Posts By: First Nations Drum

By Lee Waters

The Vancouver Art Gallery is presenting its third native exhibition this year entitled Raven Traveling: Two Centuries Of Haida Art.

After successful exhibitions of two of Canada’s most famous native artists, Norville Morrisseau and Brian Jungen, the Haida exhibit boasts “the most wide ranging and complete exhibition of Haida Art ever assembled.” The art, ranging from 19th century classics to modern ground breaking works, is drawn from both public and private collections across North America and Europe.

The VAG sought guidance from the Council of the Haida Nation and the band Councils of Skidegate and Old Massett to find a collection of artwork that would give a complete depiction of Haida culture.”

Haida culture is rich in mythology, and its most famous son Bill Reid, became famous with art that was a celebration of their myths and traditions. Reid’s legacy is worldwide and has spawned an appetite for Haida culture, which is a distinct visual language, documenting histories and supernatural worlds through the use of specific symbols and forms. Its primary function is translating past stories and events to new generations so they can understand the spirit and values of the Haida society.

An important aspect of Haida art is the reflection of its environment. Artists often draw inspiration from the natural habitat of Haida Gwaii. Some of the most beautiful islands in Canada have a history few other regions can lay claim to. The Haida Gwaii have artifacts that date back to 1100 BC.

The mystical landscape of the rain forest and the home to migrating whales are part of the tapestry of their culture – Haida mythology tells about the Raven and how he found the first men in a clamshell. These islands and its people have spawned the Native version of the beginning of the world. Art is a large part of their culture, it is not made for esthetics, it is a tool of communication, documentation and in the past, often made and used for trade.

The exhibition features an array of art including sculptures, drawings, prints, traditional sun masks, impressive woven roots, totem poles, and long canoes. There are oral histories recounted by the elders as well as translations and citations on text panels throughout the exhibit. The numerous artists exhibited range from Charles Edenshaw, the most acclaimed Haida artist of the 19th century, to the late Bill Reid, Jim Hart, Tom Price, Simeon Stilthda, Robert Davidson, and many other contemporary Haida masters.

“Raven Travelling will mark the first time many of our people will see such an extensive array of Haida art in one place,” said Vincent Collison, one of the exhibition’s Haida curators. “It is extremely exciting to pull these works together from across the continent and bring them back to our people, and to a place where we can share the work with the rest of the world.”

The exhibition is an important step in enabling the Haida people to reclaim and conserve their culture. Passing down its once banned traditions, and fighting to keep its native tongue alive. The Haida have fought to recover their heritage from invasions and the smallpox epidemic that almost decimated their entire nation. They still fight today to retain their land and save what remains of their ancient forests from logging and oil companies.

Raven Travelling is a rare and magical walk through Haida history, and one that everyone should find educational as well as entertaining.

“What you are going to see in this exhibit is so much of who we are,” Vince Collison told the Georgia Straight. “We’re still learning about the collections we have out there in the world. In terms of history, you’re catching us at the cusp.”

By B.H. Bates

While doing a ‘man on the street’ type interview, the question was: “What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word – Native?”

And one response really tickled me; it was quite funny, very surprising, and proof that ancient native legends have survived to this very day. The humorous response came from a middle-aged Caucasian lady, when she leaned in and whispered: “I heard that natives are animals in the sack!”

And it’s true, too. Natives are among the best lovers in the World. The men are voracious and as well endowed as the mighty bull moose. And the women are passionate, and when aroused, can be as loud as a pack of wolves wailing at a full moon. There! I’ve now done my part to propagate the legend of our sexual prowess.

And who knows, maybe this is how the French got their reputation as being the world’s best lovers. Maybe they too started their own ‘urban legends.’ I mean, if you’re not good at one thing, maybe you’d be good at something else. If you realize you’re not much of a combatant, why not pull your pants down and proclaim to the world: “Mais oui! I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

Legends have a funny way of getting started – someone … somewhere … might hear something, then repeat something totally different. Take the infamous Billy the kid. The truth is, before his arrest, he was nothing more than a dusty ranch hand, who shot a few cowpokes during a Texas range war. But, that kind of story doesn’t sell too many dime store novels.

I’ll bet our reputation as being ‘animals in the sack,’ got started back in the days of bow and arrow, too. Those first pioneers who dared to make the dangerous trip out West, were understandably scared of the unknown. So it’s no wonder they believed those risque stories: of how those big, wild, Injun braves would drag white women into their tepees and do unimaginable, unspeakable things to them … Oh, my!
And yet, they came …

Even their own military reinforced our reputations as being ‘sexual beasts.’ It was reported that the last words spoken by General Custer, were: “We’re screwed!

And yet, they continued to come … Hmm?

Let’s jump ahead a few generations, to around the time of the great gold rush. It wasn’t uncommon for a hairy European prospector to stake claim to a native girl. And it wasn’t only the 49-er’s who took a shine to our raven haired beauties; cowpokes, loggers, sailors and the most notorious of them all, the Hudson’s bay beaver hunters.

And they loved those naughty nympho natives so much, that they started their own ‘race’ and even created an exclusive club, called the Metis. They’re so proud of their native roots, that they’ve become very vocal about it: “We’ll fight for our right to be status and white!”

Which begs the question: “How much cream can you put into your coffee, before it becomes ‘coffee flavored milk?’ We natives have been playing Cowboys and Indians for so long now, it’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between the Cowpokes and the Pokees! Has the native’s own renowned sex drive, driven the native gene pool over the cliff? Has our tepee creepin’ finally caught up with us? I personally know of a few native ladies, who are adamant about ‘keeping it in the family,’ and I don’t mean incest. They’re almost militant in their beliefs, when it comes to natives marrying natives.

I heard … from someone … somewhere … that they’ll shoot a white women (with dirty looks), for even smiling at an eligible native man. Of course I’m only dramatizing a grain of truth, but you can see how urban legends get started. If this lie gets told over and over again, it won’t be very long before it becomes a ‘true story.’ And soon little white girls, everywhere, will start to whisper: “I heard they’re animals in the sack, but be careful, their women will … !”

Now I’m not one to point fingers or say things like: “Do as I say, not as I do.” I’ll be the first to stand and take a stand – I married a white woman! The truth is, I didn’t stand a chance, she trapped me. She bewildered me with kindness, she used her white, magic, smile and cast a spell upon me!

If I remember correctly … with a devilish grin on her face, she looked deeply into my eyes and said something like: “Is it true you guys are animals in the sack!”

Dear reader,
Iif you have a bee in your bonnet about Bee in the Bonnet column, or suggestions for future articles please feel free to contact B. H. Bates at: beeinthebonnet@shaw.ca

Compiled by Staff Writers

Chief outraged by near jailhouse birth
Chief Veronica Waboose, of the Long Lake First Nation, voiced her anger over a cruel and potentially dangerous situation that occurred in the women’s dormitory at the Thunder Bay District Jail.

A 24-year-old Long Lake woman, held in custody since last December, complained of labour pains in the early hours of the morning. She was repeatedly denied admittance to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre until a scheduled appointment later that afternoon.

“I think it’s absolutely cruel to leave a woman to face her labour pain alone for several hours,” said Chief Waboose. “This young woman was in labour before 9 a.m. and they chose to make her wait to go to the hospital until her scheduled appointment later that afternoon. How is it that the birth of a child can be treated with such carelessness and apparent contempt?”

The baby was born healthy, without complications, around 1 p.m. on March 13. The new mother involved was not incarcerated for violent crimes, nor was she considered a flight risk, leading the chief to further question the treatment she received. The chief had earlier requested the young woman be allowed to serve her term under house arrest until the baby was born in order to avoid making the birth process any more difficult, but was denied.

“I would like to know why Corrections Services felt it was acceptable to transport a labouring woman in a jail van, instead of calling an ambulance, and I expect the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services to investigate this occurrence fully.”

Residential school students’ abuse lawsuit given green light
Hundreds of former students of an Ontario Indian residential school who say they were abused by teachers out to “Christianize” them have been given the green light to proceed with a class action lawsuit against the federal government and the Anglican Church.

Ottawa’s request to appeal a previous court ruling allowing the class action lawsuit was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada.

In December, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that 800 former students of the Mohawk Institute near Branford and their children could sue as a group. Lower courts ruled that they would have to sue individually because their complaints were different.

The lawsuit names the federal government, the Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod, the incorporated diocese of Huron, and an English charity called the New England Company, as defendants.

The suit, which represents 2,000 complainants and seeks $2.3 billion in damages, alleges that the school atmosphere was one of fear and brutality.

Former students described incidents of extreme intimidation, beatings, forced participation in religious activities and excessive punishment for speaking their language.

The suit covers students who attended the school from 1922 to 1969. Most are now in their sixties and older, some have already died.

Court battles incur “tidal wave” of costs
Secret internal documents obtained by the National Post under the federal Access to Information Act, revealed a “looming tidal wave” of costs associated with 1,200 court cases between First Nations, individuals and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Internal reports further urge the federal government to move “beyond managing dependency.”

The documents urge Ottawa to settle the hundreds of long running court battles between First Nations and INAC. That number of cases has grown from 250 in 1993, to more than 1,200, and presents to government “significant financial and policy risks.”

Kenora area on priority list for safe drinking water
Four Kenora area First Nations have been fast-tracked for safer drinking water, out of 21 aboriginal communities nationally.

Shoal Lake 40, North Angle 37, Dalles, and Wabigoon First Nations are all on Ottawa’s highest priority list for safe drinking water.

A spokesperson for INAC said the project at Northwest Angle 37 was entering the design and construction phase.

At Wabigoon, engineers were assessing the existing system, and the next phase would be a feasibility study. Dalles is scheduled to have its facility open this summer.

The federal government has established a plan of action that includes mandatory training for all treatment plant operators, and a regime to ensure that all water systems have the oversight of certified operators.

National Chief Phil Fontaine said he was encouraged by the first steps taken by Ottawa in an effort to close the gap in the quality of life between First Nations and non-aboriginal Canadians.

Six Nations protestors remain after deadline
A court-imposed deadline has passed without arrests as protestors from the Six Nations of Grand River continue to occupy a construction site near Caledonia, Ontario.

Ontario Provincial Police told the First Nations’ officials they didn’t plan any arrests, despite a deadline set by an Ontario Superior Court judge for the protestors to leave.

The Six Nations protestors have occupied the site since February 28.

They say a new subdivision is being built on land that belongs to them. They argue that a 380,000-hectare tract of land on the region’s Grand River was granted to the Six Nations in 1784, and was never relinquished, or transferred, to the government or private interests.

By Lloyd Dolha

The BC Metis Nation continues to push for a Metis-specific harvesting management system with the provincial government and area First Nations.

Since the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2003 ruling in Powley, the BC Metis Nation has developed a natural resources strategy for the implementation of Metis harvesting rights in the province.

In the unanimous landmark ruling, the Supreme Court found that Section 35 of the Canadian constitution (i.e.: the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed) provides a substantive promise to the Metis that recognizes their distinct existence, and protects their existing rights as they are one of the aboriginal peoples included in the accompanying section.

The court identified three factors as a means to identify Metis persons who hold existing rights. These are self-identification, an ancestral connection to a historic Metis community, and community acceptance. The court also set out a 10-point test to identify contemporary rights-bearing Metis persons.

The natural resources strategy is being developed through a community consultation process with its 44,000 members in their seven prospective regions of its provincial governance structure called Traditional Resources and Conservation Knowledge program. In conjunction with the TRACK program, the BC Metis Nation has created a natural resource management body known as the BC Metis Assembly of Natural Resources.

Since adopting their governance structures of a Metis Nation Governing Assembly and Senate, as well as the ratification of a Metis Citizenship Act last year, the Metis of the province function as a true provincial governance structure.

Through these governing institutions, the Metis are pursuing the ratification of a Natural Resource Act and an Electoral Act, as well as a Metis Children and Family Act.

The BCMANR is a non-political body mandated by the Metis Nation to manage the Metis use of natural resources based on the traditional Metis “Buffalo Assembly” used by the Metis in the early to mid-1800s.

The Buffalo Assembly, or Captains Assembly, is comprised of seven regional Captains and a non-voting Youth and Women’s Captain. Each of the seven regions appoints an officer who sits in an ‘Officer’s Assembly’ that is chaired by the respective regional Captain. Each captain takes management direction from their Officer’s Assembly and ultimately takes those opinions to the provincial Captain’s Assembly meetings.

In the area of policy development, the BC Metis Nation has developed a policy that governs all future Metis harvests over a wide array of indigenous species in the province – everything from mule deer to black bear, moose, elk, mountain goats and many others.

The policy adheres to the principles laid out in Powley; the objectives are to:
-engage in a cooperative management partnership with the provincial government to address conservation and management objectives;
-enforce conservation practices during future Metis harvests;
-develop wildlife management practices based on traditional Metis values of
cooperation;
-respect and enforce harvesting practices in a safe manner; and,
-respect the private property rights of landholders.

Metis harvesters who wish to assert their right to harvest must first obtain a Metis Nation Harvester’s card under the direction and approval of both the Officer and Captain or the respective region or local. The harvester’s card will be considered proof that the holder has been verified by the BC Metis Nation as having provided sufficient documentation to support a claim to a Metis right to harvest.

The Metis harvester’s policy is currently in its third draft and the BCMANR is reviewing the document using the traditional captains and Officers of Natural Resources at the regional and local levels. The final policy document is expected to be ready for a reading within the Metis governance structure this fall.

The Metis are also negotiating protocol agreements with First Nations, seeking strategic alliances that respect the aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations while allowing the Metis to advance both socially and politically.

The BC Metis Nation is currently negotiating protocol agreements with the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council, Treaty 8 Tribal Council and the Nicola Valley Tribal Association. They are also seeking to establish agreements with the First Nations Summit and the Union of BC Chiefs.

Metis fights for Interior rights
On the legal front, the BC Metis Nation has won a series of preliminary battles in their on-going fight to uphold a Metis right to harvest in the interior of British Columbia.

In Willison, Gregory Willison had successfully argued the existence of a Metis right to harvest in “the environs of Falkland” in the Okanagan/Thompson area of the province.

On appeal to the BC Supreme Court, the Okanagan Nation Alliance sought intervenor status in the provincial Crown’s appeal of Willison, arguing that the ONA should have been informed of the original trial as the land upon the hunt took place was part of their traditional territory.

The ONA had sought to extensively intervene in the appeal, essentially asking the court to overturn the decision and send it back to trial to allow the ONA to introduce “voluminous” amounts of fresh evidence that wasn’t introduced at the original trial concerning their aboriginal title and rights in the area.

Had the ONA accomplished this, the focus of the case would have shifted from being about a Metis right to harvest, to being about the Okanagan Nation’s aboriginal title and rights.

Justice Williamson denied the ONA application to send it back to trial to allow the ONA to introduce their evidence. Williamson J. said the law does not support the proposition that the ONA or any First Nation can act as an intervenor at a trial regarding Metis harvesting rights.

According to the BC Metis Nation: “Overall, Judge Williamson affirmed the principle that Metis rights exist independently from Indian (aboriginal) rights and do not depend on Metis obtaining permission from Indians such as the First Nations represented by the ONA.”

Williamson J. did grant the ONA a limited intervenor status in the appeal to the Supreme Court, but only on the evidence introduced at the original trial on the application of the Powley test as to the existence of a historical Metis community in the Okanagan.

The provincial Crown is appealing the acquittal of Willison, and argues that the judge misinterpreted the 10-point Powley test. The Supreme Court appeal is scheduled to take place April 18-21. If upheld in the favour of the Metis at the BC Supreme Court level, the province still has the option of going to the Supreme Court of Canada.

“The thing we heard from our legal team is they (the province) might not go to the Supreme Court of Canada because it’s not really expanding Powley, it’s just an application of the test, so to go to the Supreme Court would be redundant,” said Dean Trumbley, BCMN director of Natural Resources.

The BC Metis Nation has also employed researchers, Dr. Mike Angel and Dr. Mike Evans for the past two years. The pair is conducting research throughout the province, identifying historical Metis communities, movement patterns, and usage areas in the hope of reproducing the Willison decision in other areas of the province such as the Kootenay, and the North Central B.C.

In the meantime, those Metis of the province who choose to exercise their right to harvest without a formal agreement with the province are warned by the BC Metis Nation to adhere to all case law in both the Powley and Willison decisions.

There are also plans for a publicized hunt; a large scale civil disobedience action, pending a successful out come of Willison this April.

“That’s one of the strategies we’re thinking of employing if the judge reconfirms (Willison) in April. We might take that course of action if we don’t hit the negotiation table,” said Trumbley.

By Lee Waters

It’s almost five years since Lucie Idlout released her debut CD E5-770: My Mother’s Name. The singer was in Vancouver to perform at very different venues: the Railway Club, a dim and narrow upstairs tavern; and at the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, a flashy black tie event, which was televised on APTN and Global television.

The Nunavut-born singer and songwriter gained critical acclaim for her first CD, which attracted attention with its title song E5-770: My Mother’s Name; a label that refers to the letter and number registrations the Canadian government gave to Inuit people in the early 1940s and 1950s.

“Your tongue unfit, too frail to speak. Identities of thousands cattled ‘e’.” The sardonic lyrics referred to the government’s difficulty in pronouncing Inuktituk names, in her native language.

Lucie’s CD generated positive reviews but tepid sales. E5770 won her the Best Female Artist award at the 2003 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards; as well as nominations for Best Rock Album at both the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards and the Indian Summer Music Awards in Milwaukee. Even The Globe and Mail praised her: “A one-woman revolution in Canadian music, taking the old blues wraiths and wrestling them into fierce new shapes.”

What sets her apart is her unique synthesis of traditional with contemporary rock, combined with a poetic sense of lyricism. Lucie’s distinct music draws from different Inuit influences, one being traditional throat singing, the echoey, grunting chant, which is beginning to receive mainstream interest.

Originally a vocal and breathing game, throat singing was used by Inuit women as a pass time while the men went hunting for food. Two women faced each other, one lead with a sound that imitated a natural noise, such as breaking ice, or a birdcall, or wind. The other woman replicated it building intensity so that each gap of silence was filled with an intonation, which created flowing rhythmic tones.

Lucie performs her own solo version of this historic singing technique on her CD. Adding to the musical tapestry of the CD, which is mainly rock, there are also traditional drums, spoken Inuktituk and chanting. These influences, indigenous to Nunavut, are what give Lucie her diverse musical image.

Following the release of her debut CD, Lucie divides her time between Toronto and Iqaluit, Nunavut. Involved in an assortment of artistic endeavors, Lucie’s recorded a throat-singing track for the documentary Silent Messenger, was the host of Buffalo Tracks on APTN; and is working on her second album Swagger. She’s newly signed with the same management as Blue Rodeo, and has toured across Canada, the United States, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark.

There are few female native artists that can be compared to Lucie. Her music is more hard-edged than Susan Aglukark, and not as folksy as Buffy Sainte-Marie. She is an original, creating in uncharted territory.

“I guess what I can say culturally,” said Idlout in an interview with Chris Yurwik of the Montreal Mirror, “is that Inuit have always been very adaptable people and have always managed to adapt to extreme situations. And so I suppose in context I’m adapting, artistically, to what I’ve been exposed to. And I’ve taken that in and chewed it up and spat it back out in a relative context to whatever else is going on in the world.”

Lucie is a rare combination of folk, punk and poet, accentuated by riveting live performances. Her voice is comparable to that of an old blues singer, at times she sounds like PJ Harvey, and other times Fiona Apple. Her physical presence during performance resembles a tamed version of Iggy Pop, and a gentler, sober portrayal of Courtney Love.

“I suppose a man could sing all my songs, but for the most part it’s not woman music. It’s not chick music. It can be crusty woman music. I wouldn’t say angry woman music,” Lucie said in an interview with Fashion Finds’ Gina Pia Cooper.

Lucie wows audiences
Lucie’s live performances during her visit to Vancouver remains on separate ends of the spectrum. At the Railway Club Lucie unleashed a blistering thirty-minute set: she burned, growled and raged at the audience; crouched on the floor, entranced, until the next song when she was back up again. She sang life into her words with animal charisma: “Does the inferno keep you from temptation? Do you live for truth and honesty? Are you scared of hell and horror? Well you should be.”

She wore black leather pants and a red t-shirt that said ‘Indian’ across the chest. Her misogynous demeanor was matched with an obvious sexual presence, which was effortlessly projected and uncontrived. There weren’t many people in the audience but it didn’t matter. As she became more absorbed in her performance, her limbs shook and trembled; an internal combustion seemed to rip through her body; fire came out of her mouth. When the crowd called for an encore, Lucie seemed surprised and without hesitation graciously returned for one more.

Her performance at the award ceremony was the highlight of the show. On stage she charged the audience with resonating questions in a deep-scraping blues voice. The audience wriggled in their seats, feet tapped, hands drummed and heads bobbed to the beat. Lucie’s dark features and small frame suggested a sense of vulnerability, as her voice seemed to echo off every wall in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, before diffusing into the sky.

The new song Paranoia taken from her CD Swagger, scheduled for release this summer, proves that Lucie still has her rough edge and her new material shows a new maturity.

“Lucie Idlout demonstrates she is a refreshing presence in a scene that lacks credible female talent,” wrote British rock critic Luke Drozd. The fan base she has built through touring, along with new management and the release of her new CD, creates a foundation that may prove Lucie Idlout to be Canada’s next prominent female artist.

By Staff Writers

The Grassy Narrows First Nation of northwestern Ontario have enlisted the aid of the California-based international environmental group Rainforest Action Network, who say they will lobby investors and bankers of Weyerhaeuser Ltd., and Abititi-Consolidated Inc., to further publicize the Grassy Narrows’ fight to save the boreal forests of their traditional territory.

The 700-member First Nation has launched numerous assaults against the multinationals, which includes three years of blockades, public protests and legal action.

The Rainforest Action Network said the chief executives of both companies have been warned that protests will go ahead focusing on their investors, consumers, bankers, business partners, if clear-cutting continues.

Network spokesperson David Stone they have convinced American trans-nationals such as Burger King and Home Depot to change their business practices after public pressure on environmental issues.

He said he believes responsible companies will react positively to their requests not to participate “in the worst ecological and human rights abuses that are going on right now.”
According to their website, three of the largest banks in the United States (Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase) have recently adopted policies that attempt to safeguard old growth and endangered forests.

In a letter sent to Weyerhaeuser Ltd. and Abitibi-Colsolidated Inc., the First Nation accuses the companies of cultural and environmental devastation.

“This letter is to inform you that you are taking part in the destruction of our homeland…Know that you face a fierce campaign against you on all fronts – in the woods, in the streets, in the marketplace, in your boardrooms and in the media,” states the letter.

The northwestern Ontario First Nation has long and bitterly complained that decades of unsustainable logging practices have poisoned local waters with mercury and other toxins, flooding of sacred grounds and clear-cutting practices, have all but destroyed their traditional way of life.

The letter goes on to state that negotiations, requests for environmental assessments, lawsuits, public protests and three years of blockades have failed to produce any improvements in their situation.

The Montreal-based Abitibi removes 13.6 million cubic metres from the boreal forest every year and holds the right to log on the land until 2024. Weyerhaeuser, one of the world’s largest logging companies and is notorious for its “cut and run” practices around the globe.

The earth is suffering and we as human beings are suffering,” said Judy Da Silva, a member of the Grassy Narrows environmental committee.

By Lloyd Dolha

The Leidli T’enneh First Nation of Prince George will hold a community symposium on the infamous ‘Highway of Tears,’ in reaction to the recent murder of 14-year-old aboriginal teen Aielah Saric-Auger, whose remains were found at the side of Highway 16 on February 11, 2006, 15 kilometres outside of city.

The death of the aboriginal teen has sent shockwaves throughout the aboriginal community and “has brought to the forefront the critical issues of race, poverty, women’s rights, the isolation of our youth and our justice system,” said the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, in an urgent call for the community symposium, sent on February 22.

Rena Zatoriski, councilor for the Leidli T’enneh, said they have received a number of commitments from various organizations in answer to their call, and plan to hold the two-day symposium on March 30 -31, at the CN Centre in Prince George. Organizers expect up to 500 aboriginal leaders, family members and advocate workers to discuss those critical issues.

More than RCMP officers have been assigned to the murder of the aboriginal teen, and the murders of eight other young women who have gone missing, and later found murdered on the 722-kilometre stretch of Highway 16, which runs from Prince Rupert to Prince George. Of those nine, only one was non-aboriginal, the majority teens.

“These tragic deaths have shocked and saddened people across the province,” said B.C. Solicitor General John Les. “A targeted police team will ensure that we have the resources and tools to find out what has happened to these women so that justice is done and communities can start to heal.”

Twenty-two senior crime investigators are working on the investigation into Saric-Auger’s death, and 15 more cops have worked on the investigations into the deaths of the eight other women, as early as 1990.

Missing or found dead along the highway since 1990 are:
· Tamara Chipman, 22;
· Lana Derrick, 19;
· Ramona Wilson, 15;
· Delhine Nikal, 15;
· Roxanna Thiara, 15;
· Aleisha Germaine, 15;
· Deena Lyn Braem, 17;
· Nicole Hoar, 25; only Hoar is non-aboriginal.

The various investigations involve women from Prince Rupert, Terrace, Smithers, Burns Lake and Prince George. The investigations include a comprehensive review of all files for possible linkages between the evidence already obtained in each case. More officers may be assigned once the review is complete.

Serial killer suspected
Professional crime profilers have speculated that many of the murders that have occurred along the Highway of Tears appear to be the work of a serial killer, but the RCMP say there isn’t enough evidence to support that theory.

The BC First Nations Leadership Council has called for a more coordinated approach to the investigations, asking RCMP to combine the expertise of all past and present RCMP officers involved in the cases.

“No one wants to repeat the mistakes of the investigation of the missing and murdered women of the downtown eastside of Vancouver,” said Chief Stewart Phillip, one of the three provincial First Nations that comprise the Leadership Council. “The lessons learned from that tragedy – namely, the benefits of a coordinated approach and dedicated response of law enforcement on behalf of all British Columbia’s, … could yield positive results for the Highway of Tears investigations.”

March walk planned
A Highway of Tears Awareness Walk will take place from March 11-29, which will leave Prince Rupert and end in Prince George, in time to coincide with the symposium.

We’suweten elder and grandmother Florence Naziel, 56, will walk from Prince Rupert to Terrace escorted by a pilot car in the beginning, to arrive at Terrace on March 11. She will challenge herself to walk 20-30 kilometres per day. One of Florence’s cousins, Tommy Chipman, lost his daughter Tamara on the Highway of Tears. Other volunteers will take over from Terrance. Matilda (Matty) Wilson, mother of Ramona Wilson, will walk from Smithers to Prince George, and will be accompanied by the K’san Dancers.
According to Naziel, there are actually 34 aboriginal women who have gone missing and remain unreported because of the legal reporting process.

Her 34 year-old daughter Pricilla and Arlene Roberts will make a video of the awareness walk. The pair has conducted research into the other alleged 25 missing women to be presented at the symposium.

Previous highway victims
Dephine Nikal, 15, from Smithers was last seen June 14, 1990 while hitchhiking east of Telkwa.

Three teenage boys, behind an elementary school in Prince George, found Alishia Germaine, 15, dead on December 9, 1994. Germaine, part native, was said to have worked as a prostitute, but friends claimed she had stopped two weeks before her stabbing death.

Roxanne Thiara, 15,went missing in Prince George on the July long weekend in 1994. She had worked as a prostitute and told a friend she was going out with a customer. She walked around the corner of a building and was never heard from again. Her body was found August 17, 1994, in a bush along Highway 16, six kilometres east of Burns Lake.

Ramona Wilson, 15, of Smithers disappeared June 11, 1994, while hitchhiking to Smithers. Her body was found a year later near the Smithers airport.

Lana Derrick, 19, was last seen getting into a vehicle at a service station near Terrace, on October 7, 1995.

Deena Lyn Braem, 17, was last seen at approximately 4:00 a.m. on September 25, 1999. On December 10, 1999, human remains were located near Pinnacles Park, Quesnel BC. The subsequent autopsy proved the remains were Braem’s; and that she had been murdered.

Tamara Chipman, 22, of Terrace was last seen at 4:30 p.m. on September 21, 2005, hitchhiking near an industrial park on Highway 16 in Prince Rupert.

Nicole Hoar, 25, a tree planter, was last seen hitchhiking to Smithers on June 21, 2002, near the outskirts of Prince George on Highway 16.

Aielah Saric-Auger, 14, a student at DP Todd Secondary School in Prince George, was last seen by her family on February 2, 2006.

By Mark Elyas

After the firestorm of 2003 that ravaged the British Columbia interior, the Métis Nation B.C. wished to contribute to the forest fire-fighting efforts. The British Columbia Métis Assembly of Natural Resources, under the direction of their forestry program, hired a professional Métis fire fighter, who fought in the Oregon, Kelowna, Jackson Hole, and Cranbrook fires. His job was to construct a camp that would produce a highly trained, professional team of firefighters.

This team was named the Red River Rangers, after Manitoba’s famous river, the hub of the Métis homeland. This 20-person team is trained in wildland and interface fire fighting. Their purpose is to bridge the gap between wildland fires and the structural devastation that was experienced in Kelowna in the summer of 2003.

Every year since 2003, Métis candidates from all over B.C. compete for one of 20 positions on the elite Red River Rangers team. Team selection is based on leadership skills, physical fitness, safety, experience and attitude. The competition to become a full-pledged member on the Red River Rangers Unit Crew involves a four-step elimination process:

1. The first cut is the application process, where all interested candidates must complete the standard Red River Rangers Application form. A review team rates the applications and invites successful applicants to participate in a one-week boot camp.

2. The second cut is based on physical fitness. On the first day of the weeklong boot camp, all the candidates must complete a physical fitness qualification test. Even veteran Rangers have to complete the required test. Those who do not pass the test are immediately cut.

3. The third cuts happen during the remaining six days of boot camp. Upon completing the physical fitness test, the successful candidates are then asked to participate in the remaining six days of boot camp.

This boot camp consists of extreme physical activity; sleep deprivation, camp living conditions, unfavorable weather, classroom training, team building, and a professional fire-fighting command structure.

The applicants are continuously assessed and evaluated, and cut during these six days, based on very strict criteria. Upon the completion of the weeklong boot camp, each applicant will have earned two or three certifications.

4. The fourth cuts happen during and after a two-week long training camp. During this period, applicants will live in camp-like conditions and continue to train as an advanced team of Wildland/Interface fire fighters. When the training camp is completed, the command staff will conduct a final evaluation.

All remaining candidates are notified of their status for the upcoming fire season. There are three possibilities: an invitation to become a Red River Ranger; or a designation to the Red River Rangers stand-by list; or cut.

Current contracts the Red River Rangers hold include a standing offer with the B.C. Ministry of Forests, a secured position as one of the programs that can deploy the Urban Interface Sprinkler Protection Units for the Office of the Fire Commissioner and the British Columbia Unions of Municipalities.

The Rangers are also negotiating a “Memorandum of Understanding” with a large heavy equipment supplier from Calgary, Alberta. This would train the Red River Rangers to operate some of the latest technology for personnel, water and fireline heavy equipment transport.

In the 2005 forest fire-fighting season, the Red River Rangers were deployed to fight several fires near Vanderhoof, B.C., including the Chinlak and the 12,500 hectares Tatuk Lake fires.

By B.H. Bates

“Trust me! The cheque is in the mail. I promise, I’ll never lie to you
…. again. Honest Injun!”

As sure as the grass grows and the bear craps in the woods – it’s once
again time to cast your vote into the political wishing well. Yes, my brothers and sisters, the politicians are beating the drums on the old campaign trail in the hopes of sweet talking you out of your precious vote, with shiny promises and trinket cheques.

They make the inevitable promises we all know they’ll never keep. I have more faith in the words of a horny teenager in the back seat of a Chevy,when he tells a girl: “Of course I love you and I’ll respect you tomorrow and I’d never tell my buddies how much of a stud I am!”

And what do we get for our vote? Politicians do studies, take polls, have endless meetings and spend millions of your wampum on problems that could easily be fixed with some two gauge wire and a little bit of old fashioned common sense. But I guess I can see why they’re ‘in a meeting,’ and not out there working on viable solutions – in only a short period of time, they’d be out of a job! I think I may have a viable solution: ‘Put every politician on commission!’

As natives, we sometimes sit back and shake our heads at those silly white folks, as they attempt to find a honest politician. We laugh at those foolish folks when they award ultimate power to a single individual, in a society where ‘ultimate power, ultimately corrupts!’ “HA, HA, HA …. Hey, wait a minute! That sounds a lot like some of the Chiefs I’ve heard about!”

Are natives sliding down the same slimy political totem pole, speaking in forked tongues and scalping a little wampum off the top? What’s next, kissing papooses for the paparazzi?

Do you have a crook in the big tepee? Is he or she going on more (all expenses paid) fact finding trips than the local bear goes in the woods? Are they promoting business or monkey business? Is his business just that, his business and none of your business? What kind of car did the Chief drive before he was elected and what does he drive now? If it was a rusted Rez wagon and now it’s a fancy new hot rod …. you may have voted for “Runs To The Bank!”

It’s no wonder that very few natives vote. I think it has a lot to do with being discouraged. It’s like throwing coins into a wishing well and the only thing that happens is that your money gets wet and disappears into a black abyss.

Politicians, going back many, many moons, have been promising natives the World, yet to this very day many are still living in poverty on small Reservations. The only way I see our votes having any effect on government, is: that every single native votes the same way! Only then, will the old boys club take native issues seriously.

Or …. maybe we should elect a Native! Hey, why not me? I could run for office under the slogan: “HONEST INJUN!” Or should I say dishonest, because, the only promises I’d make would be to; Lie and cheat. Tax and steal. Kiss and tell! At least that way you’ll know what to expect. You’d be better able to budget for the inevitable – when shit meets the fan.

I’d play no favorites, I’d screw everyone over equally, without prejudices, white, yellow, black or brown, I’d take your candy and never call you back. I’d sell my soul to the highest bidder, grow fat off the backs of the poor, pad my off-shore bank accounts, then I’d pretend to shed a tear and feel guilty in front of the TV cameras.

After waiting a month or so, voters would forget about me, then I’d hop into my purple Cadillac, drive to my summer home, kiss one of my mistress’ and call my third wife to tell her that I’m leaving her for some place warm and sunny!

I’m only joking of course, I’d never run for office for the simple reason, if you give any one person too much power, it’s not long before they start thinking – “I’m Chief of the World!” Another reason is, I’m a big believer in Karma – “What goes around, comes around.” And in a just World, any politician who screwed us over, would go home, only to find a naked native man in his wife’s closet.

Dear reader,
Iif you have a bee in your bonnet about Bee in the Bonnet column, or suggestions for future articles please feel free to contact B. H. Bates at: beeinthebonnet@shaw.ca

By Shauna Lewis

For most people, running shoes are meant to be worn on the feet and sofas are comfortable seating devices, but for artist Brian Jungen mass-produced objects like these possess the potential to be transformed into something entirely different.

ArtOn exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery until the end of April, Jungen’s decade of works from the mid-nineties to present reflect western society’s insatiable hunger toward consumerism. With re-creation a driving force in his works, the 35-year old artist of Swiss and Dunne-za First Nations ancestry has done everything from ripping apart countless pairs of overpriced brand-name runners to transforming plastic step stools and leather couches into art that is reflective of the political, social, cultural and economic tone in contemporary western society.

JungenGrowing up poor in a rural town near Fort Saint John, Jungen recalls the important role recycling played in his household. By observing his mother’s material sensibilities, reusing and recycling goods was more about survival than the art it would become.

In his teen years, Jungen’s interest in visual arts materialized through drawing and painting. Bored with painting, the young artist enrolled in Vancouver’s esteemed Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. In school Jungen cultivated his passion for executing instillations using pre-made objects. While the themes of Jungen’s works are heavily influenced by his family’s thriftiness, it also blatantly draws attention to mass consumerism and corporate influence on modern western society.

The notion of space is also referenced in the Vancouver-based artist’s work, as Jungen’s passion to explore art in context has manifested in works that reference the cultural anthropology of art, the issue of craft versus art and the line between the museum and the corporate world.

Daina Augiatis, chief curator and associate director of the Vancouver Art Gallery commented on the issue of art in context in a written statement referring to Jungen’s work as being effective at “eliciting questions about museum display, cultural representation and the global economy.”

Influences and inspirations
Jungen’s interest in topics concerning consumer culture and the hype centered on brand names and department stores led to the birth of his series of works entitled ‘Prototypes for a New Understanding.’ In 1998, with the help of a Canada Council grant, Jungen purchased multiple pairs of Nike Air Jordan running shoes and proceeded to take apart the shoe’s stitching and reorganized the materials to form new designs. Using the pre-existing holes created during the manufacturing process, Jungen, with the help of a friend, re-stitched the shoes together to form a modern rendition of the ceremonial masks from First Nations of BC’S Northwest Coast.

“I was fascinated how much the Air Jordan brand resembled motifs, designs and color schemes of different coastal nations, and in return how those objects and artifacts have come to be located in so many museums around the world and have come to represent, not only specific individual nations, but B.C. in general,” Jungen said.

Jungen asserts that his intent in creating the series was not to reproduce the exact styles and meanings of traditional Northwest Coast masks associated with existing lineages and sacred ceremonial purposes, but rather to explore the meaning of these objects in the context of modernity and, more specifically, North American urbanization and consumerism. The deconstruction of the mass produced and the reconstruction or consequent resurrection of the hand-made is noted in every re-stitched thread and fiber of his works.

“I really was interested in how meanings have become defused and have become a part of the aesthetic of popular culture,” Jungen said in reference to the series.

At first glance, Jungen’s monumental piece entitled “Furniture Sculpture,” (2006) resembles a typical Planes First Nation dwelling unit. But after a closer look, viewers are in the midst of a labor intensive creation that conveys artistic ingenuity through both medium and meaning. Constructed entirely from 11 black leather sofas from the Brick furniture company, Jungen’s 25-foot black leather tipi is symbolic of the marriage between ready-made mass produced materials and the memories Jungen has of his childhood when his family would camp and live in tipis. Alluding to the mixture of familial ties, cultural relevance and a social rank commonly associated with economic wealth and consumerism, Jungen describes the work as “collapsing cattle sofas that represented this kind of working class luxury item.”

Like the running shoes, Jungen disassembled the leather panels and wood frames of the manufactured sofa and reassembled the materials to form a traditional First Nations structure. Irony in the piece lays within the deconstruction of an object representing modern luxury and social status and the reinstatement of those organic materials to reconstruction a cultural-specific object symbolic of shelter and family.

Homage to fellow artist, Ken Lum, the tipi refers to the notion of publicly closed off spaces for the use of cohabitation. Also important in the installation is color. Jungen said he used black leather sofas because it represents elements of rank and luxury among his family and the friends he grew up with in his northern home.

“In communities there’s something about a black leather sofa that, at least in my own background, is a status symbol,” said Jungen.

Equally impressive works are Jungen’s series of three monumental whale skeletons, each solely crafted of lawn chairs purchased from Canadian tire. ‘Shape shifter,’ ‘Cetology’ and ‘Vienna’ are gigantic suspended instillations that hover over the viewers who walk beneath them in the gallery setting.

Ingeniously engineered to look like the skeletons of enormous ocean mammals, a closer look proves that these whales are entirely made of plastic and linked together like some sort of puzzle or Lego creation. According to research conducted by the VAG, the choice to use plastic as a medium in the construction of these works is also of great meaning and irony as one of the organic compounds found in plastics are derived from the fossilized bones of whales.

Inspired by various contemporary modern artists, Jungen said he was drawn to the aesthetics of minimalist art but incorporates his own ‘identity politics’ in many of his works. While Jungen asserts his art is more of a formal investigation concerning economy than an issue alluding to race and culture, he has spent sometime thinking about his cultural identity and the role it plays in his art and life.

“I wasn’t really interested in this idea of affirmative action or ideas around having to have a certain kind of quantity of identity in order to speak about something,” Jungen said.

While he is First Nations and an artist, Jungen does not self-identify as a Native artist. “My work is secular, it has no relation to tradition or lineage therefore it has been removed automatically from Native art.”

Although some people may disagree with Jungen’s stark binary between Native art and modernism, the artist asserts a sort of flexibility is achieved when adhering to a more secular style of artistry.

“I think modernism is more fluid than this rigid structure of authenticity in First Nations art and culture,” he said.

Minimalist, modernists, Native artist, whichever way one chooses to describe the world-renowned Brian Jungen; one thing holds true, his art speaks volumes of the society in which it was born, a trait unarguably shared by all movements and styles in the history of art.