Direct Action

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With all the "hot spots" across the country this summer, even the most casual observer should get the point that Indigenous people in this country have had enough.

It may begin in Burnt Church, but it certainly doesn't end there.

From band office occupations designed to put some muscle behind demands by grassroots people for changes in the way band governments are run to the conflicts involving the leaders of those band governments with provincial and/or federal governments, there are so many situations it's hard to keep track.

The most common theme is protection of land and demands for a share of resources. First people battle with companies that have been licensed by provincial or federal authorities to harvest fish, timber or other resources from land under claim or land subject to Aboriginal title.

Leaders all over B.C. say they are fed up with negotiating modern day treaties dealing with their traditional homelands and watching logging trucks removing valuable timber from that land while the negotiations are in progress. Blockades are cropping up with regularity in the province.

Takla Lake First Nation has blocked a road to stop Canfor from logging in their territory, leaving dozens of trucks stranded in the northeastern town of Fort St. James. The blockade has brought messages of support from neighboring bands and tribal councils. A B.C. Rail line has also been blocked.

"We have a proprietary interest in every tree that leaves our land," said Chief Lana Teegee. "We have never given up our proprietary interest on B.C. Rail's right of way."

All over the province band councils are thinking of abandoning the treaty process. In one case, a band made deals directly with the resource companies. The Hartley Bay band, near Prince Rupert signed two such deals even as it continues to negotiate with provincial and federal officials.