26 — North Shore News — Sunday, September 24, 2000

Native land use patierns open to interpretatio

Sharon Fortney
Contributing Writ

I am writing in response
to Hana Mercer’s recent
articles attacking the
First Nations of British
Columbia.

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While Ais. Mercer would
Ike to suggest chat all) First
Nations should: contine them
selves to their reservations and
accep) the table scraps tossed
to them by mainstream
Canadian society, she once
again fails to grasp the com
plexity of the issues she is try:
Ing to discuss.

Unlike other provinces,
British Columbia has previous-
Ww deemed it unnecessary to
resolve indigenous Jand claim
issues by signing treaties. Thus,

indigenous tide to most of

British Columbia has never
legally been — extinguished.

the 1860s Governor
James Douglas in anticipation
of treaty settlements initiated, a

grounds and ceremoni
tes When known, Flowever,
tions were later
greatly reduced in size bv his
successor Joseph “Prutch in
FESPGRSE
newly arrived setders who wi
illegally squatting on reserve
lands. Subsequent attempts by
British Columbia's First
IONS TO MNitiate Treaty Nezo-
tations have been met with lit-
de or no interest by the
government unto
Esteemed Northwest
ethnographer Wilson Duff pre-

sents a thorough account: of

these and other events in The
Indian History of British
Columbia: The Tmpact of the
White published. in
are alse
summarized in a mo
publication edited by h
Keith Thor Carlson entitled

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former Divnapae & Commonwealth Games Medalists

Fe

to the demands of

Te
Paci
y. L provide
these referenves ins the hor
thar Ms. Mercer might uy to
educate herself on events she is
so determined to debate.

t would alse like to address
Ms, Mercer's negative interpre-
tation of native land use pat-
terns. Wherever people tiv
they modify their natural env
ronment. People in some ar
of South America (although
the practice is not restricted to

the Americas) burn plots of

land which are to be used for
agricultural practices. By doing
so they are able to return pre-
cious nutrients to otherwise
unproductive soil. Closer to
home, in Alberta sites such as
Head Smashed In Buffalo
Jump (a UNESCO) World
Heritage Site) do indeed show
nearly continuous usage by
indigenous peoples. It is true
that Alberta's First’) Nations
drove large numbers of bullalo
over the edge of that site dating

YO years ago.
Iris also true that the bison was
an important resource for all
Plains peoples and held a posi-

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tio of spintual significance 4»
well (see Liz Bryan's book The
falo Peoples. Ur tact, First
Nations co-existed fer thou:
nds of years with the buffalo.
ixtinction only became a

threat after the introduction of

the white man and the fur
trade. Tt has also been docu-
mented thar white travellers
often shot buffalo for sport
from passing trains leaving the
sto rot on the open
Glenbow Archives

photos).

would never
that cows are going extinct
b they are slaughtered in
large numbers to supply gro-
cery stores, vet we should
¢ that carefully controfled

suinction of the buffalo? Does
Ms. Mercer evens know th

during certain dmes of the year
male bison travel separate

trom the female an¢ their off-
spring? Indigenous hunters are
knowledgeable of such things
and are capable of making dect-
sions which ensure the contin-
ued — availabili of — their
resource base. She does them a
great disservice by suygesting

otherwise
Precoynize that many peo-
ple would preter to accept Ms.
Mercer’s perspective over
mine. And while we could go
round and re vund i in circles say-
ge: “That wasn't me,” “That
wasnt my ancestors,” would-
We it just be more productive
to accept the fact that unti! we
settle some of these issues we
will never be able to move for-
ward Shouldn't First

pate in c
ing the
s (including pay-

ing taxes)? Contrary to the pic-
ture painted by Ms, Mercer,
many First Nations already do.
They go to university, they

abs, and they own homes
— some on and some off the
reservation. Not everybody
collects welfare, and not all of
the people who do are native.

T would like to conclude by
saying that Ms. Mercer should
re-examine her family's history
of religious persecution and see
if she can’t discover a iesson of
tolerance.

— Sharon Fortney is a UBC
anthropology grad student.

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