CREDIT: Darren Stone, Times Colonist Construction workers at Bear Mountain gather at the site of a confrontation with First Nations protesters yesterday near a destroyed cave held sacred by aboriginal people.

B.C. aboriginal leaders raised the spectres of Oka and Ipperwash yesterday, standing together on Bear Mountain resort land, near the entrance to a cave they consider a sacred site.

"First Nations in this province are outraged at what's happened here," said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. He visited the Skirt Mountain site to support local First Nations who began a protest yesterday morning to protect and restore the damaged cave.

"It's of paramount importance that all the parties recognize the need to resolve this, particularly the developer, otherwise we're going to have a situation develop here which is going to be just as ugly as the other confrontations across this country. There's no question about that. Sacred issues were very prevalent in the Oka standoff as they were in the Ipperwash conflict."

For his part, Bear Mountain project developer Les Bjola, who complied with a provincial government request yesterday to stop work within 100 metres of the cave, accused the First Nations of manipulation, intimidation and threats.

The resort has plans for a condominium project in the area.

"When I see a grand chief suggest a one-kilometre buffer around this cave, it leads me to believe there's a lot more at stake than a sacred cave," said Bjola. "Why does it happen four years into development, when all the services and roads are here? It's a little too convenient for me to think that all this occurred now as opposed to five years ago when we hadn't touched the property."

Bjola said he would consult with his executive group to see what Bear Mountain will do next. The group will decide whether to proceed with a court injunction to have the protesters removed.

On Wednesday, First Nations complained they were not consulted about archeological assessments of the sites by companies hired by Bear Mountain and the City of Langford. Tsartlip chief Chris Tom and Cheryl Bryce, land manager for the Songhees, said they were shocked to discover the province had approved removing the roof of the cave and draining a subterranean lake to complete an archeological assessment. The entrance has been filled with tree stumps -- a measure taken, said Bjola, to prevent people from falling into the hole.

Aboriginal Relations Minister Mike de Jong met with First Nations officials yesterday. "We're obviously very concerned and are anxious to work with the parties to see if a resolution can be found that's respectful of the site," he said.

De Jong described his efforts to date as "fact-finding" but said he hopes to gather together all the "interested parties" today to resolve the dispute.

RCMP were called to the development early yesterday morning after a scuffle broke out between protester David Dirk and a Bear Mountain employee. Dirk said he was trying to light a fire to keep warm, when the employee kicked him in the arm and stomped on his foot. Dirk said he planned to press charges.

Then around noon, about 120 Bear Mountain employees drove to the summit on their lunch hour to show their support for the development. The crowd stared at the handful of protesters who have vowed to occupy the site until is it protected. Bjola thanked them for their support.

"This is what I'm here for. It's my job to keep the 1,200 people who work at Bear Mountain employed and I want to put a human face to what's going on here," said Bjola.

"This is not a one-sided story. This is not good versus bad. This is all about the fact that we at Bear Mountain have gone beyond everything we've been required to do to resolve this situation archeologically."

These are the people who are suffering, the ones who will be out of work because work on the mountain has stopped, said Bjola, pointing to the construction workers.

Asked if there was any possibility of developing around the site, Bjola replied: "Absolutely none. We've proven to the full extent of the law because we're had the best two archeological firms in Victoria and we've had the ministry up here and they all agree to date that nothing's been found of any archeological consequence at all."

A house will go on top of the cave, he said.

Hupacasath Chief Judith Sayers said she believes the problem stems from "a really large cultural barrier and cultural insensitivity from the archeological branch."

"Sacred sites are the most important rights to First Nation people," she said. "These are really archaic methods they are using. That they have to destroy a site to find out whether it has been used."

-- With files from Lindsay Kines