-- Jamie
Friends of the Cheslatta t'en
26 Walton Court
Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 9T1
Phone: (613) 523-4257
Fax: (613) 523-0709
2 June 1994
PRESS RELEASE
At 8 a.m. on Monday, 13 June 1994, Native and non-Native people will
gather at Victoria Island for a traditional send off for the Cheslatta
Solidarity Caravan.
This Caravan, with representatives from a number of First Nations,
will travel across Canada in support of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation in
their fight to stop Alcan's Kemano 2 project.
The Caravan will arrive at Cheslatta Lake, B.C., on Saturday, 25 June
1994, in time to join the Cheslatta t'en for their annual Camp Out which
takes place yearly just before the annual flooding of the lake by Alcan.
Forced off their land in 1952 by Alcan and the Department of Indian
Affairs, the Cheslatta people have been struggling ever since to receive
compensation and restitution for loss of traditional lands, language and
way of life. Their struggle has only been intensified recently by the
intention of Alcan to build a second phase of its ecologically disastrous
Kemano 1 project. Kemano 2 has the potential to destroy the remaining
salmon stocks feeding the Fraser River. Kemano 2 will be the final nail in
the coffin of the few remaining Cheslatta t'en.
This Caravan, organized by the Friends of the Cheslatta t'en and led
by Ron George, Hereditary Chief of the Wet'suwet'en, will be stopping at
cities across the nation to tell the Cheslatta Story and to raise money to
help the financially-strapped Cheslatta Carrier Nation. The Caravan's
voyage will be recorded by Ottawa film-maker Sheila Jordan.
For information call:
John Goodfellow, (819) 771-5789
Randy Martin, (613)235-9956