Kwakwaka'wakw

The issue of resident requirements for the upcoming band election has been going on for several weeks now (years if we count other issues unresolved in previous elections). I have been trying to understand the issue and listen to as many people as possible before weighing in. Both sides have valid points, but it seems to be degenerating into increasingly personal attacks of the people involved. This serves to divide our people, not bring us together as the best public policies can and must. Let me try to quickly summarize the debate in as neutral of terms as possible and hopefully refocus the argument back on the issues and less on the people putting their opinions forth. In this election there are members who according to the election officer have failed to meet the minimum resident requirement in order to run for the open councilor positions currently up for election. These individuals had been properly nominated, except for 'Namgis election policies that are being challenged by ...

It starts. I am here and yet unsettled. Cars drive by with curious faces, as I write in the spattering rain. Who is that?... I listen as the tide sounds of lapping waves underneath the boardwalk, calmly, certainly. I feel sad. Having left my papa's grave with peace and purpose, I walk on. I can now say I am practicing what I have preached from distant lands. A land to which I am attached by blood and childhood upbringing, yet was safely sheltered from the realities of everyday living. I was always meant to come home and make it remember my name. The community is still on a high from the abundance of Sockeye we have "been allowed" to catch. A dangerous development no doubt and a sign of the changed times. So quickly. Asking to feed ourselves from our own country. Nonetheless, a profound gratefulness is felt throughout. Not to a dysfunctional government who feigns management of our sacred resources, but to Mother Earth for being resilient and continuing the struggle ...

With capitalism structured so thoroughly towards enhancing and protecting ever more concentrated wealth, it is a wonder First Nations communities are blindly signing on to 'economic development' without taking a closer look. I am all for making a living for First Nations communities and with this comes some difficult choices. Do we mine, or don't we? Clearcuts? Cultural tourism? Dams? The list of exploitables goes on and on, while our people remain, with less and less. I have been thinking about globalization lately. Kind of a higher level view of how state governments of the developed world, use the inherently exploitive (and dogmatically accepted) structure of economics we recognize as capitalism to control and coerce other less powerful governments. In the end, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It is easy to parellel this to Indigenous economies and how state governments, utilizing capitlism, partnered with liberal statism, to control, steal and exploit lands ...

Intro: I wrote this paper as a brief exploration of resistance models available to our nations. I have always found it difficult to navigate within the Indian Act band governments and if passed, a treaty government will still be an extension of this dependency that breeds corruption and works for the very Canadian governments that have and continue to support the theft of our lands and benefit directly from its exploitation. This should not read: lets devote more resources to 'economic development' in large scale exploitation of natural resources ourselves . Rather, we should focus our attention on realizing and strengthening our collective identity as Kwakwaka'wakw by actively discussing it within our communities, incorporating Western ideas that are a net-benefit to humans and the animal kingdom, while ignoring those that do not (heavy economic exploitation and disparate wealth distribution that favors the already rich and those in power). I sincerely hope it encourages ...

Discussion on both Tsawwassen and Nisga'a Final Agreements. I encourage all to look into the possible agreements that 'Namgis members would be presented with. The "bargaining" the government does is based on an unmovable equation that gives more-land-less-money or more-money-less-land (all valued before negotiations start). Land which will see us sign away over 90% of it with the "more-land" choice. Why are we borrowing millions of dollars that we have to pay back and at the same time giving them 90% of our traditional territories? The Nisga'a are now paying taxes for the land that they all owned outright. Do we really want to give our band chief and council more power with our own scarce money supply through taxation? The letter below by Bertha Williams has been reposted from Stephen Reese's Blog HERE . To view an interview with Bertha Williams HERE . ------------------------------------------- A dissenting voice is raising serious concerns about h...

I asked a Tsilhqot’in friend to write about the how the court decision impacted his people and by extension all negotiating Kwakwaka'wakw Nations under the BC Treaty process. Russell is finishing up his Masters thesis in Indigenous Governance at the University of Victoria. His response is broken into several sections that outline the court case, how it impacts the BC treaty process and finally Russell's personal reflection on the subject. I want to extend my gratitude for this important piece of writing. It will be helpful in further understanding our position as a Nation negotiating under a illegitimate treaty process. _________________________________________ To Chiinuuks & people of the land I want to express my thoughts and share information concerning two divergences that have yet to converge. The BC Treaty Process and the Supreme Court decisions resemble two routes to playing politics in trying to gain recognition for the land that we still belong. While the province ...

Introduction It is important to introduce my background so that the reader can fully understand my position and where I come from. My lineage derives from the 'Namgis and Kwagu’ł First Nations of the Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwak’wala speaking peoples). The Kwakwaka’wakw are located on the North East of Vancouver Island as well as part of the adjacent mainland. The traditional Kwakwaka’wakw diet includes salmon, herring, eulachon, halibut, berries and to a lesser extent, goats, seals, and porpoises. The contemporary diet has recently integrated western foods to complement the collapsed fisheries that was heavily relied on and effectively stewarded for thousands of years (Heaslip, 2008). The Kwakwaka’wakw, described as the Salmon People, have witnessed profound differences since the fish farms started appearing in their territories (Cranmer, 1998). Some of these changes include blackened clam beds, increased sea lice infestation and sea vegetation changes (Richard et al, 2005). The 'Nam...

This can have a dramatic impact on the way we deal with forestry and other industries within our territories. Individual clan territories must be considered before outside companies extract resources. This is to ensure that no one clan bears the burden of the extraction. __________________________________________________ FORESTRY - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080828.BCTREE28//TPStory/National Natives gain more influence over logging Province failed to adequately accommodate Gitanyow when issuing licences, court rules ROBERT MATAS August 28, 2008 VANCOUVER -- Natives will have significantly more clout over forestry in British Columbia after a court ruling that found the provincial government renewed licences granting the right to log in public forests in northern B.C. without meaningful consultation or adequate accommodation of aboriginal interests. The B.C. Forestry Ministry failed to acknowledge the distinctive political features of the Gitanyow First Nation...

Tom Child is being featured on the UVic website for his work on determining the quality of the traditional foods we eat (https://www.uvic.ca/current/): Sea of concern Does local seafood pose a health risk for Vancouver Island’s First Nations people? by Jessica Gillies When Tom Child was growing up in the Kwakiutl community of T’saxis on northeastern Vancouver Island, gathering traditional foods from the ocean was as natural as the rhythm of the seasons. It still is. But now there are concerns about the quality of the food First Nations communities are harvesting and whether the health risks posed by environmental contaminants outweigh the known benefits of a traditional seafood diet. “All the origin stories and legends that exist for First Nations on the coast involve the natural world, so our culture itself is dependent on a healthy environment,” says Child, a grad...