http://www.wawataynews.ca/archive/all/2009/10/29/Residential-school-film-pla
ys-Bay-Street-Film-Festival_18437

Residential school film plays Bay Street Film Festival

A film about a young girl’s final four days at home before going off to
residential school aired Oct. 2 at the Bay Street Film Festival.

by: Rick Garrick - Wawatay News

“Shi Shi Etko is a Thompson word – it means she who likes to play in the
water,” said director Kate Kroll, who shot the film because she wanted to
spread awareness of the residential school issue among the general
population.

“It’s something I was always interested in. Before the big apology, we
didn’t really hear much about it.”

When Kroll first saw the children’s book Shi Shi Etko, which was written by
Nicola Campbell, she realized she wanted to film the story.

“I came across the book by Nicola Campbell and could just visualize it in my
head,” Kroll said, explaining she shot the film entirely in the Halq’eméylem
language of the Sto:lo First Nation. “We got language coaches in, the actors
were really dedicated.”

Kroll said the actor who played the Elder remembers being yelled at for
speaking her own language while at residential school; only a few of the
Elders now speak their language in the Chilliwack area of B.C., where the
film was shot about a year ago.

“Only a handful of Elders speak the language anymore,” Kroll said. “I got to
know about the language and the traditions of the people of that area. We
wanted to keep the film as traditional as possible.”

Kroll said she decided to shoot the film in the Chilliwack area because
Campbell had lived there for quite some time.

“Nicola spent a lot of time in Chilliwack,” Kroll said. “That place was
close to her.”

The film, which will also be shown at the Vancouver International Film
Festival, the 10th Annual ImagineNative Film and Media Arts Festival in
Toronto and the 34th American Indian Film Festival in the San Francisco, was
produced in association with Bravo!FACT, the B.C. Arts Council and
Kickstart, a program funded by the Director’s Guild of Canada, B.C. District
Council and British Columbia Film.

“I just found out it got into the American Indian Film Festival,” Kroll
said.

“Next week its being shown at ImagineNative.”

Starring Ta’Kaiya Blaney, Lee Provost, Inez Jasper and Rita Pete and written
by Marilyn Thomas and Kroll, the film received three LEO Award nominations
including Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score and Best Performance by a
Female in a Short Drama.

Kroll said the film will also be included in language kits as a teaching aid
in elementary schools to increase knowledge about residential schools.

The Bay Street Film Festival also featured Michelle Derosier’s 42-minute
documentary The Healing Lens and a 93-minute documentary called The Last
Days of Shishmaref, which tells the story of about 600 Inupiaq Eskimos who
need to leave their home on an island off the west coast of Alaska within 10
years due to the effects of global warming.

Fw: Natives sue over caribou
----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Kelly <DKelly@...>
Sent: Sun Nov 01 09:45:27 2009
Subject: Natives sue over caribou

Natives sue over caribou

Coal mine: Work endangers herd, says First Nations band

By stuart hunter, The ProvinceNovember 1, 2009

A First Nations band in northeastern B.C. is taking the province to court to
fight a proposed coal mine that it says would serve a "death sentence" to 11
endangered caribou.

The petition filed in B.C. Supreme Court by the West Moberly First Nation aims
to overturn a decision by the Ministry of Energy and Mines to approve mining
permits to Vancouver-based First Coal Corporation.

The 207-member band -- whose lands are located about 35 kilometers north of
Chetwynd -- contends any mining work in the area would destroy habitat critical
to the survival of the small herd of Burnt Pine caribou.

"This will be the end of them -- this is a death sentence," Chief Roland Willson
said Friday. "These caribou are not just threatened, but in a critical
situation. There are only 11 left and a couple of years ago there were over 50.
Our elders told us the caribou used to be all over the place up here."

The band has been fighting to protect the caribou for years and was disappointed
when the ministry issued permits in September.

First Coal president Doug Smith said he hopes sampling work on the site will
continue.

"We are adhering to all requirements and will continue to do so as we continue
with the bulk sample," Smith said, adding that he hopes the lines of
communication will remain open in upcoming months.

Dale Seip, the ministry's top caribou expert, has said the herd is endangered
and its habitat should be safeguarded to ensure recovery.

shunter@...

© Copyright (c) The Province



Grand Chief Doug Kelly
Member of the Political Executive
First Nations Summit
Suite 1200 - 100 Park Royal South
West Vancouver, BC
V7T 1A2

ph:  604-926-9903
fx:  604-926-9923
cell:  778-834-7537


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jamie Kneen" <jkneen@...>
To: "Protecting Knowledge list" <protecting_knowledge@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 7:10 PM
Subject: [PK] Letter re consultation on Prosperity Project from Tsilhqot'in
National Government


TSILHQOT'IN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
#253 Fourth Avenue North -- Williams Lake, BC V2G
4T4 -- Phone (250) 392-3918 -- Fax (250) 398-5798

October 29, 2009

Taseko Mines Ltd.
Suite 300 - 905 West Pender Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 1L6

Attention: Brian Battison, Vice President, Corporate Affairs

Dear Mr. Battison:

We have reviewed your letter of October 27, 2009.

We asked Taseko to work with our First Nation to address the deficiencies in
your EIS, as the Panel itself encouraged. Your letter not only rejects this
request, but then continues, in typical fashion, to malign the character and
motives of the Tsilhqot'in people and their leadership.

We make no apology for our opposition to this proposed Project so long as it
requires the complete destruction of Teztan Biny and the surrounding lands
and waters. Despite our many efforts to explain this position, Taseko
continues to blame and deride our First Nation, our leaders and our people
for their opposition to your Project.

You say that TNG ignored your letters requesting comments on Taseko's
"so-called" consultation summary. That is completely untrue. Chief Ervin
Charleyboy responded to you directly, by letter dated January 26, 2009, and
he explained the position of the Tsilhqot'in Nation as follows:

Finally, it appears that we are confronting a fundamental difference of view
on certain key issues that will not lend itself to resolution through
dialogue. Your company has taken the firm position that the destruction of
Teztan Biny is unavoidable if your Project is to proceed. We are determined,
and charged with the duty, to protect and preserve Teztan Biny and the
ancient and abiding connection of our people to this lake. This is a deep
spiritual and cultural bond that makes us who we are as Tsilhqot'in people -
once destroyed it is lost forever. It cannot be replaced with a new lake.
Nonetheless, Chief Charleyboy stated that TNG remained open to engagement
with Taseko on select issues of mutual benefit.

You say that "all efforts of Taseko to work with the TNG, or even obtain the
most basic information, have been ignored and rebuffed". Again, this is
completely untrue. In fact, it was Mr. Hallbauer that flatly rebuffed Chief
Charleyboy's offer of continued engagement between TNG and Taseko, by letter
dated Feb. 6, 2009, stating "I can't now possibly guess at what more we
might be reasonably expected to do to satisfy you. You have exhausted our
imagination. The Company has done all it can to engage with you".

I suggest that you review Chief Charleyboy's response to Mr. Hallbauer,
dated March 6, 2009.  It responds to the same allegations that run through
your letter. Chief Charleyboy responds, in detail, to the assertion that
Taseko has already "generously" funded TNG, and I will not repeat his
response here. I will, however, remind you that when Taseko terminated
funding to TNG, at the outset of the environmental review process, it left
TNG with a considerable amount owing for work that was conducted in good
faith. That amount is still outstanding.

Chief Charleyboy also responded, in detail, to the same insinuation that you
raise yet again in your letter - namely, that it is somehow unreasonable or
bad faith for the Tsilhqot'in people to oppose this Project. I cannot put it
better than Chief Charleyboy:

"We made it clear on a number of occasions that the Xeni Gwet'in people and
the Tsilhqot'in Nation strongly opposed the Prosperity Project so long as it
requires the destruction of Teztan Biny.  We have never wavered from that
position.

Your company is doing everything in its power to construct a massive
open-pit mine in the heart of our traditional lands, and you have offered no
options that do not require the complete destruction of an ancestral lake
that has sustained our people for generations. You are coming into our
homeland with plans to desecrate an enduring bond between our people and our
lands that is deeper than you will ever understand - all for some twenty
years of "prosperity". When you deride our efforts to honour our
responsibilities and to protect our lands as "activist strategies", and when
you complain that we still oppose your project after you have "exhausted"
your imagination to please us, you make it abundantly clear that you have
not heard a word that we have said, despite your careful records of
countless meetings. We stand committed to the protection of Teztan Biny and
our traditional lands. Your most recent letter makes it clear that Taseko
still has not heard a word that we have said."

I have attached this correspondence record so that the Panel has the
opportunity to judge for itself whether Taseko in fact remains willing to
work with First Nations, as it repeatedly claims. Every day, we hear the
fears and apprehensions of our communities about the potentially devastating
impacts of your proposed project in an area of our homeland that holds very
special cultural and spiritual significance for our people. Taseko may
disagree with our position, but we see no reason for Taseko to continually
turn a deaf ear to these concerns, or to blame and disparage the Tsilhqot'in
people and leadership for opposing its Project.

The Tsilhqot'in people are opposed to any mine that would destroy Teztan
Biny, but the conduct of Taseko, its willingness to blame First Nations
loudly at every turn, and its disregard for our deeply felt concerns, has
only deepened our apprehension. Operating any major project in an area of
such importance to a First Nation requires an ongoing relationship based on
trust and respect, to avoid conflict and turmoil. In this case, we are not
even through the environmental assessment, and Taseko has made it all too
clear that it is not able or willing to bridge differences or build trust.
Its recent letters and statements in the media are clearly intended to
aggravate rather than resolve conflict.

Taseko's inability to build relationships with local First Nations, to
understand their perspective, or to avoid fanning the flames of conflict and
blame, are just a few more reasons why it is not in the public interest to
approve this project in the heart of Tsilhqot'in traditional lands, over the
strong objections of our people.

Yours truly,

ON BEHALF OF THE TSILHQOT'IN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT:

Roger William, TNG Stewardship Director

cc: Panel Members, c/o Colette Spagnuolo, Panel Manager -
via email.


------------------------------------

-----------------------
*If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this message, please retain this
credit.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
UBCIC's Protecting Knowledge Conference site:
http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/Resources/conferences/PK.htm

Follow UBCIC on Twitter at http://twitter.com/UBCIC
Yahoo! Groups Links

A media event is being organized for the Court House steps for 12:30 PM.

The Nuu-chah-nulth delegation will depart the Chateau Granville about noon
to gather on the Court House steps for the 12:30 PM media event. Other
Nations and supporters will gather with Nuu-chah-nulth at the Court House.
The media event will last about 45 minutes to one hour.

For more information, please contact David Wiwchar at (250) 731-0668, or
e-mail wiwcharmedia@....

===========================

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Citation:Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009
BCSC 1494
http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/09/14/2009BCSC1494.htm

Date: 20091103
Docket: S033335
Registry: Vancouver
Between:
The Ahousaht, Ehattesaht, Hesquiaht, Hupacasath, Huu-ay-aht,
Mowachaht/Muchalaht, Nuchatlaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, and Tseshaht Indian Bands
and Nations et al.
Plaintiffs
And
The Attorney General of Canada and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the
Province of British Columbia
Defendants

Before: The Honourable Madam Justice Garson

Reasons for Judgment

CKNW Breaking News...

A BC Supreme Court judge has ruled the Ahousaht Indian Band has a right to sell
all species of fish within their traditional territory commercially.
The landmark ruling does not deal with the issue of an aboriginal claim to the
sea floor within traditional territory.
The ruling also upholds the federal governments control over both the aboriginal
and commercial fishery.
Lawyers for the band will hold a news conference at 1230.

Sent at: 11:58AM


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

B.C. natives claim victory in court ruling on commercial fisheries
By Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun
November 3, 2009 1:02 PM
http://www.vancouversun.com/natives+claim+victory+court+ruling+commercial+fisher\
ies/2179770/story.html
The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council is claiming a legal victory today in a lengthy
B.C. Supreme Court case aimed at defining aboriginal commercial fishing rights.

The council says Justice Nicole Garson has in a written decision given the
aboriginal people the right to harvest and sell fish in their territory,
although the right is not unrestricted and requires negotiations with B.C. and
Canada.

"Today this decision confirms what we've known all along," Cliff Atleo Sr.,
president of the tribal council, said in a statement.

"We have been stewards of our ocean resources for hundreds of generations, and
the Government of Canada was wrong to push us aside in their attempts to
prohibit our access to the sea resources our people depend upon."

The Nuu-chah-nulth, based on the west coast of Vancouver Island, went to court
against Canada and B.C. over the issue of the aboriginal right to harvest and
sell sea resources as well as aboriginal title to fishing territories and sites.

The tribe launched its writ of summons in June 2003, the trial began in April
2006 (with evidence heard in Vancouver and the native community of Ahousaht) and
the closing legal arguments occurred in March 2009.

lpynn@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Original Message -----
From: CNW Portfolio System
To: Portfolio E-Mail
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 12:31 PM
Subject: Tsi Nahoten Karihwanakere No'nenk - MCK Responds to Article in Gazette



CNW Group Portfolio E-Mail





MOHAWK COUNCIL OF KAHNAWAKE


Transmitted by CNW Group on : November 3, 2009 15:30
Tsi Nahoten Karihwanakere No'nenk - MCK Responds to Article in Gazette
KAHNAWAKE, QC, Nov. 3 /CNW Telbec/ - 3, Kentenhkó:wa - The Mohawk Council of
Kahnawŕ:ke has responded to an article entitled "Tuberculosis explodes on
northern reserves" which appeared in the Montreal Gazette on Sunday, November
1st. The following is a letter sent to the editor of the Gazette:



     Although they should have acted on this long ago, we once again find it
     necessary to send a message strongly urging the Federal Government of
     Canada that now is the time to act - before it is too late.

     The Northlands First Nation has earned a dubious distinction as a global
     Tuberculosis Hot Spot. It, along with another Manitoba community health
     officials will not name, recorded the highest rates of TB in the world
     for two decades, making them one of the world's worst-affected
     communities. This is not in Bangladesh, this is in Canada - a country
     considered caregivers to the third world.

     We find it appalling that each and every municipality in Canada has all
     of the necessary `basic' needs to avoid such a situation, yet this
     Community continues to face a devastating state of affairs more than
     three decades after the last sanatorium in Manitoba shut its doors and
     tuberculosis faded in the minds of most of the public.

     With tuberculosis and a number of other diseases already running rampant
     in this community, one can only speculate the devastation that the
     current H1N1 influenza pandemic will cause once that virus begins to
     spread. This entire community could be wiped out and not a thing is being
     done to prevent it.

     With this in mind, we cannot help but wonder why so many of our sister
     First Nations do not even have toilets and proper water systems, let
     alone adequate housing. Could it be a case of 'the squeaky wheel gets the
     grease' or simply 'out of sight, out of mind'?

     With the current H1N1 flu knocking on their door, we're hoping the
     Federal Government answers the door and ensures its responsibilities are
     taken seriously.

-30-

For further information: Gene Diabo, MCK Communications Officer, (450) 632-7500
ext. 2254, gene.diabo@...



                   MOHAWK COUNCIL OF KAHNAWAKE - More on this organization



                   News Releases
                   (10)



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Original Message -----
From: Nyce, Angeline
To: Nyce, Angeline
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 4:28 PM


FYI
BC Supreme Court recognizes Aboriginal Right for Nuu-chah-nulth Nations Bands to
Fish and Sell Fish Commercially
Today, in Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009
BCSC 1494, Madam Justice Garson of the BC Supreme Court has ruled that the
plaintiffs in the action (the Ehattesaht, the Mowachaht/Muchalaht, the
Hesquiaht, the Ahousaht, and the Tla-o-qui-aht - five Nuu-chah-nulth Nations
aboriginal bands whose territories are located on the west coast of Vancouver
Island) have the aboriginal right to fish any species of fish within their
respective traditional territories (to a seaward boundary extending nine miles)
and to sell fish commercially. Justice Garson found that these rights stem from
ancestral practices, which translate into broader modern entitlements to fish
and to sell fish, beyond the small-scale sale of fish in commercial markets,
however, limited.

The plaintiffs had asserted an aboriginal right to commercially fish all species
of fish in their traditional territory and aboriginal title to a portion of the
seabed. They claimed that the fisheries regulatory regime unjustifiably
infringed their aboriginal rights and title because it failed to recognize and
accommodate their aboriginal rights and title. Justice Garson did not consider
the aboriginal title claim.

Justice Garson declined to quantify limits on the scope of the right to sale,
instead commenting that while it does encompass a right to sell fish in the
commercial marketplace, it "does not extend to a modern industrial fishery or to
unrestricted righs of commercial scale" and that "like other rights, such a
right may be subject to infringement or restriction by government where such
infringement is justified." Such limits, she found, are more appropriately
addressed at the infringement and justification stages of the analysis as part
of the reconciliation process (citing Newbury J.A. comments in Cheslatta Carrier
Nation v. British Columbia, 2000 BCCA 539, 80 B.C.L.R. (3d) 212 on the rule
against courts exercising jurisdiction on such matters as follows "As Cory, J.
stated in R. v. Nikal [1996] 1 S.C.R. 1013 ...[t]he government must ultimately
be able to determine and direct the way in which these rights should interact.
Absolute freedom in the exercise of even a Charter or constitutionally
guaranteed aboriginal right has never been accepted, nor was it intended."

Justice Garson went on to find that the plaintiffs established that the
Fisheries Act, its regulations and policies, prima facie infringes their
aboriginal rights, with the exception of their rights to harvest clams and to
fish for food, social or ceremonial purposes. However, unlike other fishing
rights cases, she found that "there is no single or isolated regulatory
provision in issue in these proceedings. Rather, it is the "cumulative effect of
Canada's fishing regime that I have found restricts Nuu-chah-nulth with respect
to their ability to fish and their methods of fishing, including location, time,
gear and species."

She declined however to rule on Canada's justification defence and chose not to
make any declaration of unjustified infringement. Instead, she granted the
parties two years to consult and negotiate a regulatory regime for
Nuu-chah-nulth that recognizes their aboriginal rights - or some other manner in
which the plaintiffs' aboriginal rights to fish and to sell fish can be
accommodated and exercised - without jeopardizing Canada's legislative
objectives and societal interests in regulating the fishery. If these
consultations and negotiations are not successful, Justice Garson ruled that
Canada has leave to apply at a subsequent trial to tender further evidence on
justification and the plaintiffs would also have leave to tender further
evidence in this regard.

Overall, the case is being treated as a victory for the plaintiffs, in that they
have established their aboriginal right to fish for and sell any species of fish
found within their traditional territory and Canada must accommodate this right
in its regulation of the fisheries.

Following the decision, members of the plaintiff Nuu-chah-nulth Nations bands
gathered on the courthouse steps for a press conference, attended by many media
personnel, onlookers, lawyers and general public to celebrate the recognition of
their aboriginal right to fish and sell fish commercially.

Posted Tue, 3 November 2009 18:09:00 EST by Sarah Ciarrocchi, Daniel R. Jarvis,
Angeline S. B. Nyce, R.P.F.

posted at:
http://www.davis.ca/en/blog/Aboriginal-Law/2009/11/03/BC-Supreme-Court-recognize\
s-Aboriginal-Right-for-Nuu-chah-nulth-Nations-Bands-to-Fish-and-Sell-Fish-Commer\
cially


ANGELINE S.B. NYCE, R.P.F.
Associate
DAVIS LLP | Legal Advisors since 1892

T 604.643.6420
F 604.605.3796
anyce@...

2800 Park Place
666 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC  V6C 2Z7

www.davis.ca





This e-mail and any attachment(s) are confidential and may be privileged.
If you are not the intended recipient please notify me immediately by
return e-mail, delete this e-mail and do not copy, use or disclose it.
Please advise us if you do not want to receive unencrypted e-mails.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Original Message -----
From: CNW Portfolio System
To: Portfolio E-Mail
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 6:14 PM
Subject: AFN National Chief congratulates Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council on
land...



CNW Group Portfolio E-Mail


       ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS




Transmitted by CNW Group on : November 3, 2009 21:13
AFN National Chief congratulates Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council on landmark
victory in fisheries case
OTTAWA, Nov. 3 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, National Chief Shawn Atleo congratulated
the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council on a historic victory in the B.C. Supreme
Court which recognized that Nuu-chah-nulth Nations have an Aboriginal right to
harvest and sell all species of fish found within their territories.

"This decision is an important recognition of First Nation's culture,
traditional economies and aboriginal rights. The traditional societies,
economies, and culture of Nuu-chah-nulth people were built around fishing, but
more than one hundred years of regulation by Canada restricted their ability to
participation in the West Coast fishery. We encourage governments to begin
immediate and positive discussions with the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations on
implementing this decision," said National Chief Shawn Atleo.

The National Chief added "This decision adds to the growing body of
jurisprudence across the country that positively affirms First Nation rights and
economic interests and is a further call for governments to dedicate themselves
to constructive dialogue aligning agreements and ensuring efficient
implementation."

While the decision was a clear victory for the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations, the court
noted that the Aboriginal right to harvest and sell fish is not an unrestricted
commercial right. Implementation will require negotiations with the governments
of British Columbia and Canada.

The claims of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations are based on Aboriginal rights to
harvest and sell sea resources, Aboriginal title to fishing territories and
fishing sites, and the unique obligations of the Crown arising through the
reserve-creation process. The case was launched in June 2003, after attempts at
negotiation with governments failed and the Nuu-chah-nulth plaintiff Nations
filed a Writ of Summons against Canada and British Columbia seeking
reconciliation.


The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First
Nations citizens in Canada.


-30-

For further information: Karyn Pugliese, Acting Communications Director at (613)
292-1877 or kpugliese@...



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Environmental rules more lax on reserves than off: audit
Module body

Tue Nov 3, 4:33 PM

By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091103/national/auditor_reserves

OTTAWA - Piles of flaming garbage on reserves, and drinking water tinged with
raw sewage, are just two possible consequences of weak environmental enforcement
in First Nations communities, says Auditor General Sheila Fraser.


In an audit released Tuesday, Fraser takes the federal government to task for
not cracking down as hard on environmental hazards on reserves as it does off
reserves.


"A healthy environment and control over the management of land and resources are
critical to sustainable economic development," Fraser told a news conference.


"Without them opportunities for First Nations to improve their quality of life
and approach the standard of health and well being enjoyed in other communities
are severely limited."


Fraser's findings come as many First Nations communities are bracing for a
second bout of swine flu.


The H1N1 virus hit a number of remote reserves in Manitoba disproportionately
hard this spring, in part because the people there live in close quarters and
often in less-than-sanitary conditions.


Protecting the environment in First Nations communities is a responsibility of
the federal government under the Indian Act. But Fraser's audit pointed the
finger at two departments for falling down on enforcement.


"Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Environment Canada have identified a
significant gap between First Nations reserves and Canadian communities
elsewhere in the degree to which regulations protect the environment," the
report says.


"While the federal government has the authority to regulate environmental
threats on reserves, it has rarely used this authority to develop regulations to
mitigate environmental threats that are regulated off reserves by provincial
authorities."


The audit found garbage often isn't dumped in licensed landfill sites and
there's no monitoring of the quality of drinking water or air.


"Off reserves, provincial and municipal regulations and enforcement help to
prevent such situations."


The Indian and Northern Affairs Department says there are 365 First Nations in
British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario whose land is managed by the Indian
Act. About 150 of those First Nations have agreements with municipalities to
handle their solid waste.


The auditors say they expected the department would have issued at least one
landfill permit for the rest of the First Nations. But instead, only 14 permits
were issued, all in Saskatchewan.


"This means that about 200 First Nations in these three provinces should have
had permits but did not," the report says.


Fraser's audit also found that the Indian and Northern Affairs Department has no
idea how solid waste is disposed of in about 80 First Nations communities.


"We found that the department neither promotes not conducts significant
surveillance on reserves to look for illegal dump sites or garbage burning and
is not equipped to monitor compliance, conduct inspections, or enforce the
regulations," the audit says.


Indian and Northern Affairs told the auditors it doesn't issue permits or
conduct surveillance partly because the regulations are outdated and the
penalties aren't stiff enough.

For example, burning or dumping garbage carries a fine of up to $100 or three
months in jail.

The auditors found there are no rules setting out how far a dump can be from a
body of water or a residential community, which the provinces regulate off
reserves.

Another problem area identified by the auditors is a lack of rules about dumping
sewage into water.

The Ontario government, for example, controls how much wastewater from septic
systems and sewage treatment plants can flow into ground and surface water.

But the auditors couldn't find similar controls on reserves.

"We found that INAC does not issue permits for sewage treatment and disposal and
makes no other effort to apply the existing regulations," the report says.

Both Environment Canada and Indian and Northern Affairs say they don't get
enough funding to keep on top of all their commitments.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

For Haida, journey by canoe marks a sea change
Native group warmly receives flame despite its attendant links to levels of
government that were deeply distrusted for so many years

GARY MASON

SKIDEGATE, B.C. - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Wednesday, Nov.
04, 2009 12:00AM EST Last updated on Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009 3:55AM EST

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/for-haida-journey-by-canoe-marks-a-\
sea-change/article1350547/

As she watched the Lootaas glide toward shore carrying the Olympic torch, Amanda
Reid was reflective.

What would Bill Reid, her father, the famed Haida artist who built the grand war
canoe almost a quarter century ago, make of it all?

Could he have ever imagined the people of Haida Gwaii so warmly receiving the
flame and all the attendant links it held to various levels of government in
Canada that people here had distrusted so deeply over the years?

But Mr. Reid, who died in 1998, might have been more surprised by the sprawling,
bungalow-style building overlooking the inlet where his canoe now sat. Built of
cedar and glass, the pavilion is home to Haida carvers, many who learned their
craft at Mr. Reid's knee, and who now turn out single-planked, cedar canoes like
Lootaas.

Opened only last year, the native heritage centre is, in many ways, an ode to
Mr. Reid, who is often credited with leading a renaissance of Haida art, driven
by the international attention he brought to it with his own work. While
certainly recognized for their totem poles, Haida artists are as renowned now
for their intricate wood carvings, jewellery, sculptures and tapestries.

"Haida art went underground for a long time due to many circumstances," said Ms.
Reid, pushing a stroller that contained a sleeping granddaughter. "I think my
father maybe helped put Haida art on the map a little bit. He was worried for a
long time about where these islands were headed. He'd be absolutely thrilled,
beside himself, at where things have gone since."

Also known to many as the Queen Charlotte Islands, Haida Gwaii is one of the
most beautiful, biologically rich and diverse archipelagos in the world.
Skidegate is at the heart of a revival of Haida culture, one being nourished by
people like Kwiaahwah Jones, the 26-year-old curator of the museum found in the
heritage centre.

"Bill Reid remains an iconic figure in our culture," said Ms. Jones, while
giving a tour of the carving centre where three recently completed war canoes
sit. "Young artists today look to him for guidance. And a lot of the rebirth you
see has roots with the Lootaas and its travels."

Mr. Reid was commissioned by the Bank of B.C. in 1985 to build the great canoe
for Expo 86, Vancouver's world exposition. After the fair, the bank didn't have
a place big enough to exhibit the boat. Then it was taken over by the bank now
known as the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank of Canada. It agreed to donate the boat
back to the Haida on one condition: It be paddled back to Skidegate.

The journey gained international attention. More importantly, the many stops the
canoe made at native villages along the way led to a reawakening among first
nations groups on the north coast.

"Many of those villages hadn't greeted a foreign canoe in a long time," Ms.
Jones explained. "That journey sparked a fire and everyone started making
canoes. It prompted the people in Skidegate and elsewhere to begin taking tribal
journeys again."

Every year now, Haida youth and adults from communities like Skidegate go on
long canoe voyages to other native villages. It is, said Ms. Jones, a voyage of
discovery. It helps young Haida, in particular, get a better sense of what it
means to be seafaring people. It prompts a cultural connection not only within
various native communities, but between them.

Things on the political front, meantime, are much quieter.

Back in the 1980s, the Haida nation led a logging blockade on Lyell Island. In
court, 15 accused told the judge they were Haida, not Canadian. Renouncing their
citizenship was a dramatic move aimed at demonstrating their deep roots with the
land.

That was many years ago now. Percy Williams, 79, a former grand chief of the
Council of the Haida Nation, carried the torch here. That would have been
unimaginable even 10 years ago.

In the Haida world, everyone is connected in one way or another. Bill Reid had a
father of European descent and a Haida mother. As she walked through the
heritage museum, Ms. Jones stopped at a picture of a group of men paddling the
Lootaas. On the boat is a box.

"It was taken by my father who is the chief of Bill Reid's lineage - the Tanu,"
she said. "They were taking Bill's remains to his mother's ancestral village to
bury."

She whispered.

"I love that picture."


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Fisheries regime infringes native rights, B.C. court rules
Decision urges negotiations with Ottawa on how native fishing and fish sales can
be handled


Members of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations celebrate a court victory in Vancouver.

Ian Bailey

Vancouver - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009
4:29PM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009 9:34PM EST

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/fisheries-regime-i\
nfringes-native-rights-bc-court-rules/article1350029/

A B.C. Supreme Court justice has given the federal government and the
Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation of Vancouver Island two years to come up a solution
after finding that the current fisheries regime infringed on the natives'
aboriginal rights.

Madam Justice Nicole Garson said the "cumulative effect" of the status quo is
that the ability of the Nuu-chah-nulth to fish has been restricted.

In a 307-page ruling released Tuesday, Judge Garson wrote: "I am confident in
the ability of Canada and the plaintiffs to engage in constructive consultations
and to ultimately arrive at a resolution.

"My conclusions are that Canada [presented] evidence to justify the entirety of
its fisheries regime but not to justify its failure to permit the Nuu-chah-nulth
to exercise their aboriginal fishing rights."

She said the parties are welcome to return to court to tender further evidence
if they cannot reach an agreement.

Five Nuu-chah-nulth nations representing about half of the 8,000 Vancouver
Island members of the first nation were plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the
government of Canada.

The ruling was embraced by the Nuu-chah-nulth, who suggested they are open to
talks on the way to a fishing regime that will bring badly needed economic
opportunity.

"We have very high unemployment rates in our community and that's unacceptable
in a First World country and we're going to turn the tide," Cliff Atleo,
president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, told a news conference.

"There is, without a doubt, still a lot of work to be done and we're prepared
for that," he said.

Lawyer Matthew Kirchner, acting for the Nuu-chah-nulth, said it was far too soon
to be specific about possible positive economic fallout from the ruling.

"It certainly has the possibility of being an economic opportunity and an
opportunity for them to revive and maintain their culture as fishing people," he
said. "It's way too early to assess what the economic impact will be."

He said many Nuu-chah-nulth want to be involved in the fishery, but have fallen
out of the industry.

"What this judgment does is give them an opportunity to get into the fishery on
their terms in their communities at a level that works for them," he said.

Michael Doherty, lead counsel for the federal government in the case, said it
was far too early to say whether there will be an appeal of the ruling.

"It's a 300-page decision. We've only had it for a few hours," he said.

Phil Eidsvik, spokesman for the BC Fisheries Survival Coalition that represents
commercial fishermen opposed to a "race-based" commercial fishery, said he was
"disappointed, but not alarmed."

He said he expected the ruling would be appealed, and that it does not affect
the ability of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to manage the
fishery, nor create a separate fishery.

Any enactment of the ruling, he said, would hinge on easing the Nuu-chah-nulth
into the public fishery, which was fine with his group's members. "It can be
done with little controversy," he said.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The torch and Haida Gwaii: Old meets new
Haida elder Percy Williams carries lit torch in a canoe made by Haida carver
Bill Reid for Expo 86

By Shelley Fralic, Vancouver Sun
November 4, 2009
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/todays-paper/torch+Haida+Gwaii+meets/2182185/st\
ory.html
As if to acknowledge the first day of the 100-day countdown to the lighting of
the 2010 Olympic cauldron in Vancouver, there was surely divine providence afoot
as the iconic flame set out Tuesday on the northern leg of its 45,000-kilometre
cross-Canada tour.

For if there is a higher power at play -- and Olympic torch relay officials hold
fast to such superstition -- it began when the flame, glowing in three separate
lanterns strapped into seat belts in the front row of a chartered Air North 737,
headed north from Comox to Sandspit in the Queen Charlottes just as dawn broke
clear and cold and bright over the horizon.

And it would be that way throughout Day 5 of the relay, one light shining on
another, as torchbearers from Sandspit to Skidegate to Queen Charlotte and on to
Whitehorse handed the historic symbol from one Canadian to another.

The flame's day began in Sandspit and moved on, by barge, across the water to
Skidegate, where hundreds of locals gathered on the pebbled beach, standing on
huge driftwood logs and waving Canadian flags, having converged from all corners
of the island, on foot and in trucks and by bicycle and school bus.

There were children, parents, grandparents, teachers, seniors and town
officials, some in their Sunday best, most just in their best fleece, but all of
them the people of Haida Gwaii -- literally, Islands of the People, where some
5,000 people populate a total of 150 islands -- and they had come to see old
history meet new.

And so it did, when Haida elder Percy Williams, holding his lit torch high
against a backdrop of blue sky, lush forest and misted mountainsides, came
around a corner in a canoe propelled by a team of Haida paddlers slicing
silently through the calm sea.

It wasn't just any canoe, but the one carved from a cedar log for Expo 86 by the
late revered Haida carver Bill Reid. Among one of the Haida's most treasured
possessions, it is seldom put into the water but for the most important Haida
Gwaii celebrations.

For those on the beach at Skidegate who came to watch, it was a moment of pride
to be frozen in time, a time to remember for these people who have fought so
long and hard for independence and for their cultural and historical rights, but
a time, too, to celebrate.

And they did, singing and clapping and cheering as Williams and the torch
stepped on shore.

Erica Gagne was there with her Skidegate Dance Group, waiting outside the
Skidegate longhouse at the Haida Heritage Centre to welcome Williams and the
torch.

She and her team, all local Haida women draped in traditional red button
blankets embossed with ravens and orcas and eagles, practise every Wednesday and
had prepared three songs for the torch's arrival: a canoe welcoming song, a
paddle song and an all-Haida national anthem, for which she said there is no
English title translation.

"We perform at potlatches and ceremonies and, of course, we had to do this," she
said. "This is incredible." At the village of Queen Charlotte celebration,
torchbearer Maureen Benoit found instant celebrity, as she was mobbed by scores
of people wanting to have their picture taken with her torch, which she had
carried earlier in the day the 300 metres from the Sandspit airport to the giant
salmon sculpture down the road.

The torch, its upper part coated in soot, was put in the arms of shy teens and
babies in buggies while parents snapped away, reminding the 45-year-old Benoit
just why she had signed up for the relay. A resident of the islands for 23
years, she knew that "just to be part of something this big is quite an amazing
thing."

While Quatchi and Miga mugged with the young, the townsfolk lined up for free
souvenir mugs, chocolate cake and cocoa outside the Visitors' Centre.

Duncan Rumak, 13, and his friend Taylor Moody, 18, had the morning off from
Queen Charlotte high school and Rumak allowed how "for a small island, it's
pretty cool to have this happen."

"It's a big deal for the Haida, I guess," said Moody, who was born on the
island. "We've never seen anything like this."

This northern leg of the tour, with its entourage of 70-plus Vanoc officials,
organizers and sponsors, as well as security and media, will spend 10 days
taking the torch through the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, the Prairie
provinces, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

It is an organizational feat worthy of a military undertaking, timed almost to
the minute from dawn 'til dusk, from torchbearer to torchbearer, from town to
town, from airplane to celebration site and back to airplane again, a total of
two dozen locations, provided the weather, and landing capabilities, especially
in places like Alert on the Arctic Ocean, cooperate.

There are daily logs that are checked constantly, briefings on the plane and on
the ground, as staff herd the press, outfit and guide the torchbearers,
coordinate the tons of gear and stickhandle the vehicles and officials that
greet the relay team at each town.

One of the last of the day to carry the torch was Tom Fairman, runner number 37,
who's 69, a skier and an old hand at such responsibilities, having carried the
torch in Whitehorse as part of the1988 Calgary Olympic Games relay. Back then,
though, he was a 48-year-old marathoner. This time, his daughter nominated him,
and he hasn't run in five years, saying Tuesday's 300 metres in his hometown
"was far enough for me."

The best part, of course, was having his entire family watching from the
sidelines, including four grandchildren. He's now thinking about where he'll put
the torch, which, like many torchbearers, he opted to buy as a keepsake.

"It was just an amazing experience."

sfralic@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

UN Biodiversity Chief Calls for 'New Plans' to Conserve Life
By Haider Rizvi
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2009/2009-11-03-03.asp

NEW YORK, New York, November 3, 2009 (ENS) - A senior United Nations official
today criticized world leaders for failing to match their words with deeds in
addressing the ongoing loss of biological diversity.

"I am disappointed with their actions," Ahmad Djoghlaf, executive secretary of
the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, told ENS after addressing a news
conference here at UN headquarters.

Today, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature issued its annual
update to the Red List of Threatened Species, which documents how an increasing
number of animal and plant species are becoming endangered and slipping into
extinction.
       Ahmad Djoghlaf (Photo courtesy UN)

Dr. Djoghlaf said there has been no progress, or very little progress, since
1992 when a vast majority of UN member states agreed to take meaningful steps to
reverse the loss of biological diversity.

Opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the
Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty for the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of
the benefits from utilization of genetic resources. With 192 Parties, the
Convention has near-universal participation among countries committed to
preserving life on Earth.


       Over the past 50 years, the population of Antarctic emperor penguins has
declined by half due to a warming climate. (Photo courtesy CBD)
The Convention seeks to address all threats to biodiversity and ecosystem
services, including threats from climate change, through scientific assessments,
the development of tools, incentives and processes, the transfer of technologies
and good practices and the full and active involvement of relevant stakeholders
including indigenous and local communities, youth, nongovernmental
organizations, women and the business community.

However, due to deep-seated differences among its signatories, the treaty has
failed to achieve its objectives.

After tough negotiations at an international conference in Brazil in 2006, all
the signatories agreed that they must resolve their disputes before the end of
2010, which the UN has declared the International Year of Biodiversity.

Djoghlaf said today that he hopes government leaders will agree to devise "new
plans" when they meet at the next Conference of the Parties, which is due to be
held in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010.

The loss of animal and plant species is expected to accelerate as a result of
global warming, said Djoghlaf, citing numerous studies showing that both plant
and animal species are disappearing at a rate as high as 1,000 times the natural
progression.

In his view, the world community cannot achieve the mutually agreed Millenium
Development Goals as long as efforts to preserve biodiversity are unsuccessful.


       Ahmed Djoghlaf with some of the 1,500 children of Curitiba, Brazil who
wrote a letter voicing their concern about the planet. March 2008. (Photo
courtesy CBD)
"Achieving the Millenium Development Goals is impossible without reversing the
loss of biodiversity," Djoghlaf said. "Climate change is a problem, but
preserving biodiversity is part of the solution. Biodiversity is life."

The Millenium Development Goals are eight targets for reducing poverty,
illiteracy, disease and environmental pollution by 2015. They were set by world
leaders at a major summit held in New York in 2000.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said repeatedly that the governments of
both rich and poor countries need to do more to achieve these goals, including
the ones on environment.

Djoghlaf said the world has lost about 30 million hectares of its forests, which
are the essential source of biological diversity and ecosystem sustainability.

In many countries, deforestation is still ongoing, regardless of the fact that
these governments signed on as Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity, he warned.

In response to an ENS question about the conflict between the use of
intellectual property rights by corporations and the universally recognized
rights of the indigenous peoples, Djoghlaf said that no move to preserve
biodiversity can be successful without the support of indigenous peoples.


       Delegates from Brazil at the 2008 Conference of Parties to the Convention
on Biological Diversity. (Photo courtesy CBD)
"They are playing a very significant role in global efforts to preserve
biodiversity," he said. "The private sector should understand this. It should
understand that the future belongs to green business."

On Monday, more than 300 participants met in Montreal at the headquarters of
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity to discuss the maintenance
and promotion of traditional knowledge to better manage and conserve biological
diversity.

While they are a small proportion of the world's 6.3 billion people, indigenous
and local communities represent the largest portion of linguistic and cultural
diversity on Earth and their traditional lands and waters contain the greatest
remaining reserves of biodiversity.

The practice of traditional knowledge nurtures biological resources and genetic
diversity, participants in the Montreal meeting recognized.

"I firmly believe that the survival of species and the survival of traditional
knowledge and of the holders of this knowledge are inextricably linked," said
Djoghlaf in Montreal.

"We are at a crossroad in life and a crossroad for the Convention and its
partners, in particular, indigenous and local communities. 2010 will be landmark
year in the history of the Convention," he said. "A post-2010 biodiversity
vision and target will be adopted to meet the unprecedented multiple crises
facing humanity compounded by climate change."

"In doing so," he said, "we will need to learn and be inspired by the wisdom of
our ancestors and the vision of today's guardians of the traditional knowledge
of mankind."


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Original Message -----
From: IEN Tom G
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 3:14 AM
Subject: [Naipc-list] Statement on the Barcelona Negotiations for Outcomesin
Copenhagen


   International Indigenous Peoples

   Forum on Climate Change



Foro Internacional de los Pueblos IndĂ­genas

sobre Cambio Climático



International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC)



Statement on the Barcelona negotiations for outcomes in Copenhagen

Adopted in Barcelona, 02-06 November 2009

We, Indigenous Peoples, express our profound concern over the lack of political
will and commitment of state Parties to conclude the climate change negotiations
in Copenhagen with a legally binding agreements on ambitious emission reduction
targets.

Indigenous peoples around the world are directly and critically impacted by
climate change, and by any outcomes of the current negotiations.  Climate change
has a range of grave implications for the effective enjoyment of indigenous
peoples' human rights, including food sovereignty, health, traditional/ancestral
knowledge, rights to our lands, territories and resources, cultural integrity
and wellbeing, among others. We have intrinsic contributions towards addressing
the climate crisis through our traditional knowledge and customary resource
management systems that have proven to be ecologically sustainable.  It is then
critically important, and a matter of life and death for indigenous peoples that
any agreement on climate change must ensure the legal recognition of our human
rights and the protection of our traditional knowledge to achieve a just and
equitable outcome of the climate change negotiations.

We therefore call on all state parties and the global community to fulfill and
respect their current commitments and outcomes from Copenhagen that must include
the following:

1.  A legally binding outcome in the form of an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol
for the further commitment period 2013-2020.

2.  A binding aggregate emissions reduction target for developed countries
(Annex 1) of 49% below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 95% by 2050.

3.  Recognition that international human rights standards serve as a guide to
tackle climate change, underscoring the fundamental, moral and legal obligations
to protect and promote the full enjoyment of our human rights including our
rights to lands, territories and resources, right to subsistence, food
sovereignty, right of traditional knowledge and free, prior and informed
consent, among others, as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples.

4.  The full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in all climate
change related processes at the global, national and local levels.

5.  Ensure the direct financing to and by indigenous peoples and local
communities for adaptation and mitigation measures.

6. Establishment of an Expert Group on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change
under the Conference of Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC, and under the Meeting of
Parties (MOP) of the Kyoto Protocol, with indigenous expert members and the full
and effective participation of indigenous peoples.

The survival of our peoples, the human family and Mother Earth is at stake. 
State Parties must stop obstructing real solutions.  We have only one Mother
Earth, and all Parties must fulfill their responsibilities and obligations.

IIPFCC, 4 November 2009





   International Indigenous Peoples

   Forum on Climate Change



Foro Internacional de los Pueblos IndĂ­genas

sobre Cambio Climático



Foro Internacional de Pueblos Indígenas sobre Cambio Climático (FIPICC)

IntervenciĂłn sobre las negociaciones en Barcelona para resultados en Copenhague

Adoptado en Barcelona, 02-06 de noviembre de 2009

Nosotros, los pueblos indĂ­genas, expresamos nuestra preocupaciĂłn profunda
sobre la falta de la voluntad polĂ­tica y del cumplimiento de las Partes
estatales de concluir las negociaciones sobre cambio climático en Copenhague
con un acuerdo legalmente vinculante sobre metas ambiciosas de reducciĂłn de
emisiones.

Los pueblos indĂ­genas de todo el mundo somos afectados directamente y
críticamente por cambio climático, y por cualquier resultado de las
negociaciones actuales.  Cambio climático tiene una escala de impactos graves
para el goce efectivo de los derechos humanos de los pueblos indĂ­genas, incluso
los de seguridad alimentaria, salud, conocimientos tradicionales/ancestrales,
derechos a nuestras tierras, territorios y recursos, integridad cultural, y
bienestar, entre otros.  Podemos hacer contribuciones intrĂ­nsecas al enfrentar
del cambio climático mediante nuestros conocimientos tradicionales y sistemas
de manejo consuetudinario de recursos, que han demostrado de ser  AsĂ­ es
crĂ­ticamente importante y un asunto de vida y muerte para nuestros pueblos
indígenas que cualquier acuerdo sobre cambio climático debe asegurar el
reconocimiento jurĂ­dico de nuestros derechos humanos, y de la protecciĂłn de
nuestros conocimientos tradicionales para lograr un resultado justo y equitativo
de las negociaciones sobre cambio climático.

Por eso urgimos a todas las Partes estatales y a la comunidad mundial a cumplir
con y respetar sus compromisos en los resultados a ser concluidos en Copenhague,
que incluirá lo siguiente:

1.     Un resultado legalmente vinculante en la forma de una enmienda al
Protocolo de Kioto para un periodo siguiente de compromiso 2013 – 2020.

2.     Metas agregadas que son legalmente vinculantes, para la reducciĂłn de
emisiones para paĂ­ses desarrollados (Anexo 1) de 49% bajo los niveles de 1990
antes de 2020 y con a los menos 95% antes de 2050.

3.     Reconocer que los estándares internacionales de derechos humanos sirven
como lineamientos para enfrentar al cambio climático, subrayando las
obligaciones fundamentales, morales y legales, para proteger y promover el pleno
goce de nuestros derechos humanos incluso nuestros derechos a tierras,
territorios y recursos, derecho a la subsistencia, soberanĂ­a alimentaria,
derecho a los conocimientos tradicionales y al consentimiento libre, previo e
informado, entre otros, como estipulados en la DeclaraciĂłn de la ONU sobre los
Derechos de los Pueblos IndĂ­genas.

4.     La participaciĂłn plena y efectiva de los pueblos indĂ­genas en todos
procesos relacionados a cambio climático a nivel global, nacional y local.

5.     Asegurar la financiaciĂłn directa para y por los pueblos indĂ­genas y
comunidades locales para medidas de adaptaciĂłn y mitigaciĂłn.

6.     Establecimiento de un Grupo de Expertos sobre Pueblos IndĂ­genas y Cambio
Climático bajo la Conferencia de las Partes (COP) del CMCCNU, y bajo la
ReuniĂłn de las Partes (MOP) del Protocolo de Kioto, con miembros de expertos
indĂ­genas y con la participaciĂłn plena y efectiva de los pueblos indĂ­genas.

La sobrevivencia de nuestros pueblos, la familia humana y la Madre Tierra están
en peligro.  Las Partes estatales tienen que parar la obstrucciĂłn de soluciones
reales.  Tenemos solamente una Madre Tierra y todas las Partes tienen que
cumplir con sus responsabilidades y obligaciones.

FIPICC, 4 de noviembre de 2009




Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network
Bemidji Office, PO Box485, Bemidji, MN 56619 USA
Ph: + 1 218 751 4967
Fax: + 1 218 751 0561
Email: ien@...
Web: www.ienearth.org


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Salish Sea expected to be new name for waterways off Vancouver Island
By Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist
November 4, 2009 6:30 AM
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/todays-paper/Salish+expected+name+waterways+Va\
ncouver+Island/2182083/story.html

What's in a name?
A lot, when it comes to the body of water stretching from northern Vancouver
Island through Puget Sound.

That area, encompassing the Strait of Georgia and Juan de Fuca Strait, is on a
fast track to be rebranded as the Salish Sea, acknowledging that the adjacent
land was occupied by First Nations before white settlers named the geographical
features.

The name has been approved in Washington state and has approval in principle
from Ottawa.

The change will go to the U.S. federal geographic-names board Nov. 12 and to the
B.C. cabinet later this month.

"I would be really, really surprised if this didn't happen now. The four
branches of government are working collectively," said Washington biologist Bert
Webber, who, along with First Nations, has been pushing the idea for decades.

The change demands approval from a range of bureaucratic bodies, from the
Washington State Board on Geographic Names to the U.S. Board on Geographic
Names, the Geographical Names Board of Canada and the B.C. Geographical Names
Office.

For years, the concept failed to pick up steam.

"It has been sporadic since 1985. It had a burst of energy when I had the idea
and it was reviewed by the [Washington] board at that time and found lacking,"
said Webber, professor emeritus with Western Washington University.

The name Salish Sea recognizes the water body as an ecological entity, said
Webber, who hopes the name will heighten awareness of problems facing the Salish
Sea, ranging from pollution to disappearing salmon runs. "It's an ecosystem of
incredible proportion, tied together by the Fraser River."

Caleb Maki, executive secretary to the Washington board, said the vote was
five-to-one in favour of the name.

Initially, there were rumours the change would wipe out names such as Puget
Sound and Juan de Fuca Strait, but parts of the sea will retain their own names,
he said.

The name is already used by the local and scientific communities, Maki said. "It
doesn't make sense to outlaw it."

Lou Yost, executive secretary of the U.S national board, said the 20-member
board usually goes along with local wishes.

If the name change is approved, it means all federal maps and documents will
refer to the Salish Sea, but cartographers will also label individual bodies of
water, he said.

George Harris of the Chemainus First Nation, who has been instrumental in the
Salish Sea push, noted there are Coast Salish nations on Vancouver Island, on
the mainland and in Washington state. The name Salish Sea will reinforce that
feeling of family, Harris said.

"With that name, people from around the world will know which waters they are
coming to," he said, adding the name was pro-bably not used originally by Coast
Salish people, who speak different dialects.

Some Puget Sound tribes used the name Whulge for the area.

Harris's daughter, Danielle Harris-David, said the new name acknowledges that
Coast Salish people have used the territory for many thousands of years.

Hul'qumi'num chief negotiator Robert Morales suggested the name change could
boost morale among First Nations.

"It's a good symbolic gesture. It doesn't resolve the other issues we are
dealing with, but it recognizes Salish people's contribution in the area."

jlavoie@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

For your information

----- Original Message -----
From: CNW Portfolio System
To: Portfolio E-Mail
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:11 AM
Subject: Media Advisory - Grand Chief Dr. Matthew Coon Come To Hold Press
Confe...



CNW Group Portfolio E-Mail





GRAND COUNCIL OF THE CREES (EEYOU ISTCHEE)


Transmitted by CNW Group on : November 4, 2009 13:10
Media Advisory - Grand Chief Dr. Matthew Coon Come To Hold Press Conference
Following the Plan Nord Conference
NEMASKA, QC, Nov. 4 /CNW Telbec/ - A conference is being held on November 6 in
Quebec City for the purpose of providing further information on the Government
of Quebec's Plan Nord announced by Prime Minister Charest in November 2008. The
conference is being hosted by Madame Nathalie Normandeau, Minister of Natural
Resources.

At the conclusion of the conference, Grand Chief Dr. Matthew Coon Come of the
Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee will be making a statement on the current state of
relations between the Cree Nation and the Government of Quebec.

Dr. Coon Come was recently re-elected to the position of Grand Chief and this
will be his first press conference since taking office.

The press conference will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Beaumont/Bélair Room at
the Hilton Hotel, Quebec City.


-30-

For further information: Abel Bosum, (514) 774-7077; Romeo Saganash, (418)
564-1598



                   GRAND COUNCIL OF THE CREES (EEYOU ISTCHEE) - More on this
organization



                   News Releases
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For your information

----- Original Message -----
From: "aspring7" <aspringer@...>
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 4:30 PM
Subject: Okanagan BCWF FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 4, 2009:
Nuu-chah-nulth Decision Must be Appealed says BC Wildlife Federation [1
Attachment]



*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*: November 4, 2009

* *

*Nuu-chah-nulth Decision Must be Appealed says BC Wildlife Federation*

Vancouver, BC - “The November 3^rd ruling by B.C. Supreme Court Madam
Justice Nicole Garson flies in the face of previous Supreme Court of
Canada rulings on First Nations commercial fisheries falling under the
protection of Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution and must be
appealed forthwith” said Rod Wiebe, vice president and chair of the B.C.
Wildlife Federation Native Affairs Committee.

The ruling by Madam Justice Garson places the native Commercial Fishery
in priority position second only to that of conservation and First
Nations FSC requirements. Such a ruling and precedent is a major
infringement on the Common Law Right to Fish held by all Canadians.
Moreover previous Supreme Court of Canada rulings including one dealing
with the Nuu-chah-nulth have held that such a commercial right did not
in fact exist.

The Federation finds it incongruous that two B.C. Supreme Court Judges
hearing two almost identical cases, with essentially the same evidence
in both cases, (Nuu-chah-nulth and Lax Kw’alaams), should come up with
two diametrically opposite judgments.

We in the BCWF are also dismayed at the actions of our Provincial
Government who, in playing Pontius Pilot in this case and recusing
themselves from participation have put our Steelhead and other
provincial fish at risk. It needs to be understood that this ruling now
gives the First Nations the right to harvest and sell Steelhead, Trout
and Sturgeon should they wish to do so. Given that this commercial
fishery now has the standing of a Section 35 right, history tells us
that the only action the government can and will take to control these
fisheries will be for conservation reasons. By that time all other
fisheries will be long gone.

We also find incongruous the fact that Madam Justice Garson totally
ignored the fact that that the current lack of fishing capacity in the
First Nations in the area is because they voluntarily sold their
licenses back to the government. Secondly she failed to recognize that
for the past years the Government of Canada has been spending millions
of our tax dollars buying commercial fishing licenses and turning these
over to First Nations, including the Nuu-chah-nulth.

It is our considered opinion that the Madam Justice got both the facts
and the law wrong in this instance and our Federal Government should
launch an immediate appeal. May we even hope that our Provincial
Government would think enough of the other British Columbians to cease
their ambivalence and at least take an intervener status?

-30-

For further information contact Patti MacAhonic, Executive Director of
the BCWF at 604-291-9990 extension 230 or at patti@...
<mailto:patti@...>.

*The BCWF is a province-wide voluntary conservation organization
representing over 35,000 British Columbian members whose aims are to
protect, enhance and promote the wise use of the environment for the
benefit of present and future generations. *

*
The B.C. Wildlife Federation was incorporated under the B.C. Societies
Act in 1951 and it became a registered charity in 1969. The Federation
is British Columbia's largest and oldest conservation organization.*

Aboriginal attempt to levy permit fees opposed
By Jeff Nagel - BC Local News


Published: November 04, 2009 4:00 PM
Updated: November 04, 2009 7:30 PM
http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/69215802.html
A North Shore aboriginal band that has tried to make Lower Mainland cities pay
development consulting fees is now starting to ask private land owners to pay up
as well.

The Tsleil-Waututh Nation (Burrard Band) set off alarm bells earlier this year
when it tabled a "Stewardship Policy" spelling out fees it intended to levy on
developments across a huge area of the Lower Mainland.

The band argued it needs the fees to recover its costs to study potential
archaelogical or environmental impacts and warned that refusal to pay could lead
to court action for illegally infringing aboriginal interests.

Local municipalities have so far refused to pay, fearing the Tsleil-Waututh
policy would effectively give aboriginal bands a veto on development, while
piling extra costs and bureaucracy onto the construction industry.

But the Tsleil-Waututh are now hitting up not just city halls, but private
property developers as well.

A Tsawwassen homeowner seeking a Delta building permit to enlarge an existing
house in a well-established subdivision was told by the band in August that a
Tsleil-Waututh Cultural Heritage Investigation Permit would also be required, at
an initial cost of $200 and possibly more if other services are needed.

The Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee (LMTAC), which represents local
governments in aboriginal relations, is demanding the province direct the band
to cease its attempt to impose permits and fees.

In an Oct. 15 letter to Victoria, LMTAC says the Tsleil-Waututh request
"misrepresents" the province's policy of consulting First Nations.

"Property owners in the Lower Mainland are not required to obtain either permits
or consent from First Nations when applying for local government building
permits," the LMTAC letter says.

"This is the first time any of us have seen this from the Tsleil-Waututh,"
Belcarra Mayor Ralph Drew, who chairs LMTAC, said in an interview. "It's brand
new, out of the blue and it's starting to create an impact."

He called the band's policy an attempt to impose a parallel permitting system.

"If all First Nations adopted the same approach, we'd have a bureaucratic horror
show in terms of each of them trying to adopt their own process, for a fee of
course."

Contacted for comment, aboriginal relations and reconciliation minister George
Abbott said in a written statement that while the Crown has an obligation to
consult First Nations on decisions impacting aboriginal rights, First Nations
also are obliged to participate in the consultation process.

"There is no legal authority for a First Nation to charge a fee to an individual
who may be applying to government for a permit covering an activity on either
Crown land or privately held land," Abbott said.









       Area where the Tsleil-Waututh intends to apply its stewardship policy.










Drew called it the "most definitive" provincial statement yet on the issue, but
said Victoria should take the matter up directly with the Tsleil-Waututh.

In the case of the Tsawwassen home addition, the property fell within Delta's
archaelogical potential area, which happens frequently and triggers a referral
to the province's archaeology branch.

It, in turn, forwarded the applicant's name and address to bands throughout the
Lower Mainland for comment. That referral is how the Tsleil-Waututh obtained the
name and address.

The applicant hasn't paid the fee.

LMTAC argues B.C. Archaeology should provide only the legal land description,
not names or addresses, because doing so "facilitates the inappropriate use of
the information by First Nations that are not bound by protection of privacy
legislation."

The Tsawwassen property is a long way from the heart of Tseil-Waututh
traditional territory in North Vancouver.

Tsawwassen is inside the 413,000-hectare zone where the band says its
stewardship policy applies.

Also included is all of Richmond, Delta, south Surrey, White Rock and southern
Langley, plus a corridor of waterfront land along the Fraser River as far
upstream as Maple Ridge and Fort Langley. It also takes in Bowen Island and the
Sea-to-Sky Corridor.

But many of those areas are outside the band's self-defined traditional
territory for the purposes of treaty negotiations - it doesn't extend south of
the Fraser River.

Tsleil-Waututh representatives could not be reached for comment.

Tsawwassen First Nation Chief Kim Baird said she's not overly concerned about a
distant band trying to exert control on her people's doorstep.

She said the issue highlights the challenges of bands, which have few staff, are
buried in "mountains of referrals", but want to do what they can to identify and
protect sensitive sites.

"Municipalities take it for granted that their permitting fees give them the
ability to recover their costs," Baird said. "First Nations don't have that
ability."

It would be ideal, she said, if area bands, whose claims overlap, could form a
common agency to efficiently handle such referrals - an idea LMTAC also
supports.

Local cities and Metro Vancouver have now been approached several times to pay
Tsleil-Waututh fees and the resulting standoff with the band has left some local
or regional government projects in limbo.

One is a Metro Vancouver shoreline stabilization project proposed for Belcarra
Regional Park, where erosion is undercutting trees, creating safety risks and
washing away ancient aboriginal midden sites.

Because the regional district has refused to pay the stewardship policy fees to
the Tseil-Waututh, the band says it hasn't been properly consulted and federal
officials have so far refused to approve the project.

It's been delayed for four years and counting.

Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association CEO Peter Simpson said any attempt
to extend an aboriginal permits and fees to home construction or renovations is
"wrongheaded" and certain to raise the ire of residents.

"It's the last thing you expect if you're a homeowner and you want to do a
simple renovation," Simpson said. "It's a layer of bureaucracy that nobody
needs."





Related:




   a.. Native consulting fees alarm cities (March 26, 2009)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Original Message -----
From: Brenda McCorquodale <brenda@...>
To: Don Bain; Don Bain
Sent: Thu Nov 05 09:29:12 2009
Subject: News Release re Ahousaht case from the B.C. First Nations Fisheries
Council

Hi Don – can you please circulate the attached news release from the Fisheries
Council to your lists?  Thanks.



Brenda



___________________________

Brenda McCorquodale

Executive Director

First Nations Fisheries Council

P.O. Box 2606

Unit 209 – 99 Tsakis Way

Port Hardy, B.C. V0N 2P0

Telephone: (250) 902-8380



FIRST NATIONS FISHERIES COUNCIL



SUPPORTING STEWARDSHIP OF FISHERIES RESOURCES

FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS



British Columbia First Nations Fisheries Council urges Fisheries and Oceans
Canada to move quickly to accommodate First Nations’ access to fisheries

  For Immediate Release

November 5, 2009

The First Nations Fisheries Council of British Columbia congratulates the
Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations on the outcome of their recent court case, which
has recognized their right to fish for food and economic purposes, and the
Council urges Canada to move swiftly to implement new management approaches
collaboratively with First Nations peoples.

   “This court case represents an opportunity,” stated Michelle Corfield, a
member of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations and a sitting member of the First Nations
Fisheries Council.  “Canada and British Columbia First Nations have clear
direction from the courts to move forward to negotiate solutions that will
address the fundamental issues that First Nations have been raising with
Fisheries and Oceans Canada over many years,” she said.

Chief Allan Claxton of the Tsawout First Nation, one of the First Nations
Fisheries Council Co-Chairs, said: “This decision is clear in the recognition
of an aboriginal right and the acknowledgement that the current management
regime does not address this right.   First Nations and the federal government
need to respect of each other’s authorities, roles and responsibilities, and
only through a collaborative approach will we ensure our mutual co-existence and
cooperation to the benefit of the resources.”

The Ahousaht decision is timely as it closely follows the 2009 Fisheries
Assembly which took place October 28 – 30 in Chehalis, B.C., on the issue of
“Protecting Access to our Fisheries Resources.”  B.C. First Nations came
together at the Assembly and re-confirmed their commitment to work
collaboratively on fisheries issues through mechanisms like the First Nations
Fisheries Council.

“We are standing together,” said Chief Claxton. “B.C. First Nations are
ready to move forward in cooperation with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to
implement this important court decision.”

The First Nations Fisheries Council is an organization supported by B.C. First
Nations which works to: protect First Nations’ rights and title, develop
capacity in First Nations communities to participate in fisheries management,
and facilitate discussions among B.C. First Nations with respect to fisheries
management.



-          30    -



For more information:

Brenda McCorquodale

Executive Director

B.C. First Nations Fisheries Council

P.O. Box 2606

Port Hardy, B.C., V0N 2P0

Tel. 250-902-8380

e-mail. Brenda@...

website: www.FNFisheriesCouncil.ca <http://www.FNFisheriesCouncil.ca>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ottawa plans inquiry into disappearance of B.C. sockeye
By David Akin, Canwest News Service
November 5, 2009 3:54 PM
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Ottawa+plans+inquiry+into+disappearance+soc\
keye/2188687/story.html

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday the federal government will
convene a judicial inquiry to investigate the disappearance of millions of
sockeye salmon from B.C.'s Fraser River fishery.

The sockeye salmon migration from the Pacific Ocean to the Fraser hit a record
low last summer - the second summer in the last three that that has happened -
and that has commercial fishermen and environmental activists worried about the
very survival of the species. Officials say more than nine million fish appear
to have simply disappeared, prompting the closure of the sockeye salmon fishery
to both sport fishermen and commercial fishermen.


"We are very concerned about the low and falling returns of sockeye salmon in
British Columbia," Harper said in the House of Commons.


Trade Minister Stockwell Day, who is also the regional minister for B.C., will
be in Vancouver Friday to name the judge who will head the inquiry and to
announce the inquiry's terms of reference.


The government will ask the inquiry, which will have the legal power to compel
witnesses to testify, to begin its work early in the new year and report back to
the government by May 2011.


"For weeks, the NDP and B.C. communities, fishers and grassroots activists have
been calling on this government to establish a judicial inquiry. My office has
been literally flooded with petitions calling on this government to stop its
shallow public relations exercise and act. The hard work and activism finally
paid off," said Peter Julian, an NDP MP.


The timing of the government's announcement has raised some eyebrows as the
Conservatives and NDP are locked in a tough byelection fight in a New
Westminster, B.C., riding. The Fraser River is that riding's northern border and
the state of the fishery is a hot issue in B.C.'s Lower Mainland. Voters in the
riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam, as well as those in two vacant ridings in
Quebec and one in Nova Scotia, go to the polls Nov. 9. New Westminster voters
will be choosing a successor to NDP MP Dawn Black who quit to successfully run
for the B.C. legislature. The Conservatives, though, held the riding before the
2006 general election.


In convening the inquiry, the Conservatives say they are fulfilling a campaign
promise made during the 2006 general election while Vancouver-area NDP MPs like
Julian say they've been calling for an inquiry for weeks.


Government and industry groups have been mystified by the loss of the salmon.
Just 1,723 tonnes of sockeye were harvested this year. In 2000, more than 8,800
tonnes of salmon were harvested.


Meanwhile, the sockeye salmon fishery in Alaska, Japan and Russia is booming.


Fishermen in B.C.'s Lower Mainland have been at a loss to explain the
disappearance, suggesting the contributing factors could range from overfishing
- aboriginals and Alaskans are often blamed, frequently for no reason - to
federal conservation policies, to a natural disaster.


Officials with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans have been zeroing
in on climate change as a contributing factor, which has warmed up the normally
cool Fraser River. Sockeye salmon feed mostly on plankton that thrives in cool
waters.


The temperature of the Fraser River in August was 18.8 C, a full 1.1 degrees
warmer than the historical average.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Original Message -----
From: CNW Portfolio System
To: Portfolio E-Mail
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 1:15 PM
Subject: Assembly of First Nations says Citizenship Issue does not end with
McI...



CNW Group Portfolio E-Mail


       ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS




Transmitted by CNW Group on : November 5, 2009 16:14
Assembly of First Nations says Citizenship Issue does not end with McIvor case
OTTAWA, Nov. 5 /CNW Telbec/ - Although the Supreme Court of Canada announced,
today, that it will not hear Sharon McIvor's case regarding the continued gender
discrimination in the "status" provisions of Indian Act, AFN National Chief
Shawn A-in-chut Atleo and AFN Women's Council Chair Kathleen McHugh stated that
First Nations will continue to push the federal government to fully and
meaningfully work with First Nations to restore the inherent rights of First
Nations to determine who their citizens are.

"Status provisions of the Indian Act have created problems for First Nations and
our citizens, and continue to divide our communities. It is time for the federal
government to get out of the business of controlling First Nations citizenship
and make way for First Nations to exercise our own laws, that will redress
discrimination and damage caused by the Indian Act," said Assembly of First
Nations National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo.

"We congratulate Sharon McIvor on her courage in fighting this long and
difficult legal battle on behalf of all First Nations' families. However, this
should have never been a court battle. At its heart, this is a human rights
issue. The federal government's repeated refusal to work with First Nations
governments to address it is a stain on Canada's reputation," said the Chair of
the Assembly of First Nations Women's Council, Kathleen McHugh.

She also added that the AFN has long supported the issue of restoring status to
women. "First Nation Chiefs have passed at least 3 national resolutions calling
on government to immediately address this issue, to no avail."

Sharon McIvor, a First Nations citizen, launched a case challenging section 6 of
the Indian Act, which governs Indian Status, as discriminatory because it treats
the descendents of Indian women who married non-Indian men differently from the
descendents of Indian men who married non-Indian women.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada is pursuing an amendment to the Indian Act to
respond to direction from the BC Court of Appeal, to be in place by April 9,
2010. First Nations have not been adequately consulted regarding amendments, nor
provided clear information on the impacts for their communities.


The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First
Nations people in Canada.


The AFN Women's Council ensures the perspectives of First Nations' women are
included in all AFN policy directives and activities, as well as ensuring that
the AFN is an effective advocate on behalf of First Nations women.


-30-

For further information: Bryan Hendry, AFN Communications at (613) 293-6106 or
bhendry@...



                   ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS - More on this organization



                   News Releases
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Fw:
----- Original Message -----
From: ernie Crey <erniecrey@...>
Sent: Thu Nov 05 14:58:25 2009
Subject: FW:


Ernie Crey
Sto:lo Tribal Council
2855 Chowat Rd
Agassiz, BC
ph.  604-796-0627
fax: 604-796-0643
cell: 604-798-4435

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


November 5, 2009


For Immediate Release


Grand Chief Welcomes Judicial Inquiry in to Sockeye Collapse

The Grand Chief of the StĂł:lĹŤ Tribal Council, Clarence Pennier, says he
welcomes  Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s announcement of a judicial inquiry
into the collapse of Fraser River Sockeye Salmon. “We were told before the
2009 fishing season got underway to expect a banner year for sockeye returns.
Our families were happy at the prospect of a good catch of sockeye, but their
excitement soon turned to disappointment and then to despair as the sockeye runs
failed to materialize. According to the Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO)
and the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC), the sockeye runs simply vanished at
sea. We pressed them for explanations, but they had none to offer us. Along with
our fishermen, we are in the dark as to why the sockeye runs didn’t make it
back to the river. We are still looking for the answers and this is why we
support a judicial inquiry”, said Chief Pennier.

Chief Pennier says that both the DFO and the PSC told all fishing groups to
expect 8.7 million Mid-Summer sockeye to return to the Fraser River. Tragically,
only 7% or 600,000 of this run actually showed up. He said the collapse of the
sockeye runs has created great hardship for 94 Indian Bands of the Fraser River.
He says that over 50% of BC’s aboriginal population lives in the Fraser River
Watershed. “The First Nations along the river are wholly dependent on the
annual returns of sockeye for the protein in their diets. And the majority of
the aboriginal communities are poor and do not have sufficient income to
substitute store bought high protein foods for sockeye.  The collapse of the
sockeye runs has devastated our people. Unless we can figure out what is at the
bottom of the failed sockeye runs and take corrective action, we are likely to
witness more sockeye seasons like 2009”, said Chief Pennier.

Grand Chief Pennier says the StĂł:lĹŤ Tribal Council had already started
preparations for a  inquiry and look forward to receiving the details promised
by the Prime Minister’s Office.



For more details, please contact Grand Chief Clarence Pennier at: 1 604-798-2432
or Ernie Crey at: 1 604-798-4435.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Fw: MEDIA RELEASE - OKANAGAN NATION LAUNCHES COUNTERCLAIM AGAINST TOLKO
INDUSTRIES LTD.
----- Original Message -----
From: Sherry Louis <okibcouncil@...>
Sent: Thu Nov 05 15:41:46 2009
Subject:  MEDIA RELEASE - OKANAGAN NATION LAUNCHES COUNTERCLAIM AGAINST TOLKO
INDUSTRIES LTD.

OKANAGAN NATION LAUNCHES COUNTERCLAIM AGAINST TOLKO INDUSTRIES LTD.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE – NOVEMBER 5, 2009

(Okanagan Territory – Westbank B.C.: November 5, 2009) – The Chiefs of the
Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) have launched a lawsuit today against Tolko in
response to the lawsuit filed by Tolko that seeks an injunction against the
Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB), Okanagan Nation leaders and an employee of the
OKIB. In this action, the Okanagan Nation seeks an injunction preventing Tolko
from engaging in further logging in the Brown’s Creek Watersheds. They also
seek damages for the harm the Company has caused through industrial logging in
the watersheds. The Action filed against Tolko charges Tolko for trespassing and
for interfering with Aboriginal Rights including a right that has been admitted
by the Province. The Action also seeks to enforce a previous court order
permitting the Okanagan Nation to gather important cultural evidence within the
cutblocks that Tolko intends to log.

The Okanagan Nation has offered Tolko a permit to selectively log Mountain Pine
Beetle (MPB)-infected wood in a manner that will preserve Okanagan culture, but
Tolko has rejected the offer and has preferred to utilize the Courts to try to
force the Okanagan off of the land. The Province has aggravated an escalating
conflict by providing Tolko with cutting permits despite the objections of the
Okanagan Nation. The cutting permits are over lands which are the subject of
legal proceedings under a historic costs agreement and where the Province’s
ownership and jurisdiction is in dispute.

The cross-injunction application comes after the Okanagan Nation’s
long-standing dispute with Tolko’s plans to log in the Brown’s Creek
Watershed located outside of Vernon, BC – a culturally-sensitive area to the
Okanagan Nation that has already undergone extensive industrial logging for over
forty years and cannot sustain any more.

Experts have supported what Okanagan elders have stated - that the great harm
has been caused by industrial logging and that further logging will impact
vegetation in serious and irreversible ways resulting in major environmental
restructuring.

The Brown’s Creek Watershed is a sacred area of the Okanagan people that
houses archaeological, ethnobotanical and cultural evidence that has been at the
heart of litigation in the Wilson case since 1999. The litigation area is
subject to a preservation order issued by Mr. Justice Sigurdson, entitling the
Okanagan Nation to preserve and record evidence pertaining to Okanagan Title.
Tolko’s logging plans would destroy title evidence, dating back as far as
7,500 years and extending into modern times, the Okanagan Nation have relied
upon these watersheds to sustain our people, culture and economy.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Chair of the Okanagan Nation Alliance stated “The
Okanagan Nation has a duty and an obligation to fully protect, preserve and
defend its Aboriginal Title and Rights interests within the Brown’s Creek
watershed. In this regard, we shall take any and all steps necessary to carry
out our duties and fulfill our obligations in terms of defending the Brown’s
Creek Watershed.”

Chief Fabian Alexis of the Okanagan Indian Band stated “The Okanagan Nation
has held steadfast in our position on Title and Rights within the watershed
since 1999. We have expressed an interest to work with Tolko in an
environmentally-viable approach that they have rejected. We still welcome the
opportunity to work together in a meaningful and respectful process.” Chief
Alexis further stated that “The OKIB remains committed to prevent further
destruction in our watersheds and to ensure that Tolko’s plans to cause
irreparable harm does not succeed”.

Chief Joe Dennis of the Lower Similkameen Band stated that “As a member of the
Okanagan Nation, the Lower Similkameen Band stands in solidarity with the OKIB
in its protection of the Brown’s Creek Watershed. Jurisdiction over the
watersheds lies solely with the Okanagan Nation and we remain committed to
ensuring that our traditional laws and governance systems are upheld for
generations to come. This is our responsibility and sacred duty as Syilx
(Okanagan) People.”

Chief Tim Manuel of the Upper Nicola Band stated “The Brown’s Creek
Watershed has been a spiritual area of the Okanagan Nation since time
immemorial. To desecrate the land is akin to desecrating a place of worship. Our
ancestors have always gone to this area to practice Okanagan spiritual ways and
we must continue to protect this area for the continuity of Syilx (Okanagan)
culture and identity.”

The Okanagan Nation Alliance is the political organization representing the
seven (7) Okanagan bands with a mandate to protect and advocate for Okanagan
Title, Rights and Lands.

-          30 -

For more information:
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, ONA, (250) 490-5314
Chief Fabian Alexis, OKIB, (250) 306-2838


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Fw: [fishermenlist] A JUDICIAL INQUIRY!!!!!
----- Original Message -----
From: Alexandra Morton <wildorca@...>
To: fishermenlist@... <fishermenlist@...>
Sent: Thu Nov 05 12:43:40 2009
Subject: [fishermenlist] A JUDICIAL INQUIRY!!!!!

Hello

Thank you SO much to ALL of you for contacting your MPs and the Prime Minister
of Canada.  A Judicial Inquiry into the disappearance of the Fraser sockeye
salmon has just been called by Prime Minister Harper!

We don't know the scope of this Inquiry yet, we will learn that tomorrow, so
optimism is cautious.  It is essential that the scope of the mandate include
review of events in the marine environment

This is the first step to straightening out the tangled politics that I feel is
killing our wild fish and I owe great thanks to you.

Alexandra Morton
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Aboriginal leader is new entrepreneur-in-residence
       By Dianne George

       http://ring.uvic.ca/09nov05/sayers.html


       Sayers. Photo: UVic Photo Services
       Judith Sayers plans to cover a lot of ground while serving as
entrepreneur-in-residence and adjunct professor for the faculties of business
and law. Sayers, known in the Hupacasath language as Kekinusuqs, will be on
campus about five days each month to share her legal and entrepreneurial
expertise with the UVic community.

       "I am very excited to be here," says Sayers. "It's a great opportunity to
mentor students and others about building new relationships and working with
Aboriginal communities, whether it is about regulatory and legal issues, or
entrepreneurship.

       "We've come a long way in Aboriginal law," says Sayers. "When I graduated
in 1981, the topic was not very fashionable." She says discrimination and gender
bias was also a problem. "It was hard to find a place to article as firms wanted
to know how radical I was, and whether or not I wanted children."

       She got her start from Willie Littlechild-former Member of Parliament and
Cree lawyer-who offered Sayers an opportunity to article with him in Alberta,
which is where she first established her practice.

       Sayers returned to BC in 1990 to complete a Bora Laskin fellowship on
human rights and was called to the BC bar. In addition to running a law firm in
Port Alberni, she served as the elected chief of the Hupacasath First Nation
from 1995 to 2009, where she focussed on building capacity, sustainable
development and restoring and rehabilitating Hupacasath territory.

       During her time as chief, she oversaw the development of a woodlot, helped
establish a hydro "run-of-river" project that generates enough electricity to
power 6,000 homes, and launched tourism enterprises, including a canoe tours
company and a gift shop. Some of the revenue from these ventures was used to
build equity in other businesses. She also helped acquire a railway through the
Island Corridor Foundation, an organic gardening business, and is in the process
of building a cultural centre and an aggregates company.

       "Anything is possible-right now there is so much opportunity," says
Sayers, who will also be involved in activities related to the National
Aboriginal Economic Development Chair program.

       "We're extremely delighted to tap into Ms. Sayers' expertise," says Dean
of Business Dr. Ali Dastmalchian. "The Faculty of Business has wanted to connect
with her for years, and we are very pleased she has agreed to work with us to
expand our understanding and connections with the Aboriginal community."

       Sayers will be working closely with students and faculty members to raise
awareness of issues and challenges related to Aboriginal economic development,
and she will contribute her considerable knowledge and experience to the
university's ongoing research in this field. She's also writing a book about the
treaty process and the transformation of Premier Gordon Campbell on this topic.

       "We are very pleased to welcome Ms. Sayers to UVic Law," says Dean of Law
Donna Greschner. "She has a wealth of knowledge to share with our students. The
faculty is a leader in Indigenous legal education and has a long tradition of
offering innovative programming and leadership in this area. Her appointment
continues that tradition."

       Sayers holds a business degree and was one of the first Indigenous law
school graduates of the University of British Columbia. She practised law for 18
years in Alberta and British Columbia and has extensive experience working with
international agencies and government bodies to advance the causes of First
Nations rights, sustainable development and Aboriginal title issues. She was
Chief of the Hupacasath First Nation in Port Alberni for 14 years, acted as its
chief negotiator for many years, served as president of the Upnit Power
Corporation and was also elected to the political executive of the First Nation
Summit in 2006 for a two-year term.

       Her many honours include the 2008 Silver Medal in Climate Change from the
Canadian Environmental Association and induction into the Canadian Aboriginal
Business Hall of Fame. She was twice honoured with a Woman of Distinction Award
from the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Original Message -----
From: "IEN Tom G" <ien@...>
To: "IIPFCC" <iipfcc@yahoogroups.com>; <indigenous_wssd@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 5:51 AM
Subject: [indigenous_wssd] REDD FOREST AGREEMENT HITS NEW LOW, MISSING BASIC
ELEMENTS


+++++++++Apologies for cross posting++++++++++++

For immediate release        Contact: Don Lehr, +34 (62) 580 5301
6 November 2009               +1.917.304.4058, dblehr@...

REDD FOREST AGREEMENT HITS NEW LOW, MISSING BASIC ELEMENTS
No Monitoring, No Protection of Natural Forests Means Continued Forest
Emissions

Barcelona - Prospects for a robust agreement to reduce emissions from
deforestation and degradation in developing countries (REDD) are on a
knife-edge as the United Nations climate change negotiations in Barcelona
draw to a close today, according to forest and climate experts from the
Ecosystems Climate Alliance.

New REDD negotiating text (Non-Paper No. 39) released on Thursday afternoon,
contains no provisions to monitor vital safeguards in developing countries
which will receive funding to implement REDD, nor any explicit language that
will ensure an objective of protecting intact natural forests in those
countries. REDD is intended to help developing countries protect their
remaining rainforests and reduce the 20 percent of global greenhouse gas
emissions caused by deforestation, forest degradation and peatland
destruction.

Vital issues awaiting resolution in Copenhagen are:
-- safeguards for transparent forest governance structures and support
mechanisms {4(c)};
-- safeguards for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities
{4(e)};
-- safeguards on conservation of biological diversity and enhancement of
ecosystem services {4(f)}.
-- an objective for protecting intact natural forests.

Gaping holes remain, and, importantly, there are no provisions to monitor
compliance with these proposed safeguards should they be incorporated into
the agreement. Most countries which stand to benefit from REDD funds have
poor legal frameworks and weak enforcement.

"If developing countries want to benefit from REDD, they need to build
confidence in the frameworks they put in place, and demonstrate that
safeguards are being met. The text as it stands reflects a strong push to
receive REDD funds with no oversight," said Dr. Rosalind Reeve of Global
Witness, one of nine NGOs which constitute the Ecosystems Climate Alliance.
"With no provisions to monitor how countries are implementing REDD and
applying safeguards, the REDD agreement is worth no more than the paper it
is written on."

A key safeguard of the REDD text - "against the conversion of natural
forests to forest plantations" - which vanished at the Bangkok talks in
October, has reappeared in two options but both are severely weakened and in
square brackets, so there is no assurance that the provision will remain
intact.

"Still missing is the vital objective of protecting intact natural forests
in REDD," said Peg Putt of The Wilderness Society. "A flickering candle for
a safeguard against plantation conversion is burning but we are quite
concerned that it will be snuffed out in Copenhagen. Without this safeguard,
REDD monies projected to preserve tropical forests could instead allow
industrial-scale logging and replacement of forests with pulp or palm oil
plantations."

REDD could become one of the few outcomes from Copenhagen, particularly now
that the UNFCCC has acknowledged that COP15 will produce, at best, a
watered-down, non-binding, "political" agreement. Two REDD options appear
possible. Substantial sections of the current negotiating text could be
inserted into the COP15 agreement, which is likely to be a version of the
"Shared Vision" document (Non-paper No. 33) released on October 23. Most
likely, however, is that the COP15 agreement will contain only a short
paragraph on REDD and refer to a separate document (the current REDD text,
to be further negotiated in Copenhagen) and relegated to a decision
subsidiary to the main agreement.

No adjustments to the safeguard ensuring the rights and full and effective
participation of indigenous and forest dependent peoples were made in
Barcelona, but ECA members say the language is decidedly weak.

"A REDD deal might end up as a greenwashing exercise if there is no
legally-binding climate change agreement at Copenhagen," said Nathaniel Dyer
of Rainforest Foundation UK. "Runaway climate change would devastate
tropical forests and forest-dependent peoples even if a separate decision on
REDD is reached."

The social and economic forces which drive demand for forest products and
result in forest destruction receive scant attention in the REDD agreement.

"Global demand for food, fuel and fiber is driving deforestation," said
Andrea Johnson of the Environmental Investigation Agency, noting that the
U.S. has been a leader in raising this issue in the REDD discussions. "All
countries must support good governance and forest protection through their
own policies and measures, not just cash."

Essential incentives to reduce ongoing emissions from drained peat forest
soils, and safeguards to prevent the conversion of not only forests but also
of other natural ecosystems to plantations have not yet been addressed.

"A REDD mechanism that does not provide adequate incentives to protect and
rewet organic soils ignores very high and ongoing emissions that result from
deforestation and forest degradation (e.g. 500 Mt/CO2/yr in Indonesia). It
could also stimulate and reward plantations on yet deforested and drained
soils (and other ecosystems) with significant carbon stocks resulting in
large emissions," said Susanna Tol of Wetlands International.

Forest management accounting for developed countries (Land Use, Land-Use
Change and Forestry, or LULUCF) has also taken a severe turn for the worse.
Parties have put forward various loopholes in the LULUCF text that will
allow each to arbitrarily adjust its own reference level for measuring
greenhouse gas emissions from forest management, undermining their emissions
targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

"Developed countries will bring their Christmas wish lists to Copenhagen,"
said Rebecca Ettlinger of Nepenthes, "so developing nations must plan to
scrutinize their requests closely to avoid these undermining the integrity
of the climate deal by hiding emissions or claiming fraudulent credits."

Although some type of agreement on REDD may be the most positive Copenhagen
outcome, without forest protection and enforcement of safeguards as its key
priorities, it will threaten rather than preserve the world's remaining
natural forests.

# # #

The Ecosystems Climate Alliance (ECA) (www.ecosystemsclimate.org) is an
alliance of environment and social NGOs committed to keeping natural
terrestrial ecosystems intact and their carbon out of the atmosphere, in an
equitable and transparent way that respects the rights of indigenous peoples
and local communities. ECA comprises Environmental Investigation Agency
(EIA), Global Witness, Humane Society International, Nepenthes, Rainforest
Action Network, Rainforest Foundation Norway, The Rainforest Foundation
U.K., Wetlands International and The Wilderness Society.

----- Original Message -----
From: CNW Portfolio System
To: Portfolio E-Mail
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 6:56 AM
Subject: "Without us, the Plan Nord is a Plan Mort" - First Nations demand
resp...



CNW Group Portfolio E-Mail





ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS OF QUEBEC AND LABRADOR


Transmitted by CNW Group on : November 6, 2009 09:55
"Without us, the Plan Nord is a Plan Mort" - First Nations demand respect of
their rights
WENDAKE, QC, Nov. 6 /CNW Telbec/ - "The process is off to a bad start" declared
Ghislain Picard, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador
(AFNQL) talking about the meeting organised by Nathalie Normandeau, Vice-Premier
and Minister of Natural Resources, on the project "Plan Nord".

First Nations demand the total respect of their ancestral rights, of their
Aboriginal title, their historical and modern treaties, and their inherent right
to self government. "Our communities are not municipalities; our relationship
must be one of nation to nation, government to government" Chief Picard points
out. He is also requesting Federal government to honor its fudiciary obligations
towards First Nations and to intervene to prevent the violation by this
"Démarche du Nord" of our ancestral and historical and modern treaty rights. In
a letter sent to Prime Minister of Canada, Chief Ghislain Picard, wrote: "it is
you who is an accomplice with the provinces when you let the Provincial
government of Quebec scorn the rulings of the Supreme Court with respect to
First Nation's ancestral and the historical and modern treaty rights as well as
consultation and accommodation".

"Both the honor of the Crown and the relation of trust are scorned every day by
both the governments of Canada and that of the provinces. The development and
the exploitation of First Nations' non-surrendered territories and resources are
continuing without consideration and respect for our constitutional rights and
without respect for the numerous rulings of the Supreme Court of Canada. The
time has come to correct a degrading and unhealthy situation for the development
of both First Nations and Canada" wrote Chief Picard in the letter sent to Prime
Minister of Canada. "Without us, the Plan Nord is a Plan Mort" concluded Chief
Picard.


The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador is a regional organisation
which regroups the Chiefs of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador.

-30-

For further information: Alain Garon, Communications officer, AFNQL, (418)
842-5020



                   ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS OF QUEBEC AND LABRADOR - More on
this organization



                   News Releases
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Harper orders judicial inquiry into collapse of B.C. salmon runs
Spawning on Fraser has fallen drastically in recent years, leading to 50-year
low in '09

By Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun
November 6, 2009
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/todays-paper/Harper+orders+judicial+inquiry+int\
o+collapse+salmon+runs/2191381/story.html
Wild-salmon advocates expressed relief Thursday after Prime Minister Stephen
Harper announced the federal government will stage a judicial inquiry into the
collapse of sockeye salmon runs on the Fraser River.

Details will be announced today in Vancouver by Stockwell Day, federal trade
minister and regional minister for British Columbia.

Day is expected to name a judge to head the inquiry and to announce terms of
reference. The inquiry will have the legal power to compel witnesses to testify
-- meaning federal scientists will be able to discuss their concerns about
sockeye without fear of repercussion.

Sockeye runs spawning in the Fraser drainage have been in a two-decade decline
after years of spectacular abundance in the 1980s, and hit a 50-year low in
summer 2009.

That has prompted concerns, as detailed in a recent book by B.C. author Alex
Rose, that sockeye are heading for a population failure on the scale of the
collapse of Atlantic cod.

In his book, Who Killed the Grand Banks, Rose suggests that sockeye are beset by
the same conflicting political agendas that enabled East Coast fishermen to push
cod to the brink of extinction.

"Mr. Harper deserves credit for this decision. It's long overdue," Rose said in
an interview. "After seeing the denial and obfuscation of DFO and its regime on
the East Coast with the collapse of the Grand Banks cod, I'm convinced that we
need to get these people on the stand and under oath."

Documents show that while the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was officially
predicting strong sockeye returns and a commercial fishing opportunity for
Fraser sockeye in 2009, others at DFO were warning of a probable collapse based
on grim results in ocean test-fishing programs dating back to 2007.

B.C. New Democrat and Liberal MPs, first nations, commercial and sport fishing
groups, conservation groups and local governments have all been calling on the
government for action, but until Harper's announcement there was no evidence
that the Tories intended to respond.

The reason for the decline remains a mystery, although poor marine survival
rates among juvenile salmon migrating into the ocean for the first time appear
to be the principal culprit.

Climate change affecting ocean temperature, declining ocean salinity, dwindling
food resources and health threats from fish farms along salmon migration routes
have been suggested as possible explanations -- but the official position of the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans is that no specific cause is known.

Chief Bob Chamberlin, secretary treasurer of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs,
called Harper's announcement "excellent news."

"I think it's crucial that they release a complete understanding of what
happened with the sockeye collapse here on the West Coast," Chamberlin said.

He wants the inquiry to look at sea lice infestations and disease transfer from
salmon farms to juvenile wild salmon.

"I would urge the prime minister to make the necessary resources available for
intervenors to participate. If not, you'll have well-resourced industries like
fish farms participate and put their spin on things, and other people who could
inform the whole process will be excluded."

Craig Orr, executive director of Watershed Watch Salmon Society, wants the
inquiry to look at the "disconnect" between DFO researchers who warned in 2007
of the pending collapse based on an absence of juvenile 2009-class Fraser
sockeye in ocean test fishing, and DFO's "rosy" pre-season forecasts for the
2009 sockeye Fraser return.

"An inquiry should allow them to compel testimony from the managers and the
scientists, which is good," Orr said.

Commercial gillnetter and troller Rick Burns, who abandoned the Fraser in favour
of fishing the north B.C. coast four years ago, said he's "all for" the inquiry
and said it needs to be a "far ranging inquiry because there are so many factors
that affect salmon."

Phil Eidsvik, of the BC Fisheries Survival Coalition, said the inquiry is "great
news for B.C. salmon.

"I couldn't be more pleased. We have been asking for a full judicial inquiry
into the management of Fraser salmon since 1992," Eidsvik said.

"Harper has shown that he understands how important salmon is to B.C. and is
putting his government under a microscope to ensure that B.C. salmon don't go
the way of Atlantic cod."

ssimpson@...


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Expect news on highway killings
RCMP to update victims' families this weekend
By Sam Cooper, The Province
November 6, 2009
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Expect+news+highway+killings/2190965/story.html

A significant announcement regarding the Highway of Tears murders will be made
on Saturday, according to a First Nations leader.
Mavis Erickson of Prince George, a Harvard-educated lawyer named Highway of
Tears co-ordinator for the Carrier Sekani group of First Nations, told The
Province she is not sure whether the announcement concerns an update on the
Highway of Tears investigation, or requests she made at a meeting with
Attorney-General Mike de Jong and Solicitor-General Kash Heed in Victoria on
Oct. 26, when she pushed for a public inquiry into the Highway of Tears cold
cases.

Erickson said she was "cautiously optimistic" coming out of the meeting in
Victoria, as de Jong "did not give a flat out no," on the public-inquiry
request.

The cases include 18 women, all but one aboriginal, missing from the
750-kilometre stretch of highway between Prince Rupert and Prince George. The
RCMP will update families of the women at a meeting in Prince George this
weekend, Cpl. Annie Linteau told The Province.

Two months ago, the RCMP excavated an acreage just outside Prince George in Isle
Pierre, formerly owned by convicted murderer Leland Switzer, looking for the
remains of Nicole Hoar, a 25-year-old tree planter who went missing on the
highway just outside Prince George in 2002.

As a result of tips during the dig, they also searched a nearby dump.

Linteau said she cannot comment on whether Hoar's remains were found, or if a
break in the case has been made, until she speaks to the families on Saturday.

Erickson said Mark Tatchell, of B.C.'s police services division, told her on
Thursday of a pending announcement. Tatchell could not be reached for comment.

The latest murder in the Highway of Tears region was discovered on Oct. 26, as
Prince George prostitute Jill Stacey Stuchenko, 35, was found dumped in a remote
gravel pit. The Stuchenko investigation is not yet linked to the 18 Highway of
Tears cases, RCMP say.

Many in the north believe far more than 18 women have vanished off Highway 16.
Erickson said in 40 years, more than 30 women, mostly aboriginal, have gone
missing, with not a single charge laid.

"The RCMP hasn't been diligent enough in informing the public about safety," she
said. "And the provincial and federal government have been remiss about what's
going on."

scooper@...


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