Lillooet, British Columbia -- The Bridge River Band of the Stl'atl'imx
Nation, located in the interior British Columbia desert east of
Whistler, recently began tours of the Fishing Rock, a First Nations
pictograph celebrating an historic assertion of native identity.
The 70s-era work, which assumes standing among centuries of pictographs,
depicts the sun-centered cycle of the salmon, the focus of a court
case wherein First Nations thought took modern legal precedence.
The case pitted the calendar fishing seasons established by resource
managers against the cyclical and age-old intervals of the salmon
run, which the court determined were primary when establishing fishing
times.
Native artist Saul Terry created the sun disc pictograph in acknowledgement
of this metamorphosis of law, which resulted in the vindication
of a native arrested for fishing "out of season".
It stands on a rock promontory overlooking the Bridge River just
outside the tourist town of Lillooet, 160 miles from Vancouver.
Tla-o-qui-aht
First Nations Settle in New Village
Tofino, British Columbia -- In an historic model of social evolution,
the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations band of Vancouver Island, British
Columbia, resurged in influence, began a new community, and built
it according to modern environmental precepts developed by Europeans.
The new village site occupies an ancestral summer encampment area
at the base of a high bluff along Schooner Cove, in Pacific Rim
National Park Reserve.
The Canadian government, managing tribal lands in the traditional
system of partnership with First Nations people, initially built
a cedar boardwalk hiking trail along the bluff in order to protect
its environmental integrity and provide a pleasant hike. Experts
such as John McIntosh, ecosystem scientist with Pacific Rim, found
evidence that the bluff served as a crucial travel route for wildlife.
Old-growth Sitka spruce trees approaching 300 feet in height and
35 feet in circumference shade the area.
The Tla-o-qui-aht consulted with Pacific Rim officials, who identified
the bluff as an ecological constant of primary consideration in
selecting the site for the new settlement. Officials from the Canadian
and tribal governments agreed on an oceanfront location a short
distance away from the high ground, which continues to serve in
its ancient role as a forested anchor of the new Schooner Cove First
Nations village.
