NATIVES RILED BY PARK DEDICATION
North Shore News (North Vancover)
May 1, 1995
THE PROVINCIAL government's newly created Indian Arm Park may not be
parkland for too long.
By Kevin Gillies
The park falls entirely within what the Squamish and the
Tsleil-Waututh (Burrard Band) are claiming as their traditional
territory. In fact, the two claims overlap.
Squamish Nation Chief Joe Mathias was livid with the provincial
government's Thursday announcement of the park. He claims his people
had not been contacted about the proposal.
"You're doing things with our traditional lands and you're not coming
to us," Mathias said in a meeting with reporters Wednesday. He was the
First Nations' representative at a public forum on native land claims
at the Robson Square Conference Centre.
"This openness thing is a phony. You're not consulting with us until
it's too late."
The B.C. government announced the creation of a 60,000-hectare
(149,200-acre) park surrounding Indian Arm.
The Squamish Nation has submitted an intent to claim territory with
boundaries running north on the Belcarra side of Indian Arm to
Pemberton (northeast of Powell River), around Garibaldi Park, south on
the western side of Howe Sound and east along the southern side of
Burrard Inlet to Indian Arm.
Matthew Thomas, a councillor with the Tsleil-Waututh band, concurs.
"I'm upset because this negotiating process is supposed to be in good
faith," he said.
Thomas said they were not contacted by Environment, Lands and Parks
Minister Moe Sihota and that the government's actions could have an
adverse effect on aboriginal peoples' trust.
"It's pathetic," he said.
The Tsleil-Waututh are claiming Belcarra as part of their ancestral
homeland. Tsleil-Waututh means "people of the inlet."
Mathias and Thomas said their bands have put their cards on the table,
but the governments have not said what's negotiable.
Mathias claims the government's attitude is "We'll consult with you
later, we're busy making parks."
B.C. land claims negotiator Linda Jolson said the provincial
government made a decision not to put a moratorium on land development
and that the park process is going on despite the treaty negotiation
process.
She added that the land is still negotiable; that it would be given to
the GVRD as park but could be taken back to give to the aboriginal
people.
Mathias responded, "How do you tell two million people that Stanley
Park is ours now and you'll have to pay a toll to enjoy it? Fact is we
won't get it."
According to Mathias, the Squamish people want more land, the
jurisdiction to develop their own land and the right to negotiate with
municipal governments without the required "blessing" from the Indian
Affairs minister in Ottawa.
"In order to develop land, certainly we're going to have to enter into
some sort of municipal-Squamish Nation relationship for the provision
of services and we're willing to negotiate that, and we have in the
past. But in terms of what we're going to do, we're in a process
within our own community as to what the land should look like in the
future."
He said the four basic tenets of any First Nation's demands are land,
resources, self-government and compensation.
In response to a West Van resident's question from the forum audience,
Mathias said the Squamish want the kind of powers municipalities enjoy
and to be able to negotiate relationships with other municipalities.
"We're trying to become a member of the GVRD right now, they're just
saying no," Mathias said.
"The main water lines to service Vancouver and the North Shore comes
through our land. The main sewer trunks come through our land. The
treatment plant is on our land. Major highways, the (Lions Gate)
bridge comes through our land. Power stations are sitting smack dab on
our land. Power lines go through our land.
"We have, more than enough, paid our contribution to the North Shore
in terms of putting our land up at minimal cost - in some cases for
nothing - and we are servicing not only your community but our
community. And what we're saying is, it's time for us to have a place
on the GVRD so that we can benefit from these services that are going
to the non-Indian communities but nothing is coming to us."
Another West Vancouver woman said, "With the highway, the bridge, the
water, the sewer, all this running through Indian territory, we could
be held hostage for a great price."
Mathias responded by saying, "When I think of all these many decades,
it should be a clear demonstration of the goodwill of the Squamish
Nation. Because you're absolutely right. We have the potential to stop
everything and that's not the way we want to go. We want to get into a
civilized process and reach agreement."
The current process, which Mathias emphatically supports, will see
three-way negotiations between the Squamish, federal and provincial
representatives.
A five-person body, the B.C. Treaty Commission, will oversee the
negotiating process. The commission is comprised of one federal, two
provincial and two First Nations representatives.
B.C. treaty commissioner Barbara Fisher said that while aboriginal
people have never really been on a level playing field when
negotiating for rights or land, the playing field has never been as
level as it is now.
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