Turtle Island Native Network
http://www.turtleisland.org

BACKGROUND on the Sun Peaks Protest

by Janice Billy
October 9, 2000 marked a special day for Lakes Secwepemc who reside in the
Interior of British Columbia. This was day the Neskonlith and Adams Lake
Bands established the Skwelkwekwelt Protection Center at Skwelkwekwelt
known by non-Secwepemc as Sun Peaks Ski Resort. The Sun Peaks resort is
located 30 kilometers from Kamloops, B.C. The ski resort is within our 1862
Neskonlith Douglas reserve and within our traditional territory. The
center was established to state our adamant opposition to the continued
encroachment on, and destruction of, our traditional territories. We are
making a stand to assert ourselves on our lands. We must do so in order to
protect our territories from continued destruction and to have our
Aboriginal Title and Rights recognized.

The protection center was in response to Sun Peaks announcement of a $70
million expansion project which would include: ski lifts on Mt. Morrisey
-not yet developed-, construction of a Delta Hotel, and townhouse
development along McGillvery Creek. The plans include creation of a year
round resort which would bring thousands of people into the area. These
developments would have devastating effects on our traditional way of life.
We have already noticed negative impacts such as the depletion of moose and
deer in these areas. Many of our families are low income and still rely on
wild game, berries, and medicines to supplement their diets.

Our Elders and community members remain adamantly opposed to the continuing
development at Skwelkwekwelt. In October 1998 the Secwpemc Elders issued a
statement to Mr. Ohkubo, the owner of the ski resort. This statement
strongly reaffirms our responsibility to protect the land for our future
generations and for all mankind.

Our bands - Neskonith, Adams Lake, and Little Shuswap have never given up
our traditional lands. We have never sold it, surrendered it, or signed
treaties with the colonizers. In 1862 Chief Neskonlith marked out a huge
area - approximately 1,000 acres, with Governor James Douglas for our
exclusive use and benefit. Chief Neskonlith recognized the necessity for
large tracts of land since we traditionally were a hunting and gathering
society. This reserve was reduced to three, small reserves which we live
on today.

In 1993, the provincial government sold parcel of lands within our 1862
Neskonlith Douglas reserve to Mr. Ohkubo. A master plan was then developed
to create -the next Whistler-. In addition, the provincial government
leased much of the land and created a controlled recreation agreement area
with Sun Peaks to carry out their activities. All of these transactions
took place without our knowledge and consent.

Our people are very dedicated to a resolution to this issue that favors us
for once. We have taken many actions since October. These actions include;
maintaining the Protection Center at Sun Peaks, demonstration in Kamloops
and at the Vancouver Stock Exchange; two demonstrations at the ski resort
letter writing campaign to state our opposition to the expansion project
and to seek support.

It is important to explain that by erecting and maintaining the
Skwelkwekwelt Protection Centre our people are collectively exercising
their proprietary interest in their traditional territories and protecting
our traditional lands for future for our use. This has been recognized by
the Supreme Court of Canada in the 1997 Delgamuukw Decision as Aboriginal
Title. On December 11th, 2000, the Third anniversary of the Delgamuukw
Decision we therefore held a demonstration in front of the Vancouver stock
exchange to put potential investors for the Sun Peaks Ski resort on notice
about our proprietary interests.

Aboriginal Title is a legal term the judges picked, but it is filled and
given meaning by our own Secwepemc law and culture. Our elders hold the
traditional knowledge about our land, they know about the multifaceted use
of different ecosystems over generations and pass it on to our young people.

Our knowledge goes back much longer and is much more diverse than
government data and, it has to be the basis for all sustainable management
of our territories. It also bears a great potential for eco-tourism, under
the condition that our rights to our traditional territories be recognized.
The government of Canada refuses to recognize Aboriginal Title and thereby
does not follow the direction of the Canadian Supreme Court and
constitution. They try to force our people into negotiation processes that
would result in extinguishing our Aboriginal Title. In our province the
process they want to force on us is the British Columbia Treaty Process,
that also operates according to the 1986 Comprehensive Claims Policy that
prescribes the -cede, surrender and release of our lands- in return we
would be granted back small parts of our land. The position of our
ancestors and elders has always been that we never gave up our title to our
land. In the 1910 Laurier Memorial the Chiefs of the Interior made it clear
to the federal crown, that -We never accepted these reservations as
settlement for anything, nor did we sign any papers or sign any treaties
about same. They thought we would be satisfied with this, but we never will
be until we get our rights.-

After long fights of our peoples, today those rights are now protected by
the Canadian constitution and recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada;
however, they are not being implemented by the Canadian government. In the
case of the Adams Lake, Neskonlith and Little Shuswap Indian bands a
reserve had been set aside by Governor Douglass in 1862, that covers
Skwelkwekwelt, the area on which the Sun Peaks ski resort has been imposed.
We therefore have a specific claim over the area, which is also being
denied by the government. We see our camp as part of the bigger struggle
for the recognition of Aboriginal Title, our collective proprietary
interest in our traditional territories, that we have to exercise according
to our culture in order to give it real meaning. When we go out on the
land, we do not just protect nature, we also protect our proprietary
interest in this land. As Secwepemc we must be part of the decision-making
on management and use of our lands.

The Secwepemc Watershed Committee, the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council and
even Sun Peaks Resorts and the province of British Columbia have requested
the federal government to become involved in negotiations with us, the
traditional owners of the land. As long as the government refuses to
recognize our Aboriginal Title and just protects settler interests, we
therefore have to continue exercising our Aboriginal Title to keep it
intact. In the spring we will be erecting a log cabin in the Skwelkwekwelt
area. We have the support of the majority of Southern Secwepemc Chiefs to
erect the cabin in the area. They also supported us to cut the logs on
crown land over which we hold Aboriginal Title without a permit from the
province. We will continue our actions as long deemed necessary.

In addition, we are receiving an overwhelming amount of support. The Union
of B. C. Indian Chiefs and the Assembly of First Nations have provided
resolutions of support. Also various international supports for indigenous
and human rights are monitoring the situation at Skwelkwekwelt, making sure
that our indigenous and human rights are not violated. We have to take
these precautions because in the past the Canadian government has used
excessive life-threatening violence against indigenous peoples exercising
their Aboriginal Title and rights, most recently at Burnt Church.

Our camps have helped us draw more international attention to the
-land-question in British Columbia-. Whilst the Canadian government is
refusing to recognize our Aboriginal Title and continues to violate our
human rights as indigenous peoples we are building strong relations with
foreign governments. The Tourism Committee of German Parliament was lobbied
by Chief Arthur Manuel, Neskonlith, Chairperson of the Shuswap Nation
Tribal Council and the Interior Alliance, during trip to Europe in the fall
2000. In a recent letter addressed to the Canadian Prime Minister they
expressed their concerns about the impacts of different industries on our
traditional territories. They mentioned especially mass tourism, drawing
upon the negative experiences with ski-resorts in the European Alps. They
called upon the Prime Minister to recognize Aboriginal Title and value the
traditional knowledge of our peoples as the basis for eco-tourism and
sustainable development.

We will continue informing the international and Canadian public about our
struggle and ongoing activities. As the ski-season goes on we will continue
informing incoming tourists about our concerns. Also Sun Peaks resort will
be hosting -Snow Job-, advertised as Canada's only music show in the snow.
The organizers of Much Music have been put on notice about the unsettled
land question around the resort and that we will be taken all actions we
deem necessary to continue making our position heard. So keep your eyes and
ears open, you will get news from us! We appreciate all support you can
provide in our struggle for protection of our traditional lands and
recognition of our title and rights. For more information and to offer your
support, please call Janice Billy, Art Anthony, or Richard Manuel at
250-679-3295 Neskonlith Band and Chief Ron Jules or Ken Dennis at
250-679-8841 Adams Lake Band.

Submitted by Janice Billy, Spokesperson
Secwpemc Watershed Committee

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