THE NEGOTIATOR

“Tony Sheridan, -theifeptiness 8 ise négotigtor i in;,

the Nisga’a comprehensive land claim | talks,
addressed a meeting of the ' Terrace Rotary: Club May,;
11 on the subject: of third party iriterests? ‘Althouxhi:
he could not disclose particulars of the negotiations
due to confidentiality clauses inthe: negotiating»,
framework agreement, he attempted | ‘to ‘give ‘local ©
businessmen some insight into the process and what
it may,qultimately lead to...,...

' Aboriginal title and the. right to self-government
are recognized by the province, Sheridan said, but
those.terms are far from self-explanatory. Aboriginal.
title means the government has acknowledged that

native people have a set..of interests in the lands |

they.are claiming, but not title in the familiar sense.
of ownership. The self- “government being sought is
not a “Swiss cheese" solution, Sheridan said, but
rather the: opportunity for native groups to incorpor-
ate protection of their social. traditions in a regime
that fits into Cangdian confederation. and gets away
from the restrictive domination of the Indian Act. |
When, asked by a Rotarian if "protection" meant
defense, in. terms of raising an army, Sheridan said
that ' was not the kind of protection he meant.

_ The process of reaching an agreement. or treaty
will be a long one, he said, and for that: reason the
_ government is now pondering "interim protection,
’ measures” to allow the resource economy to continue
. functioning while : giving the Nisga’a some reassur-

fy ance ‘that 4 the land isn’t’ being liquidated during the

negotiation process. ‘ “They are intended to resolve
., concerns. that, can't, wait: for. the treaty process," he |
said: oa A oe sek
Sheridan told the group he had started out with
the Attorney General doing dispute resolution. work,
‘a job’ that brought’ him in contact with native groups.
He discovered at that time that native people are
“tough negotiators with.a great sense of humour."
The. tripartite negotiations on the Nisga’a land
question will continue for, the rest of the month in
Terrace and i in. the Nz ass Valley.

- INTERIM PACT CLOSE

An. interim protection measures agreement
covering the area claimed: by the .Nisga’a ‘Tribal.
Council as ancestral land -will be in place | soon, : the
B.C. Minister of. Aboriginal. Affairs said at a. meeting

_in the Nass Valley April 30. ;,

_. Andrew Petter was speaking to the 35th annual
convention of the Nisga’a Tribal Council: He noted

that the. agreement, when: it 3s | signed, will be the

Miss Terrace Pageant 1992 committee members volunteered hundreds of hours to make this year’s
pageant one of the best ever. Above (rear from left) are Helen Haselmeyer, Murray Metcalfe, Joanne
Archibald, Naomi Shaffer, Alfreda Price, (front from left) Andrea Arnold, Peggy Shreeves, Yvonne
Moen and chairperson Crispina Cote. Missing are Irena Slavik, Claudia Brand and Lyne Lagace.

Terrace Review — May 15, 1992