tidal waters.

PNA operates sixteen sites that farm Atlantic salmon. Escaped Atlantic salmon has been found regularly in Clayoquot rivers for more than a decade. They have experienced several accidents in the last year.

These include an algae bloom that killed over 100,000 Atlantic salmon in August 2001. There have been outbreaks of Infectious Hemeopoetic Necrosis, a viral disease at two separate farms. In January 2002, more than 8,000 Atlantic salmon escaped due to storm damage.

PNA subsequently pled guilty to a series of eleven charges and was fined $25,000.