Dam opponent vows to continue fight

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A federal government decision allowing completion of the Oldman River dam sparked a series of veiled threats by one of the dam's most outspoken opponents.

Milton Born With A Tooth said he will use any means he can to continue fighting the diversion of the river into a reservoir at the southern Alberta irrigation project.

"I'm not afraid," he said. "If that's what it takes, then that's what I'll do."

Ottawa's refusal to follow the recommendations of a federal environmental review panel is not surprising, Born With A Tooth said in a poetic and evasive Windspeaker interview. Although the legal system may be in place to effect change, it is up to people

to follow through," he said.

"The legal process is there. I was willing to give the government a chance. Now I'll teach them how to enforce the law."

Born With A Tooth, member of the militant Peigan Lonefighters Society, was instrumental in a 1990 attempt to diver the river away from the dam. Since then he has travelled the country drumming up support for the river and Native self-government.

Born With A Tooth met recently with Natives staging a blockade in northern Saskatchewan to protest clear-cut forest harvesting in the area. He said their camp was

an example of Natives taking responsibility for their land.

The Lonefighter leader is currently awaiting the outcome of an appeal of his conviction on firearms offences stemming from the Lonefighter's 1990 Oldman diversion attempts. The appeal is scheduled to be heard in June in Calgary.