Reviews

JUDGEMENT AT STONEY CREEK. By Bridget Moran. Tillacum Library, Vancouver. $12.95. Available at People’s Co-op Bookstore.

It was July, 1976. Twenty-one-year-old Coreen Thomas and a group of friends were walking the nine-mile road back home to the Stoney Creek reserve after attending the July 1 festivities in Vander- hoof, when Thomas was struck and killed by a car driven by Richard Redekop. She was nine months pregnant.

Witnesses said Redekop had been drinking and was driving quite fast. It was some time before the police arrived and 45-50 minutes before the ambulance came. Thomas was taken directly to the morgue without a doctor’s certificate of death.

The RCMP statement was to the effect that Thomas had apparently darted in front of the car. Coroner Eric Turner agreed with the RCMP version and decided not to hold an inquest.

Judgement at Stoney Creek, by Bridget

Moran, is a dramatic, step by step account of this case which was finally brought to an inquest two years later, the result of anger and determination by Stoney Creek residents.

They were shocked by the coroner’s decision. Two years before, Thomas’ cousin, Larry Thomas, had been struck and killed by a pickup truck driven by Stanley Redekop, Richard Redekop’s brother. The jury’s decision at that time was that no negligence was involved.

Sophie Thomas, president of the Stoney Creek branch of the Indian Homemakers organization, and a relative of Coreen Thomas, reasoned that had the victims been white, the verdicts would have been different. This time the reserve residents were going to fight back and demand jus- tice.

She contacted Rose Charlie, then presi- dent of the B.C. branch of the homemakers group. Kitty Bell, editor of the Native Voice, put out a call for support and within

Elementary justice for Natives denied

at

a few days the B.C. Human Rights Com- mission, chaired by Bishop Remi De Roo, was requesting a meeting with the police commission. “We must ask ourselves,” De Roo declared at the time, “why there are two systems of justice. Why many Natives find themselves in jail on the same charges that many whites are released on.”

The pressure led to an inquest in Sep- tember 1976. Vancouver lawyer Harry Rankin, prominent in many civil rights Cases, represented the case launched by the Homemakers. (Moran, however, fails to mention that Rankin took no fees for this case, as did he not for the Fred Quilt case and many others which dealt with injustice to Native people.) Moran writes: “News that this man was to represent the B.C. Homemakers at the upcoming inquest sent ripples of excitement, and it must be added, a few shudders through the community of Vanderhoof.” ;

The inquest was held in the school gym at Vanderhoof in 1978. Although it ul-

timately absolved Redekop of negligence, the case itself drew national attention, with reporters attending from as far away as Toronto. Maclean’s magazine featured the issue, because this inquest brought to light the much deeper problems of racism than the death of one woman. Even the ques- tions of the inadequacy of Native housing, roads schooling, water supply and so on in the Native sections of the district were discussed, and the media helped expose shocking revelations of routine intimida- tion of Natives by the RCMP. and local police.

Ibelieve that events such as the Thomas inquest have, because they drew attention to the problems forced on Native people, helped Natives join together and demand their rights in- this country. This is a wonderful, spell-binding book and would make a timely Christmas present for rela- tives and friends.

— Jonnie Rankin

CUPE LOCAL 561 Coquitlam School Board and Municipal Library Employees

sends Season’s

Greetings to all

British Columbia trade unionists SOLIDARITY FOREVER

PORT ALBERNI AND DISTRICT

LABOUR

COUNCIL

extends our Season’s Greetings to all

our affiliates and the

working people of B.C.

What we desire for ourselves, we wish for all. In solidarity

Y es >

\\ Greetings

J to all organized labour

from the officers and members

Canadian Paperworkers Union

Local 1123

22 + Pacific Tribune, December 17, 1990

Tunes of peace, environment from _Slocan songster

SLOCAN TO EARTH. Songs by Marion Bergevin. Cassette. Co-produced by Slim Evans Records and Tapes, Van- couver. Available at People’s Co-op Bookstore.

How do we deal with Slocan to Earth, a collection of 11 songs written and performed by Marion Bergevin, a rural B.C. resident who is sending the world a message from the Slocan Valley?

Perhaps by noting the obvious: New Denver resident Marion Bergevin is an ama- teur, albeit a musician of accomplishment, and she sings about the environment, the effects of imperialism on the Third World, and alcoholism, among other topics. The microscopic liner notes on the cassette pack- age thanks friends and family members for encouraging Bergevin “to DO something with my music.” She has, with the assistance of Vancouver’s informal studio of alterna- tive vibes, Slim Evans Records and Tapes.

The studio, run by former bus driver and long-time people’s rocker Julius Fisher, has produced several recordings over the past three years featuring mainly day-job artists respected by the left community in Van- couver and, to a lesser extent due to the limitations imposed by geography and small promotion budgets, the rest of B.C. Natural- ly enough, the quality range has varied, from folks who do a pretty good job for part- timers, to last year’s tape by Aya, an a cap- pella. group of women with exceptional talent. Bergevin’s tape represents the former.

Sweet-voiced Bergevin is backed by several musicians, including many Slim Evans regulars, and the result is a fair varia- tion in styles, ranging from neo-reggae through country to punchy-horn jazz rock. The sound mix is first-rate.

But aesthetically, the results are mixed. One of the best tunes opens the album. “Only One Earth” has a pretty and mem- orable melody, particularly on the refrain. In a similar vein is “Kill for Money,” a minor- key ballad with effective lyrics: “We would

kill for money, all the birds in the sea/ Drowned in black gold for our refineries ... We would kill for money in a poor man’s land/ Take their resources and cheap labour, give ’em misery ....”

Other tunes are humourous. “Conference Blues” will be painfully familiar to caucused-out lefties, although Bergevin’s gentle voice can’t quite match her own com- position, which really calls out for a growlly approach. “Wragge Mountain Rag,” a catchy tune, acknowledges that even paradise can breed cabin fever, and there’s a need to hit the bright lights of town now and then.

Aserious composition, “Central America Cries,” is a sincere refutation of imperialism, with lines like: “... the people of Nicaragua/ Forced to fight an unofficial war/ With people who are bought and paid for/ By the man next door.”

Slocan to Earth contains songs that are melodically innovative and memorable. The lyrics are less accomplished. It’s difficult to respond to words like, “We think progress is economic gain,” or, “We think we need nuclear arms to defend,” other than with an obligatory nod of agreement. More potent statements give an aesthetic and spiritual uplift, and even challenge the listener.

_ There’s nothing like a shock to get the adrenaline and thought juices flowing.

One can sympathize. Lyrics can be the hardest part -of songwriting. And what

. sounds good.on paper can be marginalized when applied to music. :

Certainly there’s no shortage of issues to provide fodder for further efforts. As Ber- gevin comments in her liner notes, “Our Earth is presently in crisis. Fortunately, human capacity, creativity and unity seem to function best under these circumstances.” May her creative impulses continue and prosper.

(Slocan to Earth was released as a fund- raiser for environment, development and peace organizations.)

—Dan Keeton