Fort St. John bison meat —
seized from local hunters

TERRACE Some local
hunters are under investigation
for their role in a massive kill of
plains bison in the Fort St. John
area, ,
Conservation officers . have
seized bison meat here belicved
to come from the Pink Mountain

herd near Fort St, John jate last

year.
Conservation officer Andy
Ackerman. says only 32 of the
estimated 150 to 200 Pink
Mountain bison shot in 1992
were taken legally as part of a
limited-entry hunt.

The rest were the victims of
poachers who came from as far
away as Vancouver, Port Alberni,

New way
to hire
people
adopted

TERRACE -— Local UNBC:

professor Dr. Dee Horne will give
a public lecture tonight as part of
the university’s new and innova-
tive hiring process.

Home is a candidate for the
position of UNBC regional coor-
dinator, to be based here in Ter-
race.

University officials have de-
cided to put candidates for promi-
nent positions to the test, requir-
ing them to give speeches and
face public scrutiny.

UNBC spokesman Rob van
Adrichem admitted. the system of
annodnicing’ ‘candidates prior “to
hiring is unusual. oo.

He says the goal is to involve
the community. more in the pro-
cess of making key hiring deci-
sions, ,

“It's worked really well so
far,”? van Adrichem said. ‘“The
candidate likes it, The interview
commitice likes: it “It’s really

good?

"Home’s lecture is at 5:30 p.m.

tonight, Wednesday Feb. 10, in
the main board room at North-
west Community College.

Her talk is entitled The Role of
Universities in Community Life. '

Home came here last year from
Hamilton as an English literature
instructor for the new university.

Van Adrichem said there are
two other candidates for the posi-
tion of regional coordinator here.
Their names have not yet been
released, but he said the two will
both be required to give similar
public lectures, likely in carly
March. a,

University officials hope to hire
a regional coordinator for this
area sometime this spring.

the Northwest Territories — even
Terrace.

“They’ve been reduced quite

drastically,’’ Ackerman said of
the 600-animal bison herd . that
had grown. from the 50 animals
introduced to the area in 19°70.
Last year was the first time the.
herd was opened up to limited
hunting.

“It’s quite serious. We’ve gat
the whole works under investiga-
tion right now.”

He said ‘‘a couple of natives
and a couple of non-natives from
the Terrace area’’ are among the
suspects under investigation,

“We made one seizure (of

bison meal) over in Terrace,’
Ackerman added.

Three or four Fort St. John area
natives are believed responsible
for the largest number of bison
kills, he noted. ;

But the Halfway band, whose

traditional. territory. includes Pink

Mountain, held off during the
kill. De

“They stayed away although
they had the right to bunt there,”’
Ackerman said, noting the others
came inwithout their permission,
“They're getting pretty upset
with people coming in and hunt-
ing in their traditional area.”’

Ordinarily, natives have the

right to hunt wildlife for food, so-
cial and ceremonial reasans.

But Ackerman said there’s a
precedent from a recent court
case in Merrilt that indicates such
native hunting rights don't apply
outside a band’s traditional hunt-
ing territory. ,

“Natives who came from aut-

side the treaty area are not sig-_

natory to Treaty 8, so there’s
some thought that they are not
entitled to hunt in ihe area.”

So far. no charges have been
laid in connection with the bison
kill,

Ackerman said the meat likely
went to some kind of illegal
market.

TERRACE — The city is en-
listing outside help in cracking
down on motorists who don’t
pay their parking fines.

‘Permits director Bob Lafleur
said the city will hire.a colicc-
tion agency to run non-payers
to ground,

Although Terrace’s fine col-
lection record is better than the
provincial average — 51 per
cent against 41 per cent — he
said letting some people get
away with not paying was un-
fair to those wha do hand over
their $25,

Lafleur said discussions are
being held with a company
called Equifax and hoped a
new system is in place by

Big guns wanted
to collect fines

‘out

March.

One of the matters to be
settled is just what Equifax
will be paid on each ticket col-
Iection. =

While that payment - will
mean the cily docs not get the
full amount of the ticket’s face
value, ‘Something is better
than nothing,’ Lafleur painted |

Even when the system is in
place, the city will continue to
initially attempt fine collection
in the same way it docs now. -

“We will still be sending out |
letters in hopes they comply,”
he said. Handing the. matter
over to Equifax will be a last
resort,

cere

Site peau pie

get to relax at Mount Layton Hotsprings.

erienc

RUTH MILLS is one of dozens of area youngsters who gather each Saturday at the Onion
Lake ski trails as part of the Jackrabbit cross country ski program run by Cheryl Brown. But
they'll have to step aside this Saturday because the trails will be taken over by competitors In
the 12th annual Alcan Cross.Country Ski Marathon. There are three course lengths to the
event - Skm, 20km and 40km - and the.skling technique to be used is classic. Registration be-
gins at 9 a.m. and closes at 9:50 a.m. ‘The mass start, sure to be an impressive sight, takes
place at 10 a.m. There is no entry fee for the race and there will be prizes for the first male
and female across the finish line in the 40km marathon course as well as the first junior (15
years and under) male and female over the 20km section, Following the race, all competitors -

Foreign TV bid dumped

TERRACE —A plan to put for-
cign language programming on
community television as been
dropped because it would have
been illegal,

Northwest Community College
and the Terrace and District Mul-
licultural Association wanted to
use the college’s equipment to
pick up multilanguage | news, |
sports and current’ affairs pro-
prams from--a Nebraska-based'

satellite educational. ‘network
called SCOLA. Do
The sateltile-fed programs

would be taped and later put on

don left

channel 10, Terrace would have
been the third community in Can-
ada to pick up the service.

It includes programming from
countries as diverse. as Russia,
Croatia, Iran and Germany.

But. the Canadian- Radio-
Television Telecommunication
Commission (CRTC). shot’ the.
proposal down. ‘

_Skeena Broadcasters technical
operations manager Kevin

Barnard said he was told the com-
pany would have to seek a special
exemption to regulations that re-
quire

“community-oriented”

programming on community tele-
vision channels,

_Such an exemption would have
been unlikely, Barnard said, ad-
ding the CRTC probably would
have insisted the programs run on

‘a separate channel specially dedi-
seated to forcign language pro-

gramming,

He also nated the programming
would break the CRTC’s Cana-
dian content requirements.

“I'm dissapppointed. It doesn’t
make any sense to me,”’ said
NWCC’s Norbert Hartig. ‘The
public could only benefit fom

| Puppet power
COMMUNITY +

this.” -

Bamard said jt’s not the first
time CRTC regulations have af-
fected what can be broadcast on
channel 10.

The community television
channel was replaying some tapes
it was receiving froman East In-
dian commmunity ‘group in
Kitimat. .

That stopped for the same rea-
son after someone complained to
the CRTC, Barnard said.

‘Tt was brought to our attention
that this wasn’t kosher,’’ he ex-
plained.

Nisga‘a firm
up northern —

|boundary

TERRACE — The Nisga’a have
secured the northern boundary of
their land claim but continue to
have difficulty with their castern
borders.

Nisga’a chiefs met last week
with those from the Tabltan Na-
tion and have yxe-affirmed Treaty
Creck, north of Bowser Lake up
Hwy37 as the northern dividing
line between their respective ter-
ritories, ,

Firming up the Nisga’a bound-
atiés is. important the closer they

«cone fo: settling-thelr-land-claim-. ~£

with the provincial and federal
governments.

Federal and provincial officials
have said that itis up to natives to
settle any boundary disagrec-
Ments. —

The meeting re-affirmed an
agreement struck in 1977 and an
original one dating back to 1898,
said Nisga’a Tribal Council exec-
utive director Rod Robinson,

And that. 1898 agreement
stemmed from several battles in
which people were killed in 1870,
he said.

“Yes, there were battles in
Meziadin and several Nisga’a
were killed,’’ said Robinson.

“One of their (Tabltan) chiefs
was killed when the Tabltan used
to travel back and forth through
the Bear Pass. That was a mis-
widerstanding and they came
across three Nisga’a fishermen at
Meziadin and thought they were
part of the party involved in that
first fight,” he said.

. Two of the three Nisga’a were

‘killed while the third escaped to
spread the news to the Nisga’a
villages.

There were then several back
and forth battles until the Tahlitan
agreed that the territory south of
Treaty Creek -belonged to the
Nisga’a, said Robinson.

The Nisga’a and the Tahltan
now plan a ceremony at Treaty
Creek to mark the boundary,

Things aren’t going nearly. as
well over ‘the Nisga’a eastern
boundary with the Gitksan and
the Gitanyow (Kitwancool).

Gitanyow leader Glen Williams
late last year said there could be
violence if the Nisga’a did not
recognize the Gitanyow border.
At issue is land located east of
the Nass River claimed by the
Nisga’a but also by the Gitanyow
and the Gitksan.

It forms a large part of the

sai a a Reh
Rod Robinson —:.

25,000 square kilometres claimed
by the Nisga’a.
The Gitksan and Gitanyow both

— say the land should not have been.

included in an interim protection
measures apreement signed by
the Nisga’a and federal “and
provincial governments as part of
the land claims negatiations.

That agreement gives the
Nisga’a a say in resource use de-
cisions while the final agreement
is being negotiated, aaere

Robinson said 70 Nisga’a had
been ready to go to Gitanyow
Feb. 3 to continuc talking about a
resolution only to receive a phone
call the day before cancelling the
meeting.

“There was no reason given —

“we're checking on that, We were
doing what we were supposed to
be doing based on the protocol
we signed to deal with the over-.
lap,”’ said Robinson.

The protocol statcs that only the
chicis whose land is affected
should be involved in talks,

’ Two people, one from the
Nisga’a and one = from the
Gitanyow, have also been ap--
pointed to act as record keepers.

Gitanyow leader Williams was
unavailable for comment last
week.

kkk

Robinson said talks are prog-
ressing to decide upon the
southern boundary of Nisga’a ter-
ritory. cece 8

Those are underway with. the .
Kitsumkalum ‘band and therc’s
gencral agreement the boundary
is between. Lava Lake and Sand
Lake.

Two totem poles, one Nisga’a
‘and one Kitsumkalum, could ‘be
erected to mark the boundary,

pale L