. SKEENA ANGLER. ROB BROWN More Louisa he snow was slill falling outside. It was getiling darker. Louisa Smith, Haisla Elder, continued to speak gently of a time when she had ta endure so much pain. She spoke in a gentle cadence, she spoke without bilterness. She spoke of separation. During those four terrible years in residential school Louisa began to resent her mother and her people. When she retumed home, she was as a stranger. “At first my mother said would never let the white man take me back to that place, but, when she found I had turned my back on my people, that I had become a bitter and difficult child, I’m sure she was ready to change her mind.’’ Listening to Louisa Smith J began to realize that hers are a people with a profound sense of place. The Haisla moved great distances within their territories in response to the seasons and the tides. They are a people imbued wilh an acute sensitivily to the natural provisions of the land. The thought of leaving their territorial home base for some distant frontier is alien to native peoples, The forcible separation of native children from their parents, is well-known technique of cultural genocide that has been used on in-, digenous nations the world over. As I sat in the Haisla School with the snow piling up outside, listening to this diminutive, soft-spoken Haisla woman, I was, for the first time getting sense of the devastating impact leaving home was for people still closely tied ‘to the natural world. Even if the term Louisa Smith served had not been brutal, even if her teachers had been saints, even if regular visits by her parents had been possible, I sensed that she would still have suf- fered more than a non-native child in the same situation, Louisa’s words triggered a memory of my first year in school when I was strapped for a minor infraction. The punishment was dis- proportionate and unjust, but I was incapable of defending mysclf. More than any other event at school, a detailed recollection of that incident remains bumed into my brain. This kind of in- dignity, I realized, was a daily occurrence for Louisa Smith, “It was my grandmother who restored my respect for living things. Through prayer and teaching she brought me back to the Haisla tra- dition.’”’ Louisa, likened the after effects of residential schooling to the debilitating cffects of al- coholism. ‘‘An alcoholic will make a whole family dysfunctional. Having a victim of a residential schoo! in your family often has the same result.” A few years ago the pus and poison of residential schooling came to the surface. Louisa was sick in spirit and body, She realized she had to come to terms with her personal bis- tory and the collective unresolved grief of her people, ‘““What has my history done to me?” she asked herself before beginning what she called ‘the unraveling process of many hurts."’ I learned that Louisa was part of the Haisla delegation that flew to Scandinavia. She de- scribed the overpowering feeling of seeing a stolen Haisla totem pole in the muscum in Stockholm. ‘T had a feeling of great strength,’’ she said. Once again she heard the words of her grand- mother and ber mother. ‘Tt was a meeting with my ancestors. From that time on I was speaking on behalf of my people and, at times, they were speaking through me.” And speak she did, humbilng a round table of resource managers, conservationists, and repre- sentatives of industry at the First Kitlope Con- ference wilh her commitment and her clo- quence. At that gathering Louisa took exception to people who were about to remodel her home without consulting ber. “T am connected to Kemano and Kitlope with an invisible umbilical cord,’’ she told me. ‘This is the land the Creator set aside and entrusted to us. Everything in it is sacred, every ritual is im- portant. We are its custodians, People are wel- come in our land, but they must respect our wishes.’’ As I scribbled notes, I became increasingly aware that Louisa Smith had failed residential school. There was no shame here, no joss of her native identity. Her speech was filled with pride and determination as she talked of her dream of restoralion and rediscavery. Louisa Smith, like so many of ber generation, subjected to unconscionable crueltics, by men and women bent on creating brown skinned white people, a victim of a racist policy that was part of a process designed to dispossess nalives of their land, is not cowed. Scouts eye C Cal hoopsters It's a chance of a lifetime - the opportunity for a Terrace high schcal student not only to play basketball at the college or uni- versily of his choice, but to be guaranteed every class he wants. That student is Joseph Dominguez, a grade 12, 579" guard for the Caledonia Kermode Sr, Boys, His coach, Cam MacKay, has received eight letters from Cana- dian Universities expressing an interest in Dominguez, and two letters from the States. He’s not at liberty to discuss the schools of the specifics of their offers. But he says the offers aren’t just made to anyone who shines on the sports front, “Joseph is a very good student and a very good guard,”’ MacKay says. “‘He can leap and he’s very quick and he’s got a lot of poten- tial.” MacKay says Dominguez con- sistently earns "A’s" and "B's" in all his classes, And that, he says is what’s most important. Dominguez has been playing ball since grade 7 and bas loved the sport since day ene, He started getting the post- secondary offers while he was still in grade 11, “Twas pretty —excited,’” Dominguez says. ‘It motivates you,” He's planning on going to a basketball camp at the University of Alberta this spring that’ many scouts will be at, and he also hopes to head to the Sacramento area to see if he has what it takes to make it in the States, “I'd prefer to go to school in Canada,’ he says.‘‘But the level of competition for basketball in the States is much bigher.’” Dominguez says he wants to study education, with a focus on math and P.B. He has to decide where he wants to go by June. Many grade 12 students al- tempting to register for college or university often run into brick walls when they find out the class of their choice is already full. Locals lose Heart Terrace’s Kim Leigh Mac- Dougall rink has been eliminated from final round play at the Scott Tournament of Hearts B.C. provincial playdowns in Fort St John. The team lost the opening two draws before managing to over- come the Lorraine Jeffries rink of Port Alberni 9-6, But the Terrace rink conceded their following draw after the fourth end against Kelowna. The final score was 9-1, The next two draws also saw Terrace come up on the losing end, but the team did win won more before being eliminated, The final score against Kelly Owen’s Richmond rink was 6-5. tkkkk The provincial Legion curling championships are getting un- derway in Terrace tomorrow moming. In the senior's class Tertace will be represented by John Veld- man, Murray Kellin, Malvyn Anderson and Keith Trask. Larry Burke, Gard Olson, Scott Mclimoyle and John Daley will represent Terrace in regular play. The first draw goes at nine o’clock tomorrow moming, while the opening ceremonies, won’t be held until seven tomorrow night, Finals in both classes go Sun- day afternoon at 1 p.m, Closing ceremonies and awards presentations will be held im- mediately afterwards. There are eleven teams partici- pating in regular play, and ten on the seniors side, kkkkk THE TERRACE Legion is also preparing for the Annual Ladies Valentine Bonspiel on February 9-11. Around the clock curling Starts at 7 p.m. Friday night. The finals go Sunday at 2 pm. ferent colleges and univerisities. He wants to education. TOUGH CHOICES, Grade 12 Caledonia student Jospeh Dominguez is being pursued by ten dif- play competitive basketball, and still recieve a quality And if they can only get into two or three classes, what do they do then? For students in Terrace, this can be a very difficult decision, MacKay says. "Is it going to make sense for them financially to travel great distances to go pur- suc a post-secondary cducation, when they can’t get a full course load?" BASKETBALL For Dominguez though that won't be a problem, and MacKay Stresses that even though the of- fers he’s receiving are. based largely on his merils as a ball player, the final choice should focus on what type of academic atmosphere the school offers, “Choose the school on the merits of education and Iet the basketball take care of itself,” says MacKay. Student athletes wha ‘choose to” os 80 a School that’s been pursuing them are eligible for a faurtecn- hundred grant. All other expenses must be covered by the student. MacKay has also received Ict- ters from a couple of colleges in B.C. who are interested in prade 12 students Kelsey Hidbert and Brian Demedeiros, Cal shoots for tourney road wins THE CALEDONIA senior boys basketball team is in Ab- botsford today for the start of an invitational tournament there. Coach Cam MacKay expects it to be a tough one, noting the three teams on Caledonia’s side of the draw are among the best at the tourncy. The Kermodes first op- ponent, Terry Fox of Ab- botsford, is currently ranked number six in the province in "AAA," The Kermodes are coming off a solid performance at a Richmond tournament last weekend. The Kermodes dominated Cambie of Richmond in exhi- bilion play 106-67. Joseph Dominguez put in a very strong performance with 33 points, 31 of which were scored in the first half. Brian Demedciros hit for 16, and Kelsey Hidbert notched 14, MacKay says the starters didn’t play in the second half. In opening rovnd play against McRoberts, also from Richmond, Caledonia again came out on top by a score of 99.58, Dominguez and Demedeiros were the top scorers with 29 and 17 points respectively, and Fraser DeWaal also hit the double digits with 16 points. But in game two, the tide changed for the Kermodes. The team fell to the Vic High Totems from Victoria, 97-75. “We didn’t play well,’’ says MacKay.‘‘We scored a record low of eight points in the first quarter.” MacKay says he benched his Starting linc for just over a quarter because they weren’t gelting the job donc. “The junior part of the squad held their own, the other guys just weren’t doing what ] wanted them to do.”’ . The Kermodes rebounded though in their final game against the host team and fin- ished the tournament in third spot with a 90-71 win over Steveston. “Overall, it wasn’t a bad weckend, MacKay says,‘‘We got to go a Grizzlies game.”” Dominguez and Demedciros were selected tournament all- stars. ak kkk THE CALEDONIA Str. girls are on the road this weekend for a tournament in Prince George on February 2 and 3, The team has won it’s last five games and their record now Stands at 8-6. Coach Scott Stewart says point guard Linnac Bee Icads the team in scoring and is being scouted by colleges and universities in both B.C. and Alberta. Lisa Clark is another con- sistently strong performer, and is also receiving atlention from college coaches, And Stewart says team new- comer Felecia Arbuah is showing steady improvement by averaging 25 points in the last three games, Stewart also points to the ad- dition of assistant coach Tracey Faith as a reason for the teams’ improving caliber of play. He says Faith brings a wealth of playing expericnce to the team. Faith played for SFU and she also spent come time playing in Europe. wk kkk THE SKEENA eighth grade boys basketball team opened it’s season with a second place finish at the Charles Hays Tip- off Tournament on January 19 and 20. The Wildcats downed the Prince Rupert Rainmakers in game one. 55-47, Christian Desierto led the Wildcats with 29 paints. In their second game, Skecna ‘easily handled Nisga’a 76-53. Team newcomer Matthew Webster had 20 points in the first half. But Schoenbar Alaska proved to be too much for Skeena in their final game. The final score was 57-32, Coach Scott Armstrong says the Wildcats were held to just two points in the second quarter. “The Alaska team refused to allow our guards to penctrate and they collapsed on Webster every time he touched © the ball’? 638-7283