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TERRACE — The Gitksan and.
Wet’suwet’en meet this Satur-
day to decide how its land
claims suit dismissed by the

Should be appealed.
Chief " Justice’.
McEachern dismissed’ the idea

of aboriginal title to.land,: say-
ing that it was ‘extinguished ‘by:

first British statutes and then by
. Canadian ones in the years prior.

_ to and-at the time B.C. joined
. Confederation in 187. ©

; Theoretically,’ ‘the B.C. Court:
‘ of Appeal is the next step in ask-.
. ing for a reversal of a B.C...

. Supreme Court ‘decision... ©»:
: . But that. step could be skip-

~ ped and a request made directly :

: to. the Supreme Court of.

;

Decision not one
-for politicians ©

TERRACE- — Provincial politi-
cians~'shouldn’t use the

; McEachern decision which

dismisses the idea of aboriginal
_ title to land and resources as a
way of gaining votes, says a

native self-government consul-.- . -

tant.
Matt Vickers, based in the
Hazeltons, says he's worried a

provincial election is coming so ©

close after’ the release of ‘the
decision.

‘*Bill Wilson (president of the
First Nations Congress in B.C.)
said natives might be used as the
whipping post by the Socreds,”’
said Vickers.

**T'd hate-to see any govern-
ment stoop to do that. It’s a
time for common sense to
prevail and-do the. right. thing
and’ nat the political thing,”’ he
said.

Vickers, bases his comments
on the Prospect of an appeal to

, ty Na tive rayne 2)

TERRACE _ One Hazelton

- resident. says he’s happy with -

the McEachern decision because
it’s a sign natives should forget
about the idea of special status,

Tom Acrill, long an opponent
to native title to land and
Tesources, says he hopes things

- in the area‘can go back to the

situation of-years ago.

“ff we ‘take it-(the decision)
seriously we-can get to working
together again — back to nor-
mal," said:Atrill,
ov4]'m 63. years old now. I've
always had good relations with
the natives:‘it's only been in the
past'15 years or so that trouble
began to. be. stirred up by a few

” outsiders, probably,” he said.

-«, Atrill’s, also, spokesman for
United - Northern. Citizens, a
group ‘formed last year. It op-
poses special status for natives,
saying ; that . ‘such @& move
temoves the concept of equality

Allan :

- affairs.

Canada to hear the appeal. -
That would require the agree-
ment ofall the parties in the

-Original provincial supreme
“B:C, Supreme Court March: ¥ .

court decision, . °-
A ‘move ‘to appeal the B.C.

‘Supreme Court’ decision-is not

unexpected as, all parties to the

“action. Said - ‘before jhand they

‘believed it ‘would: not be . the

final word on the question of

native: title: to: land and
resources.

” Last’ week; provincial’ native
“minister. Jack
Weisgerber and ‘provincial

‘attorney-general Russ Fraser
“said the province would not-
_stand in the way of a direct re-

quest to the Supreme Court of

. ‘Canada. -

a- highey. court. of the
McEachern decision and of the
ultimate responsibility of the
provincial government: to

-negotiate land claims set-

‘tlements, ©

“I'd say it's almost 2 a case of
ignoring it, to leave it alone. It’s
on the books,’’ said Vickers of

the decision.

‘We have to negotiate (land

claims). Its a matter for the -

provincial government and not
just any political party,” he
said.

Vickers also hopes senior pro-:

vincial government advisors will
counsel politicians to pursue the
idea of negotiations and not
take the McEachern decision to
heart.

“] like to feel within the
(native affairs) ministry | there
will be strong advice given-but I
know politically it’s a tough one
because of the election,” he

es should. forget:
“idea of special status —

Tom Atrill

for all people.

“Pye .always thought. the
native position has _been
trumped wp. ‘There's no validity

“The “yollowing is an excerpt

from a section in Chief Justice -
- Allan McEachern's decision he

calls Some Comments. -

“Indians liave had many op-
portunitis ‘to’ join “mainstream
_ Cahadian’ economic.and social
' life. Some Indians do not wish

to join, but mary cannot. They ”
_ are sometimes criticized for Tes

maining’ Indian, - and some of

community; outs
oThis

_, legal rights’ and social- wrongs
has created a positional attitude

with many exaggerated allega- «

"tions. and. arguments, and-.a

serious lack of reality. Surely. it”:
must be obvious that there have’
“been ‘fallirigs « on‘both sides, The ~

Indiang’ fave ‘remained depen-

“dent for too long. Even a na-
tional; annual. payment: of
billions “of'dollars on Indian’.

ptoblems;, which. undoubtedly jority of the se iia

“i not likely. break this debititating” fashioned to take its place:

ameliorates some hardship, will

‘ -y¢le of, dependence.

' Te ds my: conclusion, reactied:

i

“pea a. consideration’ of the
3 _ evidenct\

“which Is not conve:
lently available to many, that
fe-difficuliies facing the Ind
ne “of the: tecrilo

ree

increasingly -officials,,

-eacophonaus ‘dialogue -about:

“require

and ‘probably throuighiout
Canada, will not be solved'in
the context of legal rights. Legal

‘proceedings have been uséful in

raising awareness levels ‘about a
serious national problem.

New initiatives, which: may
extend for years or generations,

and -directed. at reducing. and |
eliminating the social :-and
": economic disadvantages: of. In-

them “in: turn’ have. become::;!ans are now required. It must

highly critical of the non-indian. always - be. remembered,

-however, that it -ig for ‘elected
not. judges, to
“establish priorities. for. the :
‘amelioration. of, disadvantaged
-members of society. ae

‘Some Indians say they cannot aaa:
live: under the paternalism: and.»
-regulation of. the Indian Act,
but,neither can many of them ..
live without the befiefits it. pro-._-
vides. Some Indians: object’ to.
“the - Imposed - band * structure
cr Ad by the Act buti it would

something ‘acceptal

‘Clearly @ new. arrdngement

“Ups highiy unlikely the pro-
vince would initiate that course |
of action. On the other hand is
reasonable to seay the govern-
ment would. likely not stand in
the way of it either,”* sald
Weisgerber. "

A native appeal is expected io *.
be based on many points, one of . -
which is that McBachern’s deci- '
sion on title goes against rulings :
— ~ federal government through a
One of those, the Supreme 7

of higher courts.

Court of Canada’s findings on

what's called the Sparrow case, -

found that native title can only
be extinguished by specific

said.

enters into it,”? Vickers added.

Vickers said he reacted with ©

“shock . and. dismay" to the
decision: *

“The bottom line was that it.

“So ‘tains of: the polis 7

court, the, Gitksan and
Wet'suwet’en suit stands as one
of the most expensive legal cases
in Canadian history.
_ Of the $25 million, the
Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en
spent $14 million in the years
leading up to and during its
years in court..

Approximately half of the

- $4: million’ came. from the

program which provides money
for court actions considered as
test cases,

The rest was raised through

_ Native community events and

legislative and regulatory ace
. tion. :
“At-an. estimated. $25 million ;
and with more than 300. days in.

donations from other native

a groups.

An appeal of the McEachern

-: decision will also be expensive

but nat as costly as the original
action, ‘says Gitksan and
Wet'suwet’en’ spokesman Don.
Ryan. i

That’s because appeals con-

witnesses. -

Ryan's: predicting an appeal
will cost. natives between $1.5
and $2 million just:for legal fees
and associated costs.

Another Gitksan spokesman,
Ralph ‘ Michell, - said
money should not be a problem.

“'NMicEachern, in one sweep, |

has insulted all first nations of
B.C.,"’ he said. *

Money: for- the appeal will ©

‘also come from the United
Church.in B.C. which two years

“ago agreed to try:
$1. million. for: nativ c ;
court cases, Half of whatever js.

raising .

Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 20, 1991 ~ Pige AS

‘Moves begin to appeal claims case _

raised will go to the Gitksan and

 Wet'suwet’en.
cern what happenedin the lower .

court and don’t require more | Gordon How said it has raised

United ‘Church spokesman

$170,000 to date.
“We're in the process of

drawing up.a five-year.plan to —

raise this money,” he said of ‘the

_ $1 million goal..

Gow said the monetary ‘goal
comes from a United Church
position that it must do more
than give moral support to

~ Mative land-claims. -

“The church felt it needed to
demonstrate support ina more :
significant way,’’ he said. «

To STEWART
CASSIAR

was a highly racist and political © | .fss-

decision ... it just devestated
me,” he said.

Vickers added that most peo-
ple expected a more even split

between the position of the’.

Gitksan ‘and Wet’suwet'en for. .

aboriginal title and the govern-
- ments’ position that such title

does not exist.

Now working for the Tsim-
shian Tribal Council, Vickers
was: the. administrator of a
Gitksan-Wet’suwet'en ad-

ministrative. body on .self-
government and was an advisor.
to the federal Tories in-the nor- .
thwest during the 1988 federal ;

election.

to it,’” he said’.

“We should | be: working. ,

together in Canada instead of
wrecking it,’’ Atrill added.
“*People should think . of

themselves as people, not as.
natives, or whites or Chinese.

There should not be any distine-
tion on. the basis of racial
origin,” he continued. .

Atril!l also wants the federal
Indian affairs department
eliminated and reserves turned
into municipalities. .

“1° like to see the gravy train
turned off,” he said.

Atrill added that natives wor-
ried about logging practices ‘or
other . resource, development
should work within the com-

_ munity to make their point..

’ “Jf they have questions or a
point to make, I could go along
with them but not as Gitksan,
Indians or whatever they call
it,’’ he said.

“find out what they expect of

each other. Im a successful,
ongoing relationship, there

must be performance on both

sides,

This, however, should not be
considered an endorsement for
“self government" because
details are required before any
informed opinion may be given.

7 Too often, catchy phrases gain

[Final words |

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F&F
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Babine R

“(HAZELTON |
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KITWANGA
vi a) St
Cer = A
"TERRACE a
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2 HOUSTON eA KE
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fg prancols hls TO PRINCE
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dias rep i thie eo? piQirtlag wat ail wiqeoui

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Mere trad: mat ins:

CHIEFS Alfred Joseph and Herb
George waited In the lobby of
the Smithers courthouse March
8 for, the 8.C. Supreme Court's

decision on the suit by the i

Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en to
57,000 square kilometres of

northern B.C: The decision went:

against the natives and t will be
appealed, °

Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en
peoples have already achieved a
relatively high level of social
organization, they have a
number of promising leaders, a
sense of purpose and a. likely
ability to move away from
dependence if they get the addi-
tional assistance they require.
-] cannot, of course, speak
with confidence about other. In-

_. generations, and
_ eliminating the social

iNew Initiatives, which may extend. for years. or
directed at™ ‘reducing cand
and economic disadvantages
.of Indians are now required.”

: quick, recognition, momentum

and even acceptance without a
roper understanding of the

’ ‘real. meaning. or consequences

Of: thise sometimes superficial

concepts, Also, different ar-

 tangements. might be ap- ..
: “answers to the problems facing
" the Indians will be found in the

Propriate for different areas

sometimes best be attalned in

wot Te

Se . ve ae re ner oee eer . Po PRs itay, .
reat ate th cabelas eth cap epcephanal permeate creer eur gt ponent wo ae ete TRAE ACRE TE Sic a

‘and. ‘the desired result: may ©

dian peoples because Lhave not
- Studied them. ‘I'am: impressed
that.
- Wet'suwet’en: are ready for an
“intelligent “new “ arrang

“with both levels of. ‘government. a
“Tam, not:persuaded:that the —

the. Gitksan and

ement

eserve: system.
created: fishing ole and

minuscule, or abandoned, that
they are of little or no use or
value. On the other hand, it is
obvious that some village
reserves should have been larger
but there is no profit in trying to

assign blame for this. The solu- .

tion to problems facing Indians
will not be solved by another at-

tempt to adjust reserves because

that system has been tried and it

has failed, and there are other.”

ways’ to correct that historical
failure,

It must be recognized,.
however, that most of the
reserves in the territory are not
economic units and it is not like-
ly that they can be made so
without serious disruption. to
the entire area which would not
be in the best interest of anyone,
including the Indians, Eventual-
ly, the Indians must decide how
best they can combine the ad-
vantages the reserves afford
them with the opportunities
they have to share and par-
ticipate in the larger. économiy,
but it is obvious they must make
their way off the reserves.
Whether they choose to. con-
tinue living on the reserves is for

them to ‘decide. ‘Care> must «

always be taken ta ensure that

the’ good things of ‘communal «
life are: not sacrificed just™ ‘ons

«seonomic grounds, |

In’ any new arrangement,
some failures must be expected
but we should at least be able to
identify them. The worst thing
that has happened to our Indian
people was. our joint inability to
react to failure and to make ad-
justments when things were not
going. well, As social improve-

-ment can only’ be measured in

generations, the answer to these
‘social questions, ultimately, will

‘be found in the good health and
- education of young Indian peo-
ple, and the removal of the con-
~, ditions that have made poverty

and: dependence upon public
funding their normal way of
life, ere

_. There must, of course, bea an
accommodation on: land use
which is an ‘ongoing matter on
which it will not -be appropriate
for. me to. offerany comment
except to say again that the dif-

‘ficulties of adapting to changing

circumstances, not limited land

use, is the principal cause of Ins.
‘dian misfortune,

Lastly, I wish to. eniphasize
that while much remains to be

done, a reasonable accommoda- -
tion is not impossible. After the |
last. appeal, however, | the: Fe
“maining problems. will ‘not ‘be:
. legal Ones. Rather they will ré-|
main, a3 they. have: always been; u

sodial and économic. ones.

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