ne AGEL EES PE ESSE ite aE

- of rules, and in Terrace April 9 after three

> “days of negotiating, representatives of the
°. “three governments held a press conference.
It is difficult to gauge progress in the
"talks from information pried out of the

~~ ‘negotiators. They are in the problematic

. “position of having to hold press conferences
“~~ without talking ‘about anything that. is
. being negotiated. Chief Alvin McKay,

. president. of the Nisga’a Tribal Council,
. time she expected approval within the
month. 7

“paid Nisga’a government was one topic of

- discussion that is reaching clear definition.
"We've been developing the concept for. 15

; | years. It's complete, ready to’ advance to
—~-the next stage. We're trying to understand

_ “the application of. principles, village and

central government, the day-to-day nuts
and bolts,” McKay said, and that was about
as specific as the discussion got, aside from
comments by federal negotiator Gay Rear-
don. rn Poe

Reardon said a fisheries agreement
between the Nisga’a and the federal gov-
ernment is under consideration by Cabinet _
and the Treasury Board, a reiteration of an
aimouncement she made in March. At that

The agreenient would transfer most of

the fish management authority and respon-
‘sibility for the Nass. River to the Nisga’a,
and it would provide for training of Nisga’a

‘people to take over that function. |
. Both Alvin McKay and Tony
Sheridan, the province's chief negoti-

, |” TOTAL AREA 9600 SQ. mt. \

_ BELL- IRVINE

GITKSAN
‘WET’SUWET’AN

KITWANCOOL |

‘ a

ROSSWOOD -
|
HKALUM LAKE

TSIMSHIAN .. |

NISGA’A TERRITORY J

ator, stressed that progress is being
- made, even though the pace appears.
appallingly slow from outside the
negotiating room. McKay said, "I
would: say we are moving ahead, but
these are very complex issues. One of
the most difficult things is to gain
working understanding of specific
- areas, Outsiders see it as slow, but
one day that understanding is there,
‘like magic. We're close to that stage
.in one or two areas."
When asked: what areas those
were, McKay indicated self-govern-
ment and fisheries, He described the
_ position as being “solid bonds of
understanding” and added, "On any
of the major subjects there is a build-
ing of working knowledge going on."
_ Sheridan said, "We want an over-
all approach, a full package rather
' than'a deal here, a deal there. One
concept.

. "The process is that we sit down.
dnd find each others’ views, identify
the differences in our positions. It's a
growing process. You start with the

_ general and work toward the speci-
fic.” He added, "We're not experienced
_ with treaties, and we have to be care-
_ ful because these treaties are to have
‘constitutional protection."

7 The teams are still working on.
- 4nterim. protection measures, the
-,. guidelines that would put brakes on
the erosion of land resources by in-
_ dustry and governments during the
course of the negotiations. Although
- the time specified for the negotiations

80

Terrace Review — April 24, 1992

is half gone, the interim. protection