APRIL 2010 Tsawwassen
We are a proud SELF-GOVERNING Coast Salish nation, the first of its kind for urban British Columbia. Our treaty is now in effect, and we are moving forward to build a vibrant community at Tsawwassen that is at the forefront of economic, environmental, social and cultural sustainability.
http://www.tsawwassenfirstnation.com/index.php
The Tsawwassen First Nation longhouse was not packed with the crowds that marked BC’s first urban treaty on April 3 one year ago. The first anniversary celebration this year was more of a family affair.
The day before, the Good Friday windstorm hit the BC coast, but there was calm at TFN for the gathering that combined a traditional blanketing ceremony, special speakers, dances, songs and family-oriented Easter activities.
The blanketing ceremony was for Chief Kim Baird, the woman who has spent the best part of the last two decades guiding her people toward nationhood.
“She is a wonderful lady,” said Tsawwassen patriarch, 88-year-old Rick Jacobs before singing his song.
The speakers explained the significance of the ceremony. “Wherever she walks, in any meeting, at any time, she will always remember this moment of being wrapped in this blanket. This is what the community wanted to bestow on her today, to commemorate this one-year anniversary of the treaty.
“Right from when we are born, we are wrapped in blankets… to wrap them with love, to embrace them with support. When we dress someone like this, it is part of the ceremony, that we continue to wrap someone in that love. She will never be alone.”
Chief Baird explained that her name, Kwuntiltunaat, comes from her great-great grandfather’s name Kwuntilum. “It ties me to these lands, for thousands of years and ties me to many other Coast Salish families through complex interconnections.”
Residents and visitors to Tsawwassen First Nation now have a place to meet for coffee or a meal.
The Si’em Café officially opened for business on March 22 in the recreation hall across from TFN’s administration office.
The café will be serving lunches, baked goods and other refreshments from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
These photographs were taken at an opening celebration on March 19 by Naut’sa mawt Resources Group’s administration manager Cheryl Williams.
Ryan Daum has been trying to get home to Tsawwassen First Nation for a long time.
Although he grew up off the reserve, some of his best memories came in the three years after high school when he lived with his grandmother Muriel Williams at TFN.
“It felt good coming home. I actually had my graduation here. That was nice, to have it here with my dad.”
After those years living with his grandmother, he continued in education, taking a marketing diploma course at BCIT. Then he worked at ATCO Structures in sales and logistics. But he said he always wanted to go back to BCIT and enter the fast-track program to earn a degree in business.
“After I got the degree, I did a lot of the self-evaluations that were offered, to see my learning style and the environment I would like to work in.”
A chance email alerted him to the new Tsawwassen Economic Development Corporation. TEDC’s chief executive, Chris Hartman picks up the story:
“I first got to know Ryan because he applied to be one of the directors on the economic development corporation,” said Hartman. “Halfway through the interview I said to myself: ‘I don’t want this guy being a director. I want him working for me’. He’s exactly the sort of member we’re looking for.”
“Ryan is an example of the next generation of members that are going to have some very real opportunities presented to them. The challenge is for those members to take hold of this challenge and run with it.”
As TEDC’s first employee, Ryan said the new job is “exciting and with a bit of responsibility too. As administrative assistant, I do a bit of everything. I am doing communications with the community, a little bit of marketing with outside business, do the filing and some of the accounting. There are lots of opportunities.”
The 31-year-old hopes to move from Vancouver to a home nearer the reserve in the near future. He understands that there is not yet the housing at TFN for him, but relishes have a hand in the economic plan that may allow him to truly move home someday soon.
It is very early days in the development of the 300 acres of industrial lands that TWN received as part of its treaty settlement.
The focus for TEDC is on Phase 1 that includes the 100 acres of land immediately adjacent to the highway and railroads that lead to the nearby DeltaPort.
“We are busy site prepping and putting services in the ground,” Hartman said. “Once we are able to do that, we will be able to market the land and enter into leases. But while we are preparing the sites for development, we are actively exploring the opportunities for partnerships.
“We are talking about doing a formal request for proposal to bring somebody to the table with the expertise of operating this type of facility.
“The industrial lands are not the typical industrial park out in the middle of suburbia. The ability to take the various uses, connect them together, and add the synergy that is really going to add the value. It could be great and that’s why we’re being very cautious and very deliberate in making sure that we cast that net as wide as we can and having people come to the table and say “Yes, we’re going to develop a partnership with you’.
“It’s got to be a win-win. But from TFN’s perspective, it is more than just about the land value. It is about job opportunities, training opportunities. It is about working with someone in that business and see things that other partners may not and come to the table to create opportunities.
“If it was just 300 acres, I would have it listed with a real estate agent and just go and lease the land.
By the spring of 2011, Hartman said that site work, including a new industrial road, will be finished on TFN’s lands. A year later, a new overpass will be built as part of the provincial Gateway Project.
“By 2012, with a new road, and a new interchange, there will be a ‘pretty skookum’ entrance to the community,” said Hartman. ‘But it is very much just the first step.”
The Tsawwassen Gateway Training Centre located on 2446 Falcon Drive recently opened. The first 12 students are completing the Pilot Supply Chain courses offered at the centre.
The Centre has hired TFN member Louise Ahlm as Office Manager. Contact Louise at 604-308-1911 for information about how to register for these training programs.
Future development projects at Tsawwassen First Nation were on the ballot when members voted on lease approvals on April 14.
Ryan Daum, administrative assistant for the Tsawwassen Economic Development Corporation (TEDC) facilitated a series of information meetings on the vote in late March and early April.
“The first one I held was with my own family and they asked some tough, hard questions,” he said.
Similar family meetings were held over three weeks. In addition, information meetings were held in Bellingham and Vernon as well as locally for youth over 19 years. A community feedback meeting was held on April 7.
Three separate ballot items were listed for projects on TFN’s industrial and commercial lands as well as a proposed retirement community.
Community elders were taken on a tour of retirement community developed by Trans City Investments, which is proposing a similar development at TFN.
“The tour allowed members to see what TCI proposed first hand so they could get a better sense of the project,” Daum said.
More info at: Tawwassen Economic Development Corporation 604-948-5219
First Nations Employment Society -- www.fnes.ca/
Vancouver Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership -- www.vanasep.ca/
