Standing by the badly-eroded bank of the Birkenhead River, Lloyd

Williams points to the sweep of river that has cut deep into Indian
Reserve Land. The clump of Branches sticking out of the water (right
centre) marks the spot where the river bank used to be — and would

Cont'd from pg. 1

Band which offered to discuss the
situation. They waited in the Band
office for a reply. ‘““We got the
telegram from Alex MacDonald
that they were coming,” Mrs.
Stager related, ‘“‘and by the time I
had it translated from shorthand to
longhand, Simmons (the RCMP
officer in command) was already
at the office. We didn’t even have
time to discuss it.”

In a few moments the RCMP
were on the way to the blockade.
There was more than 50 in the
squad sent up from Surrey. A
helicopter with more men and
equipment waited nearby. The
word spread quickly through the
reserve that police had arrived and
the numbers at the blockade
swelled.

“When they arrived everybody
sat down and Simmons gave his

speech about how he was sorry but |

it was the law,’ the recount
progressed. “‘They took the ones
with the red bands first, the ones
that looked most active or militant.

But our men were strong. Angry as:

they were, they went away
passively.”

Of course, the Mounties would
receive praise enough from the
media for the avoidance of
violence. But who was it that ap-
peared with violent intentions and
whose discipline avoided it? The
Mount Currie Band have their own
answers.

“Most whites are not that in-
formed and our struggle has been
portrayed as between the Indians
and the RCMP, with the RCMP
recognized as defending the white
working class. They’re not,”’ Mrs.
Stager stressed, “‘it’s the iron fist
of the government that’s in-
volved. ’;

The Band had asked for legal
proof that the road on which the
blockade was situated had been
negotiated, with compensation
paid, for general use. The reply
was an RCMP squad. This, she
said, was the iron fist.

Exactly who owns the winding
dirt road through the Mount Currie
reserve was apparently the issue

at hand. The road is about 40 miles '

long ending at Lillooet with about
five of those miles through the
reserve. The Band has no record of
any transaction signing away the
land. But ownership of the road is a
superficial issue here. It was a
much larger issue which sparked
the blockade.

That began in earnest about two
months ago when fisheries
department agents began to en-
foree fishing regulations on the
reserve and in Lillooet Lake. Joe

~ the

Joseph, one of the 10 members on
the Band Council, explained: “It
really began with the fishing.
Fisheries people took our nets out
of the lake and cut up four of them.
We told them that they should talk
to the Band Council before taking
these actions. Then we had a
meeting with them and told them
to wait until after the “home-
makers’ convention”’ and we would
talk again.”

The ‘homemakers’ convention”
was a session of the Union of B.C.
Indian Chiefs which was to make
some decisions regarding action on
land claims. If the agreement had
been kept things might have been
different. But it was only a matter
of days before an elderly Native
woman, 82 years old, was
surrounded by fisheries officials
while fishing in the _ lake,
harrassed, nearly causing her
boat to capsize, and then her net
destroyed. ‘‘That did it,’ Joseph
said, ‘“‘We put the blockade up.”

The fishing issue gets to the
heart of the question. For it is the
position of the Indian movement
that fishing and hunting rights are
a legitimate aboriginal right. They
demand compensation for the
denial of those rights, along with it
large enough areas where they
may hunt and fish, and until they
receive it they: will not recognize
prohibitive regulations.

‘We're asking the federal and
provincial governments — Where
is your bill of sale for B.C.?”’ said
another. Band member, Frank
Rivers, ‘“‘My grandfather and my
father fought this issue, and now I
am fighting it.

A second land claim issue is what
Rivers called ‘corporation ripoff.”’
He included in this leases for
timber rights to logging companies
and agreements with governments
for use of reserve lands. ‘That
road falls into that category
because we were never com-
pensated for the use of it.”

The Mount Currie Band has
other problems connected with the
road. With 80% unemployment
among their 1,000 members,
agriculture is the mainstay of their
existence. Lloyd Williams, also an
elected member of the Band
Council, took us up the road from
the blockade into the centre of the
Reserve farm land. Erosion from
Birkenhead River that
parallels the road has narrowed it
causing it to collapse in places. But
more important, “‘we’ve lost at
least one-third of our farm land,”
he said, “‘for three years we have
asked the government to meet its
commitment to provide dyking.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 25, 1975—Page 8

still be had the government pledges to provide dykes been fulfilled.

Mud-damming by nearby Evans Products and dredging in Lillooet

Lake has increased the river’s flow.

They have done nothing.”
Negotiations without getting at
the basic land claim issues would
be deception, the Mount Currie
Band says. They hoped the
blockade would force meaningful
discussions on the issue.

The only discussions they can
count on now willbe in court. And it
is unlikely that they will get an
airing there. The question that the
court will investigate is the
ownership of the road. This in itself
will be interesting for when the

—Sean Griffin, photo

Band lawyer made inquiries
previous. to the blockade he found
no registered agreements of any
sort. Suddenly a document has
appeared — registered 26 years

after it was dated — with
typewritten ‘‘x’s’? and names
supposedly accepting com-

pensation of 4 cents per foot for the
land under the road. At best is
suspicious. It is worse when con-
sidered that this document was to
justify a police attack on people
blockading their own property.

FISH TALKS |

Cont'd from pg. 1
formation indicates that world
salmon inventories are down and
added that, if markets were poor
for salmon, it certainly wasnt
reflected in retail prices to con
sumers.

Prices for salmon roe have als0 |
reached unprecedented retail
levels with the June, 1975 report of
the department of Industry, Trade
and Commerce citing a price level
of $14 to $15 per pound for chum
roe.

On the question of the sub
standard agreements signed by
Alaskan fishermen and_ shore
workers, the UFAWU noted that
there is “‘no cohesive union” i
Alaska and emphasized: ‘‘We are
not going to settle a contract om
Alaskan terms.” :

If an industry-wide strike 1
called July 25, the UFAWU will
also put into immediate operation
its massive food fishery and strike
relief program, details of whl
were being finalized this week. _

The program will go into effect @
two stages, the first being the food
fishery for fishermen and industty
workers.

Fishing for that will take place
Monday,. July 28 and_ unio?
members will get authorization
from their locals to obtain free fish:

Following that, on July 29 andal
openings thereafter, fisherme?
will head for the grounds to provide
fish to be sold at sales throughout
the country. Already, firm com
mitment has been received fof
28,000-pound orders from tra
union centres in KamloopS:
Medicine Hat, Edmonton, Calgary;
Winnipeg, St. Catharines, Toronl0
and Sudbury.

Sites for public sales in thé
Lower Mainland have yet to
determined and will be announce
when the information is available:

—|

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