Ecotrust announces leadership award winners

On Dec. 2, Indigenous leader Kim Recalma-Clutesi was awarded the 2010 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award for her exceptional conservation efforts that have helped shape, not only British Columbia, but the national Indigenous community as well.

A jury of tribal leaders within Ecotrust’s Native Program Services handed out four awards, each comes with an investment of funds that will go into the community or to the honorees’ personal initiatives.

Recalma- Clutesi (Kwagiulth/Pentlatch of the Qualicum Indian Reserve) received $25,000. Finalist Terry L. Cross (Seneca Nation of Indians/Bear Clan of Portland, Oregon) received $5,000. Finalist Jessie Housty (Heiltsuk First Nation of Bella Bella) received $5,000. Finalist Sandra Sunrising Osawa (Makah- Seattle, Wash.) received $5,000.

Ecotrust is a non-profit organization based in Portland Oregon which promotes innovation and provides services for all those West Coast communities who wish to develop their economies within a framework of conservation.

Specifically, the areas of interest are California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Yukon, Alaska and, occasionally, Nevada. These areas line the waters in which the salmon run, which is why Ecotrust refers to the honorees as those from the ‘Salmon Region,’ explained Program Associate Gloria Borg Olds.

“Conservation is widely defined,” said Borg Olds. “(It is) the conservation of resources, and culture, economy, and health. You know, all the things involved in having a strong world.”

To be considered for an award, the nominee must be in mid career and have the support of their communities.
Recalma- Clutesi is an award-winning filmmaker, political activist, educator and historian who uses these roles as tools to pass along the knowledge of her people.

“I am driven by the desire to facilitate for those knowledge holders I hold dear to my heart, to help them through whatever medium is appropriate, to remember accurately the teachings of our ancestors. I am a lens to those who hold and own that knowledge… driven by the deep love for the sacred, and honoring of our ancestors.”

The former elected chief of the Qualicum Indian Reserve (2002-2006) prides herself in the identity of her place in her clan. She is the daughter of a clan chief, the late Ewanuxdzi. She is sister to the current Clan Chief Klagwagilla, and partner to Clan Chief Adam Dick.

She believes in a world that has specific gender roles, inherited rights, and obligations and protocols, she said. Individual achievement is not what she has ever strived for, nor is it something, in the strictest traditional sense, is rewarded.

Her teen and young adult years were filled with teachings from both her parents. Recalma-Clutesi has found a passion for the media arts, and has developed expertise in ethno-botany.

As a member of the Ninograd Collective, Recalma-Clutesi works to preserve her Indigenous language and reclaim the ceremonies of her people.

Out of the many experiences that Recalma- Clutesi has had, she says that the role of assistant producer, a position she held for the 1994 Commonwealth Games, was, “a transforming experience.”

“(The amazing) Mary Kerr and I brought Chief Adam Dick’s origin story, the Legend of Kawadillikalia, to life on a football field at the University of Victoria. It was an amazing thing to be asked by the Clan Chief to oversee his most precious possession…It was such a life lesson and tested my skills to the limit. Mostly it was also a lesson in great humility. At the end of the day it was Kwaxsistalla’s story, not mine.”

The Ecotrust Indigenous Awards program, 10 years in the running, now has a network of remarkable leaders and will add Recalma-Clustesi to its panel to adjudicate the next nominated honorees.

Recalma- Clutesi acknowledges the future honorees with pieces of advice that she herself lives with.

“Always remember the teachings of the ancestors. They got it right for tens of thousand of years…to move too far to a modern business model is only to be a poor carbon copy of this modern society of today and that has many cracks… All economy must be sustainable.”

Recalma- Clutesi plans to put her award towards the development and production of her new film, Singing Through The Seasons.