["Nutri/System helped melose 52 Ibs. ~ "and cared about my well-being.” nf ee ; . he Pe : Theil eight ossprogram Thanks | lo Nute/Sysier /! ar one ae ae ae “Hired where ( felt the slalf ree , to0, | watch whal | ea Moa E _/ TOTHE TERRACE STANDARD Po Se ay ne: cared about me. The counselors so! can stay a size 6. My pride bea 7 ta ay ee treated me like an individual, not really shows through.” ; Bi yf wa ek pale just part of a crowd. They made etal 's cee nee ee ee ee | Dear Sir: Recent discussion about the native, land claims issue has compared the process of reaching a settlement to a poker game. It is being suggested that one does not concede anything to: the other side such as a recognition that aboriginal title exists, There are major differences between a poker game and land claims negotiation and the analogy is quite inappropriate. In fact it is probably incorrect to’ try to compare fand claims negotiation to any other type of negotiations : one is probably familiar with. In poker all parties bring their money to the table and all have the same chance of winning everything or losing it all, What the analogy does not address is that native peoples do nat have anything that they can bring to the ‘‘poker table’’. If the poker table analogy is to be followed we would in fact “be expecting the aboriginal peoples to come to the table to play a high stakes game against a player who has taken all of the “chips? from them. That -would put them in a position of begging. Native peoples have asked for the government to recognize aboriginal title; to recognize that the Indian people were here first, that they lived off the land and looked after it for thousands of years before the . white settlers arrived. They did not have ‘a piece of paper at a land registry office ‘giving them title’, but they owned it none the less. The Socred government refuses to recognize this fact and they argue that to do so would be conceding what land claim negotiations are designed to determine. They seem to ex- pect that the recognition of title will be a negotiable item for the - negotiators for the aboriginal peoples, height of Socred naivety. ” The issue is not going | to be settled by. some.-‘game of chance’ mentality. What we. have here -is a-fundamental in- justice to our first citizens. That is what makes. ‘coming to terms. with this issue, different from, many other type of negotia-.. tions. To delay a solution makes us culpable... ; The.. present - social and economic circumstances of many ‘aboriginal communities grew directly from the injustice of the past 130 years. While In- dian people wait for-the provin- cial government to finish setting the stage for some ‘poker game! or arguing about the role of the federal government, the frustra- tion and anger grows at the local levels and on both sides of — Sca re tactics are used. Dear Sir: -, - _ With. reference to the letter “Squatters’? by Jack Davis, MLA, North Vancouver, Seymour in your Aug. 15, 1990 newspaper, The phrase “lock, stock and. barrel’* is stuck in the minds of our politicians. And, it is used as a scare tactic to misinform the non-Indian public. Mr. Davis may be safe in his riding in North “Vancouver, Seymour and can afford to make biased remarks on our aboriginal people of Canada ‘and other ethnic groups in Canada. Ridiculous demands based on race or ethnic origin, are his words. This could be the letter of the year written by a Social Credit MLA. Yours Sincerely, . M.G. Dalen Cedarvale, B.C. , That must be the from AS ae This is creating a rift some of the graduating natives and a lot of the goad the natives are doing. _ [also cannot see how The Terrace Standard could print the letters I saw and only put one small letter as a defence against what B, Homburg and. J. Bolster (August 15, 1990) wrote. It also isn’t the first letter by B. Homburg I saw that I found. offensive toward natives: the other was about students. What I would like to say to you, sir, is watch the racism commercials on T.V. and net let the colour of one’s skin scare you. Get to know the person on the inside. » . Why-don't you go back to wherever it was you came from so we as a sociely won't have to deal with you or get the facts. A lot of the natives 100 years ago didn’t understand the government or the pieces of paper they gave as our claim to the land, and we got cheated out of it. ‘ Back then cheating us was easy; we didn’t understand. I’m not saying the people to- day are cheating us but you have to listen and try to understand. ° Fusther more, if you must cut us off from Canada by treating us differently, isn’t it just as the Quebec people? Aren't they as blatant about discrimination of Canadians for wanting to be a distinct Society? Natives were a distinct society, yet there is no law in your (our) govern- ment that will go into con- ference for us. IT am definitely not embar- rassed or timid to speak up. 1 also don’t see dollar signs in my eyes everytime 1 hear about Jand claims. J just. want what is right and just for us. It isn’t a pro- blem of the white against tative for the people nor - responsible to the people. The media also shouldn’t create a rift between the peo-. ple they will if they persist. It is time for some changes. Dawn Wale. Terrace B.C. INSTITUTIONS Offer expires Sept, 6, 1990. SCOT WILLMS NEW MANAGER OF THE MEAT DEPARTMENT AT COP- PERSIDE IV, Scot Willms, along with Charmaine Parks (13 years experience) and Paul Gressel are her to offer you com- plete, friendly service. Any questions? Feel free to ask aobut our Meat Department Services. * FRESH MEAT CUT DAILY * CUSTOM SMOKING OF FISH & PORK ¢ WE USE ONLY “GRADE A” BEEF ¢ CUSTOM CUTTING AND WRAPPING * WE SUPPLY RESTAURANTS, CAMPS & * DISCOUNTS ON BULK ORDERS FAMILY PACK PORK CHOPS Fresh or Frozen. - ONE COUPON PEA FAMILY. PURCHASE PLEASE - Please phone your order ahead COPPERSIDE FOODS he native ben ee ane ‘2891 Clark we - ment. I also feel the govern- Terrace, B.C. ae ‘ment is not being a represen- , 635-6624 's not a game of chance | the issue. For Indian peoples the sight of their lahds being ‘strip- ped of resources with’ little benefit to their villages must be a bitter pill indeed. There is a better way. We can recognize aboriginal title or the courts will do it for us..We can , -Fecognize the aboriginal] _ peoples’ inherent right to self. government “and start par- ticipating i in.modern day treaty negotiations to achieve a fair settlement. for all. ; Private lands would be pro- tected.,but ‘we ‘could ’start the process” for. ausiainable economic development - itiatives ‘in both aboriginal and non-aboriginal. communitie which result from the settlement of the land’:question. The economic: benefits to the pro- vince in the next 10 to 20 years will more. than make up for whatever. ‘costs’. some politi- cians, claim wall finally make up a settlement. -It is not.a question of one side giving’: everything or getting everything. . Negotiations will probably take years to complete with intense bargaining by both sides. 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