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From the Chair

From the Chair

Wednesday, 15 September 2010 11:46 Terry Sampson
From the Chair

Working together as one

I have been busy and I’ve learned a lot since my last article. Being on the water that Monday morning when the Stz’uminus community closed down a commercial geoduck harvest in our waters was certainly the high point for me. Our boat, with Chief John Elliott, another councillor and me, was the one that made the first contacts with the DFO, RCMP and harvesters’ boats.

I was so proud of how our community came together during the crisis that was caused by DFO allowing a harvest in our traditional waters of Kulleet Bay. Even though Stz’uminus had been talking to DFO about getting control of all our resources, it still went ahead and opened exactly those waters for a fishery. Our people were mad. This was right on their doorstep. For more than 20 years they had been watching resources been taken for profit by someone else.

After the successful blockade, our community turned out again for an emergency meeting. Elders, young people, families… they all came, representing all of our families. They told the chief and nine councillors that they gave their full support to continuing to press DFO. They said they were willing to put their bodies and their boats on the line to protect our resources.

It was a very powerful thing for me. All my life, I have heard the word naut’sa mawt, but until that morning in early August, I never really saw its true meaning – working together as one. Council united behind our chief and the community united with us. Together we prevented any more geoduck from being taken from us. Being united made DFO look at Stz’uminus differently than before and they began to meet with us for serious talks.

As I said, I learned many things during that time of crisis. In the first place, I learned a lot about geoducks. Do you know the reason why the name is pronounced gooeyduck when it looks like it should be geoduck? Well, I learned that the original word came from our relations in south Puget Sound at Nisqually. The Lushootseed language word is gʷiÅLdəq which means “dig deep”. I guess gooeyduck is as close as some people could come to saying the word.

I also learned that geoducks are worth a lot of money to people in Asia who treasure this food. Only 33 people own all the geoduck licenses around the BC coast and, from what I have heard, they all have become millionaires. I don’t mind people becoming millionaires, but I do mind when it’s from resources on our doorstep!

But probably the most important thing I learned was what a powerful thing it is when leaders can give their community a vision that they can buy into and what can happen when everyone says “Enough is enough”.

 

Sustainability is a Coast Salish tradition

Thursday, 22 July 2010 14:39 Terry Sampson

I was very interested in the articles about sustainability in this issue of Klahowya.

While reading them, it occurred to me that I really did not know exactly what that word meant. So, I went to an online dictionary and discovered that, basically, it means ‘able to be maintained at a certain rate or level’.

Well, that was easy enough. But then I went to Wikipedia and read about sustainable development. It is defined as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

And then I thought about my ancestors and about their teachings. Were not all those lessons and stories all about sustainability? We were taught to observe the environment around us and to not over-fish or over-harvest any resources. We moved from place to place during the harvesting seasons. And we observed… we were taught how to ‘read’ nature and how to act accordingly.

That is why reading about traditional technologies such as clam gardens and fish traps made me so proud. The Coast Salish people have survived – have sustained themselves – for thousands of years. We had technologies that worked. And now, in the 21st Century, we are finding ourselves as the leaders in sustainable development, not to mention being some of the best teachers.

I am proud of what the Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council nations are doing to become sustainable while sharing their knowledge and wisdom with others. Whether it is the T’Souke solar projects, Tla’amin’s treaty making, the Snaw-naw-as and Halalt shellfish industries or Tsleil-Waututh’s work in Indian Arm, our people are hard at work rebuilding their nations.

And we are doing it based on the sustainable teachings of those who came before us.


From the Chair

Wednesday, 12 May 2010 09:54 Terry Sampson
From the Chair

Coast Salish aren’t hiding from climate change challenge

I was honoured to attend the Coast Salish Gathering Climate Change Summit at Tulalip in late April along with other executive committee members and staff from the Tribal Council.

Entitled Impacts of Climate Change on Our Tribal Lifeways in the Salish Sea Ecosystem, the summit was a real wake-up call about the effects that climate change will have on all our lives. But it also gave me a lot of hope, in the face of such challenges, to know that our people are leading the way when it comes to adapting to our changing world.

Elsewhere in this issue of Klahowya, you will read about how T’Sou-ke Nation is facing up to the challenge and discovering many opportunities as it comes to grip with food and energy security issues. I was pleased to share a table with T’Sou-ke Chief Gordon Planes at the Climate Change Summit. It makes me feel good to know that our leaders are truly leading their communities.

T’Sou-ke took a leadership role last summer when it announced its solar electricity and hot water project to the world. Seeing how that project is just one piece of a much bigger puzzle about sustainable communities is very gratifying.

All our communities are facing challenges very much like those of T’Sou-ke and our Coast Salish relations in the USA. We all live in coastal communities. That is who we are.

Our lands and buildings are potentially at risk of flooding from rising sea levels or tidal surges. Our shellfish beds and other marine harvesting areas could be lost forever. And our salmon, shellfish and other species could be at risk because of contamination from algal blooms and other effects that may come with rising ocean temperatures

It is farsighted planning like that being done at T’Sou-ke and many of our other NmTC communities that will make the difference for future generations. Adapting to climate change and facing up to all the other issues will not be easy. But the Coast Salish are a very adaptive people. We have learned how to adapt, and to survive, for many centuries.

Now it is time to put the traditional teachings and wisdom of our ancestors to use. Big issues like energy, food, cultural and economic security will not be solved overnight. But by taking our rightful place as stewards of the land and the waters around us, we will truly be able to sustain ourselves.

Terry Sampson – Yuk'walu - Ala Way

Chair

Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council


From the Chair

Thursday, 01 April 2010 10:14 Terry Sampson
From the Chair

Many roads (and railways) lead to nationhood

I have been thinking recently about the roads that pass through all our nations.  When I heard details of the Halalt road blockade and the Snaw-naw-as holding meetings about its highway dangers, I thought about the dramatic effect that transportation infrastructure has in all cities, towns and communities.

The impacts of roads and rail lines on First Nation reserve lands is significant. Just think about Highway 101 cutting through Tla’amin or the Island Highway passing by the lands of Malahat, Stz’uminus, Snuneymuxw, Snaw-naw-as and Homalco; the Dollarton Highway at Tsleil- Waututh or the massive effects on Tsawwassen from BC Ferries and DeltaPort; or Highway 14 that links T’Souke with the rest of the world. Or the Whaletown Road to Klahoose…

That list is long and doesn’t even mention the effects that the E&N Railway grant lands along the east coast of Vancouver Island or the rail lines through Tsawwassen that carry coal for Roberts Bank.

The existence of these roads has always challenged our communities and forever changed them. Highways that cut through our reserve lands cannot be moved. They will always be there. Of course there are things that can be done, such as speed reduction, new intersections and noise barriers, but those roads will always be carrying traffic through our lands.

They bring problems to our communities, but they also bring opportunities.

We can build gas stations, convenience stores and mini-malls. Or we can ‘do big business’ like Tsawwassen is doing. It is very interesting to read in Klahowya about how Tsawwassen is taking advantage of its strategic location and is planning for a major industrial and business park and making deals with all levels of government to ensure that its economic development is for the long term.

There are two ways that the challenges of these roadways going through our communities can be tackled. We can have open dialogue initially like what took place in Snaw-naw-as or we can have confrontations like that which occurred in Halalt.

Either way, both situations settled on open dialogue as the means to solving road-related issues. It is just too bad that one caused great inconvenience and expense to our Nations, their neighbours and others.

 

My regards,
Terry Sampson,
Chair – Naut'sa mawt Tribal Council

From the Chair

Wednesday, 03 March 2010 10:42 Keith Wilson
From the Chair

The first day of spring is getting close as I write this. As I looked out the window at the plants begin–ning to bud, I was thinking the other day of some of the other things in our world that are flowering.

First of all, there is the Coast Salish culture. I was so proud to see our art and hear our songs during the ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. I never thought I

would see the day when millions of people around the world heard our name and got a chance to find out who we really are.

We can only guess at what opportunities the future will bring our people, but to have our people on the world stage really made me proud.

When NmTC’s board met in December, we approved a new strategic plan that had five goals. One of them was a communications strategy that would, in part, improve the dialogue with the people in our 11 member communities.

In the months and years ahead, NmTC plans to use a variety of interactive tools such as digital media and video technologies in order to allow our nations to network collectively. This will give NmTC members more oppor–tunities to participate in workshops and other meetings. And it will mean that every level of our organization will focus on better and more effective communications.

Of course, good communications is a two-way street. We are always looking for feedback, advice and comments on how we are doing. Send us emails and leave us a message on our website at klahowya.nautsamawt.org

My regards,

Terry Sampson,

Chair – Naut'sa mawt Tribal Council

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