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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 19, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| June 20, 2004 |
The First Nation peoples' struggle for land rights and human rights – Rosalin Sam |
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| Rosalin Sam |
When Rosalin Sam, of the St'at'imc Nation, heard about the developer's plans to build a ski resort on the ancient land of her Lillooet people, she knew she could not stand by and watch the ruination of a habitat that has been a pristine wilderness for millennia. After a meeting with the other women of the nation, they called upon the men to set up a "peace camp" on the proposed site at Melvin Creek, just north of Whistler, British Columbia, instructing them to stop the destruction "at all costs."
The battle for land rights and human rights is a continuing saga in the history of indigenous peoples and the Canadian government. Since the first pioneers came ashore to claim the land and resources in the 1850s, successive governments have only sought to conquer, divide and erase First Nations peoples - whether it be through driving them onto reservations, spreading smallpox epidemics or imprisoning their children in the residential school system.
Intended to break up families and communities, sever tribal ties and integrate children into European society, the forced assimilation tactics of residential schools propagated Catholicism, eradicated traditional culture and brutally punished children for speaking their native language. A "product" of the residential school system, Rosalin blames the arthritis in her legs from teachers who made her kneel on the cold floors just because she spoke her own language. Taken from her father and sent to residential school from four years old until she was sixteen, Rosalin tearfully confesses that they succeeded in "breaking her." When she finally returned to her community she had forgotten how to speak her mother tongue.
Quietly and in shame, the Canadian government closed down the last residential schools in the 1970s. The widespread physical, emotional and sexual abuses carried out by the catholic priests and nuns had begun to come to light. Though many of the perpetrators were brought before courts during the 80s and 90s, most had already died of old age. Offering cold comfort to the victims, a few priests were jailed and financial compensation was awarded to some of the abused, but "no amount of money can take the trauma away," says Rosalin.
Reaffirming First Nation identity by bringing back local laws, songs, dances, language and traditional culture can help heal the wounds of the past. But without the land to exist on as a people, this would not be possible - one of the many reasons Rosalin's battle against the ski resort is so important. Despite protests from the coalition of Canadian First Nations communities, indigenous peoples and environmental groups from around the world, the Nancy Greene-Raine associates still plan to go ahead with the construction. Next year will be crucial for Rosalin and her people, as though they celebrated the fourth birthday of the peace camp this May, the government-issued licence to build on the land is valid until August next year - a deadline Rosalin and her campaigners hope to reach without having to "lay down in front of the bulldozers."
Drawing global support from as far as Australia, England, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and South America, the Lillooet people are not alone in their struggle. This is the third year a Peace Boat group has visited the camp at Melvin Creek, fully appreciating the natural habitat of the grizzly bear, mountain goats, wolverine and the many varieties of medicinal plants and berries that thrive in the purity of the mountain habitat. Rosalin Sam and her Lillooet people have been part of the land at Melvin Creek for millennia, and are not about to be pushed aside for a ski resort.
For more information on the land at Melvin Creek and a previous Peace Boat. >>read more
Rosalin Sam welcomes any enquiries about the proposed development, and can be emailed at sutikalh2003[a]telus.net
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