Shuswap band members lock chief and council out of office

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Several members of the Shuswap Band near Invermere took over the band office Feb. 25 in a peaceful, but determined protest. Chief among their concerns, they said, is the financial accountability of the council.

Eleven band members went into the band office just before noon and said they were not leaving until the chief and council and a representative from the Department of Indian Affairs met with them to discuss their concerns.

Dorothy Warbrick, an employee of the band office, called Councilor Katherine Stevens at the Ktunaxa-Kinbasket Tribal Council in Cranbrook to apprise her of the situation and requested she attend. Warbrick was unable to contact Chief Paul Sam or Councilor Alice Sam because she said she "did not have their itinerary."

The police were contacted and attended the scene, reminding the protesters to remain peaceful and try to work things out.

Councilor Stevens arrived at 1 p.m. and spoke to the protesters, but was told that until the rest of the council and Indian Affairs was present, the group would not leave and preferred to air their concerns then.

"We aren't leaving until all three of you and someone from Indian Affairs are here," said Audrey Eugene, speaking on behalf of the protesters. "It's from Indian Affairs our money comes from that our band spends and we want them to hear our concerns also. We are not here for ourselves; we are here for our children and our grandchildren. We demand accountability. They haven't listened to us for 20 years: Well they are going to listen to us now."

Chief Paul Sam and Councilor Alice Sam arrived at the band office at 7:40 p.m. and were told by Eugene and the others gathered they would not negotiate until DIA arrived.

"I will give you my word I will get someone from the Department of Indian Affairs out here, but it won't be for two or three days," replied the chief. "But we will have a meeting. We need to air this out."

The protesters spoke with the chief and council until 6:30 the following morning, but still refused to leave the band office. A few hours later, they had locked and chained the door, again demanding the presence of DIA before they would sit down and discuss their issues.

Several times over the three-day demonstration, several males gathered outside the office shouting threats. Before a court injunction could reach the protesters on Feb. 27, they left the building saying they did not want to stray from the peaceful path they had started on, said Barb Cote, another spokesperson for the group.

"But this is not over," she added. "We have a lot to work out."

According Indian Affairs communications spokesperson Avril Archibald, there is no plan to send a representative in the near future.

"We are not sending anyone at this time. Our preference is to allow the parties involved to resolve this matter themselves."

"If the chief and council ask us for assistance, we would look at sending someone. What we are doing is we are encouraging the parties involved to find a mediator, whether that is an Elder, or a mediator nearby, someone of a third party that's not the department that can help them resolve this. Our view is that this is an internal matter and it's just best they work it out themselves. And part of that is just respecting the fact that you know we have a government-to-government relationship with them and it's not for us to step in and solve matters for them."

But the protesters say they will not be satisfied until a representative from DIA arrives.

Though contacted, Chief Paul Sam had no comment about the situation.