Stepping stone approach to treaty celebrated

On Nov. 13, the Premier of British Columbia danced with the children of Tla-o-qui-aht in celebration of a new kind of treaty agreement their leadership had negotiated with the province.
Gordon Campbell was wrapped in a black shawl bordered with the small, painted hand-prints of the young people before he signed what is being hailed as the first-ever incremental treaty (ITA).
He joined the hereditary chiefs of Tla-o-qui-aht, elected Chief Councillor Francis Frank, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Mike de Jong and a couple of hundred Tla-o-qui-aht members for an afternoon of festivity and feasting.
Tla-o-qui-aht is a nation of about 900 people who lay claim to some of the most wild and wonderful territory on Vancouver Island's West Coast.
In Tofino, a tourist town known internationally for its long, protected stretches of pristine ocean front and pounding surf, its whale-watching and bear sightings, the Tla-o-qui-ahts gathered in the conference centre of their award-winning hotel, the Tin Wis Best Western Resort, to bear witness as their hereditary chiefs put pen to paper to sign the ITA.
The agreement, they hope, will provide the incentives and good will needed to go forward to negotiate a fully-formed treaty.
Treaty making in the province has a less than glorious record of achievement with only one treaty given full effect in law since the establishment of the BC Treaty Process in the early 1990s. Another has been ratified by five First Nations and the province, but is awaiting ratification by the federal government. There are currently 58 First Nations negotiating treaties in B.C., with 42 of them having only reached stage 4 of a six-stage process.
The problem say some is that the process is too long and onerous without benefits seen in the communities for all of the money and time being spent.
Incremental treaty is designed to tackle that problem, providing the opportunity to benefit earlier by building incentives into the process to reach treaty milestones.
At the signing, the Tla-o-qui-ahts received a parcel of land that measures about 16 hectares in an area of Canada where land is hard to come by and expensive to acquire.
In this first increment, the Tla-o-qui-ahts also received first right of refusal to purchase another parcel of land, if it is no longer required by the Village of Tofino for an emergency reservoir. Tofino's tourist population swells so much in the peak summer months that it has in the past run out of water.
Upon signing the agreement, the Tla-o-qui-ahts also received a cheque for $100,000 so they can begin to develop their newly acquired land.
As the province and the Tla-o-qui-ahts progress toward treaty, more "pre-treaty benefits" will accrue to the nation.
Upon achieving an agreement-in-principle, for example, the stage of treaty making where many agreements in the last decade of treaty negotiation have fallen apart, the province will transfer another 16 hectares to Tla-o-qui-aht. Elected Chief Francis Frank says he hopes to reach this stage in a few months.
Upon initialing of a final agreement, the stage before the agreement is sent to the community for ratification, another dangerous time in treaty making, 12 more hectares of land will be transferred.
When the final treaty agreement is signed, Tla-o-qui-aht will receive 18 more hectares of land in Tofino.
The incremental treaty agreement is a four-year plan to reach treaty. The land transfer alone has an estimated worth of more than $19 million, plus the province has promised a total of $600,000 in cash to be transferred, also in increments, as milestones in the treaty making process are reached. It is considered an advance by British Columbia of the provincial share of a future settlement package.
The next big step in the process is the substantial completion of the land selection chapter of the final agreement. Chief Frank was very clear on Nov. 13 that the land transfers of the incremental treaty agreement were not the entire land selection being negotiated.
The road to land selection may not be an easy one however. Tla-o-qui-aht must meet with neighboring tribes, Ahousaht and Hesquiaht, to hammer out boundary details. Other First Nations in British Columbia who have reached this stage of treaty making have been hung up on overlap issues, and can spend years in court fighting friends and family when they have failed to get inter-tribal boundary agreements in place.
There are also disagreements to contend with from within a nation. And much communication needs to be done with the Tla-o-qui-aht citizens if the process is to move forward smoothly.
Before celebrations were begun on Nov. 13, Tla-o-qui-aht nation member Ruth Ogilvie read a letter on behalf of people who feel "ignored in this BC Treaty Process."
She said she was speaking because the others were too afraid and intimidated to present any other view than a supportive one on the day set aside to celebrate the ITA.
"The Tla-o-qui-aht muschim (common people) are withdrawing their consent to the illegal theft of Tla-o-qui-aht territory through what is known as the ITA," she read.
She said the Tla-o-qui-ahts have 276,000 acres of land that they claim in their ha'houlthee (territory) and the agreement has been pushed forward without proper consultation.
"We are disturbed as we continue to hear that this ITA is going through without due process of a vote as in previous years. It's simply undemocratic."
Chief Frank thanked Ogilvie for having the courage to come forward to voice her concerns, and promised to sit with the group to share information about the ITA and the ongoing process.
Frank described the agreement as "one of many important building blocks to achieve the ultimate goal of a modern-day treaty."
"This is only a starting point," said Frank. "It isn't at the end. It isn't in the middle... It's the start of what we need to do," to secure a future for the people of Tla-o-qui-aht. "Each day that passes is an opportunity lost."
He said the ITA is an opportunity to protect the interests of the Tla-o-qui-aht and a future for Tla-o-qui-aht's children.
This agreement is one way forward, said Premier Campbell.
"The Tla-o-qui-ahts are taking a leadership position. You are the first. And sometimes it is frightening to be the first this first step can lead to a second step, which will lead to a third step, which can lead to a treaty that can make a difference in the lives of every single one of you, in the province, and in the country as well."