Category Archives: Indigenous Nations

Environment, Indigenous Nations

Confrontations Over The Site C Dam

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By Roy L Hales
Some of local residents dropped by last Wednesday, when they saw BC Hydro clearing out an area in their gravel pit at Fort St John. They were told, “We’re making a parking lot for the protesters.” This was repeated to Ken Boon, who promptly drove over to the site. He saw the enlarged parking lot and  fencing. The President of President of the Peace Valley Landowner Association (PVLA) was wearing a “Paddle for the Peace” hat, when he approached the security guards. Boon says they, “were pretty guarded in their answers.” This story is one of many illustrations of confrontations over The Site C Dam.

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Arts, Indigenous Nations

Behind Standing on Sacred Ground

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Christopher McLeod was disturbed by the environmental injustice. He saw Native Americans subjected to airborne coal pollution, and their water being taken for slurry lines. The Hopi elders told him there was a spiritual side to the injustice. These violations were taking place within a network of sacred places that their people had preserved for countless generations. These consisted of a sacred mountain, sacred springs that gave the Hopi life, and their ancestral burial grounds. The elders told him the cause of the West’s environmental crises is the disconnect from their spiritual link to the earth. This has become the message behind Standing on Sacred Ground, a four part documentary which can be seen on the WORLD Channel, Sundays at 9:00 PM (ET) until June 14, 2015.

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Environment, Indigenous Nations

Mercury Contamination Stiffens Opposition to Site C Dam

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By Roy L. Hales

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Though construction on British Columbia’s W.A.C. Bennet dam began 54 years ago, fish are still so contaminated with mercury they are unfit for human consumption. Chief Roland Willson, of West Moberly First Nation, said BC started issuing health advisories after the dam was built. On May 11, 2015, he brought 200 pounds of contaminated bull trout to the legislature lawn for a press conference calling on the B.C. government to reverse its decision to approve the controversial $9 billion Site C dam. Willson said poisoning fish is a violation of Treaty #8.

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Environment, Indigenous Nations

Grace Islet’s Salvation Is In Sight

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Grace Islet’s Salvation is in sight. Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource, announced the Province is partnering with local First Nations and the Nature Conservancy of Canada to preserve the First Nations burial site.  Though negotiations with the owner have not concluded, many are are celebrating a victory.

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Environment, Indigenous Nations History

From An Era When First Nation’s People Were Regarded As Savages

By Roy L Hales

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The construction you see above occurred because the government refused to intervene after the owner took out the right permit. It was built on Grace Islet, a recognized First Nation’s burial site in Ganges Harbour, Salt Spring Island. This could not have happened in a white graveyard. It is only possible because British Columbia’s Cemetery Act descends from an era when First Nations were regarded as savages.

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