Blockade to remain on Siksika until commitments given

November 9, 2015

Ben Crow Chief will be sitting in his teepee right off the highway at the Texas gate blocking access to a housing construction site on the Siksika First Nation until he gets commitments in writing from Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman that those who lost their homes in the 2013 June flood are going to be consulted.

Crow Chief, himself a flood evacuee, has been joined by a group of about 100 people on an off-again, on-again basis since Wednesday when he first turned away a construction company from what he refers to as the “gumbo” site that Chief and council chose to build permanent homes for those who were flooded out.

It wasn’t until the construction company pulled onto the reserve that Crow Chief realized that the Siksika government had chosen a site for a 44-house subdivision, a portion of the 167 houses to be built to replace those that were washed out.

“We weren’t getting any answers and then we seen construction going on and then rumours were going around that those houses were meant for us and we didn’t even get notified,” he said.

But this isn’t the site the majority of homeowners want, he says. In fact, they weren’t even consulted and that’s why Crow Chief has dug in.

“There’s no communication (from Chief and council). That’s what this is about,” he said. “We haven’t had nothing from them for over a year and a half.”

Crow Chief started a petition in order to get answers. He presented the petition on Oct. 19, saying Chief and council had two days to get back to him with answers.
But no answers were forthcoming. A week later, on Oct. 28 Chief and council called a meeting. Crow Chief said he asked to see the books that contained the funding received from the province for flood work, the donations, and the decisions that were made. Instead, he was given “a piece of paper” with limited information.

Crow Chief says he told Chief and council that the evacuees did not want to be located where council had chosen. He says the area is a slough and presents problems, which is noticeable in cracked basements in existing neighbourhoods in that area. Instead, those who lost their homes want to be relocated to the hill above the flood plain. Crow Chief says he hasn’t been given a reason as to why this isn’t a viable location.

Crow Chief adds that at the beginning of the rebuild process, evacuees were given three locations from which to choose. The location that is now the build site was not selected, he says, and the site on the hill above the flood plain was one of the options.

At the Oct. 28 meeting, Crow Chief says he warned council he would set up a roadblock if the new subdivision location wasn’t changed. Evacuees had a series of meetings to discuss action.

“Everybody was in approval for this so we started. We got all organized, we got all together,” he said.

To show their support for the plight of the evacuees, a handful of elderly members occupied the band office in a sit-in on Friday night, says Crow Chief.

“Nation members are still reeling from the loss of homes and understand that these are real concerns and we are reviewing all concerns with due process,” said Romeo Crow Chief, tribal manager and media spokesperson, in a news release.

The news release also stated that evacuees had agreed to representation on the Siksika rebuild committee, Siksika steering committee, and the donation committee. Ben
Crow Chief says his group got half of the representation they asked for.

“We’re not moving until all our demands are met,” said Ben Crow Chief.

In an interview on Nov. 4 with News Talk 770 radio, Yellow Old Woman said, “I’m going to move as quickly as I can as Chief to make sure that we have answers for the people. I know communication is a problem, and I won’t deny that, and so we’re going to make sure as council members and me as a Chief to communicate to our people.”