CELESTE HALDANE

WE MUST CONTINUE TO ADVANCE THE TREATY NEGOTIATIONS PROCESS

This process is a powerful tool for reconciliation and empowering Indigenous Nations

CELESTE HALDANE

Since the signing of the BC Treaty Commission agreement 30 years ago, negotiations continue to set the tone for renewed relationships between Indigenous Nations, Canada and British Columbia. These negotiations are founded on the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ inherent right to self-government and title to their lands. This is evident with the BC Modern Treaty Nations who forged their pathways, breaking the shackles of the Indian Act to become self-governing.

While there have been significant changes to the negotiations process over the past 30 years, everyone agrees that the process has been too slow. One of the biggest challenges to concluding agreements is the slowness to respond to negotiation proposals and implement change. This is not due to First Nations, as they have been committed to the negotiations process and have been pushing hard at their respective negotiation tables. Rather, from the Treaty Commission’s perspective, this is mostly due to government departments not being able to get to “yes.”

Even when we have strong political alignment between both the federal and provincial governments – as we do right now – new approaches to the treaty negotiations process often get stuck in prolonged policy reviews. This is analogous to a veto on reconciliation through inertia. While mandates and policies need to be adapted to reflect new innovations in negotiations, this review process must not be used to paralyze reconciliation.

This is not the time for government departments to dig their heels in and try to constitutionally entrench operational positions that limit Indigenous rights. This is a time for the parties in the negotiations process to embrace new ways of engaging and problem solving. This new way is strongly supported by the current political alignment we see between the federal and provincial government.

One of the biggest transformations is the ever-changing legal landscape. The new legal landscape includes both federal and provincial United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) legislation that commits to aligning federal and provincial laws with the declaration. The implementation of UNDRIP is a positive shift away from the antiquated notion that Indigenous Peoples, and their rights and title to their lands, was extinguished. Instead, we are in an era of Indigenous rights recognition.

All of this means Indigenous Nations must have greater control over their lands and resources. There must also be mandates for mechanisms that incorporate Indigenous Nations and Indigenous consent in co-management and co-decision making on their lands.

This year marked a crucial change in the longstanding taxation policy whereby Indigenous Nations were required to give up their tax exemption in a modern treaty. Canada’s changes to s.87 taxation requirements, and expected forthcoming changes in British Columbia’s policies, are a positive indicator that governments want to collaboratively work with Indigenous Nations to create more equitable futures. The BC Treaty Commission commends all those Indigenous leaders who have long advocated for this policy shift, and to both governments for implementation of these changes.

There are several treaty tables that are advancing their negotiations to completion, and will bring many of these changes to reality. These, together with new policy frameworks and an ever-changing legal landscape, are making the treaty negotiations process an incredible opportunity to advance reconciliation.

We must make the most of these opportunities, and the shifting legal and policy landscape, to support Indigenous Nations to become self-governing through treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that, together, we build better, brighter futures for the next generations. Treaty making is one way to ensure this happens.

Hay čxw qə. Thank you. ç

Celeste Haldane, QC, from Musqueam Nation and Metlakatla Nation, Is chief commissioner of the British Columbia Treaty Commission.

NEW APPROACHES TO THE TREATY NEGOTIATIONS PROCESS OFTEN GET STUCK IN PROLONGED POLICY REVIEWS. THIS IS ANALOGOUS TO A VETO ON RECONCILIATION THROUGH INERTIA

Places of change

Creating the space for Reconcilia[c]tion

Kławum’ PaŧKi (Beverley O’Neil)

This couple, wearing vests and bucket hats that cover gray hair, have a camera in hand. They look like tourists – confused, spinning around, squinting in Vancouver’s gastown, and i’m certain they’re looking for the statue of the fellow accredited with founding the neighbourhood.

instead, amongst red cobblestones, there’s an asphalt circle where his statue once stood. about 10 metres away, an orange corrugated sign reads, “Maple Tree Square,” along with a recognition that the city sits on the territory of the xwməθkwəyəm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlílwəta?l (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. The sign says the statue came down in a community protest in February 2022. no name is mentioned. i want to tell these tourists the truth about the statue’s removal; that it reminded indigenous peoples that an ancestor, a 12-year-old Skwxwú7mesh woman called kwa7xiliya, was taken as the wife of this 40-year-old man after his first wife died (her aunt). i want to tell them that he paid people to disclose her location every time this girl ran away. he bought her. But i didn’t tell them. Visitor information excludes much of Canada’s dark history, and the truth of Canada’s tragic relationship with First nations.

This country hides its dark history. For decades Canada was marketed as “pristine” and “untouched by man.” Settlers were lured to Canada with promises of free land in an uninhabited place. The truth is, this place was managed to be this way – wide open and resource abundant – since the beginning of time by our ancestors. every place had a name given by the First nation caretaker, granted by the Creator. Replacing the First nation place name with a settler name erases the First nation. Today the borders that separate Canada from the u.S. also dissect the haida in the north and the Coast Salish, Silyx and ktunaxa to the south from their ancestors and lands. These are not First nations boundaries.

Truth is part of reconciliation. it’s essential to recognize these places as being First nation lands. place names and land acknowledgments are early-stage reconciliation actions. These actions express gratitude to First nations and demonstrate respect now, respect for the past and future and an interest in being an ally. acknowledgments also say, “i see you.” This is an important message when these lands were colonized based on the doctrine of discovery. The national assembly of First nations wrote in 2018: “how is it possible that any pope, king or Queen, or explorers from europe could ‘discover’ lands in the new World if indigenous peoples were already occupying such lands, according to our own laws and legal orders?” archaeological evidence supports First nations’ assertions that we have always been here. drive from Vancouver to Calgary and you’ll pass through at least five countries. each is a First nation that has its own language, culture, laws, justice, science, health and ceremony, like the characteristics that distinguish the five countries that cover a similar distance

The Vancouver Art Gallery plaza area is one of two prominent public plazas in the city to have been renamed • Chung Chow

between Amsterdam to Florence. In the early 1990s, the Cranbrook Daily Townsman reported that a regional district meeting discussed adding Ktunaxa place names to highway signs. “Why would we do that? Then they’d [Ktunaxa Nation] think they owned it,” someone said. On Oct. 3, 2022, the City of Fernie revealed the welcome sign design with the Ktunaxa place name at the bottom corner.

This place has come a long way since the 1990s. In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Sea-toSky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler erected 27 Squamish-language signs. Since, Tsilhqot’in names were adopted for mountains, lakes and a river. The shíshálh traditional names of ts'ukw'um and skelhp are returned to their lands in the Sunshine Coast area.

Art is another way of recognition. Indigenous art murals throughout the Lower Mainland give this monotone canvas colour. Overpasses and buildings are adorned with First Nations art, like the brightly coloured pow-wow dancers by Cree artist Jerry Whitehead. Until 2008, visitors to the city’s Stanley Park Brockton Point saw totem poles. Unbeknownst to them, none of these belonged to the local First Nations. Visitors to the park now see three gateway carvings created by an artist from the Musqueam, Squamish or Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, such as Musqueam’s Susan Point.

A plan maps the way to reconciliation.

Leading up to the 2015 National Truth and Reconciliation recommendations, the City of Vancouver proclaimed 2013-14 the Year of Reconciliation, supported by over 30 initiatives overseen by an ongoing relationship with local First Nations, the urban Indigenous community and Indigenous advisory and interdepartmental committees.

Like many municipalities, corporations and educational institutes, there is a commitment to creating opportunities

for indigenous peoples. an example is the creation of indigenous relationship adviser positions, which often require indigenous studies and/ or having indigenous ancestry as prerequisites. But indigenous studies alone don’t offer the experiences or insight necessary for creating needed change, or connections to the indigenous community. The City of Vancouver has ginger gosnell-Myers, a nisga'a-kwakwaka'wakw urban planner, researcher and policy expert, who is also the first indigenous relations manager for the city.

Reconciliation begins with the truth, and the inclusion of indigenous peoples in initiatives from idea to decision, and in ownership. it means hiring people who can share their indigenous experience, not just declare an ethnicity. it means more than rolling out the welcome mat. it means creating a place of reconcilia[c]tion. ç

Kławum’ Paŧki (Beverley O’Neil), is a citizen of the Ktunaxa Nation, writer, journalist, facilitator and Kumtuks (consultant). She’s a leader in Indigenous community economic development, an innovator in Indigenous cultural tourism and agriculture, and a founder of Indigenous Tourism BC. Reconciliation is an oppoRtunity foR all canadians to Renew Relationships, based on a shaRed undeRstanding of ouR histoRies and ouR cultuRes and walk a path togetheR foR a shaRed tomoRRow. to ‘Reconcile’ is to weave a stRongeR and moRe vibRant social fabRic, suppoRted by the unique and diveRse stRengths of canadians and theiR communities ˆ Reconciliation Canada

A street sign near the community centre and administration facilities of the Musqueam Indian Band • MusqueaM

CHILDREN AND THE FUTURE OF RECONCILIATION

How the traditional circle of care was broken, and how to uphold the rights of Indigenous children now

Traditionally, children benefitted from a circle of support, where aunties, uncles, cousins and extended family worked together to

support young future leaders • PETER GARRARD BECK/GETTY IMAGES

KYLEE SWIFT, SOFIA VITALIS, AMBER BEDARD, KIM VAN DER WOERD (RECIPROCAL CONSULTING)

Indigenous communities and families thrived for 14,000 years before the arrival of colonizers. Children were deeply valued members of society, recognized as individuals who make their own decisions, and were encouraged to self-determine their own path forward.

It was understood that children have their own wisdom and knowledge, and that they are future leaders and Elders. Children were celebrated and encouraged to cultivate their unique qualities and strengths, and extended family members played an integral role in supporting this. Raising a child was the responsibility of the entire community.

Indigenous children’s development was marked by ceremony and celebration that ensured children were strong in their identity. Connection to family, community and culture not only helped children understand who they were, but gave children “a sense of dignity, a sense of belonging, right from birth.”

According to a report from the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health: “In too many communities, that knowledge of how to raise whole children has been interrupted by the fallout from residential schools and the lingering effects of colonization. Yet the underlying wisdom still exists, preserved in the memory banks and teachings of our Elders.”

Colonizers in Canada understood that children were the heart and future of Indigenous communities, and as a result, targeted children for assimilation. Indigenous children have been under

ABOVE: Robyn Ward is a board member of the Indigenous technology company Animikii •

SUBMITTED

LEFT: Laranna Scott is the early learning and child care manager with Métis Nation BC • SUBMITTED

direct attack from the Canadian government and churches since the implementation of residential schools, where Canada’s stated goal was to take the Indian out of the child.

This threat to Indigenous children has continued through the 60s Scoop – the mass removal of Indigenous children from their families and their placement into the child welfare system – and the subsequent Millennial Scoop. “Every child has a right to love, a right to feel safe and comforted. For so long that right has been disrupted with Indigenous communities, [which] has caused intergenerational harm in ways we cannot measure,” says Robyn Ward, board member of the Indigenous technology company Animikii.

Genocide and racism continue to lead to the systematic removal of Indigenous children from their families and communities. Today, there are countless reports of social workers mislabelling multigenerational care as neglect, conflating poverty with an unfit home and defining shared caretaking as bad parenting.

Advocates say that Canada’s child welfare system has become the new residential school system where there are more Indigenous children and youth in care today than there were in residential schools. Indigenous children and youth, despite accounting for only 7 per cent of the youth population of Canada, account for 52 per cent of the population in foster care. In 2019, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and the Federal Court validated that the colonial system discriminates against Indigenous children, leading to trauma and harm. Needlessly removing Indigenous children from their families harms not only the family and community, but our future generations as a whole. “What was done broke down that traditional

EVERY CHILD HAS A RIGHT TO LOVE, A RIGHT TO FEEL SAFE AND COMFORTED. FOR SO LONG THAT RIGHT HAS BEEN DISRUPTED WITH INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES, [WHICH] HAS CAUSED INTERGENERATIONAL HARM IN WAYS WE CANNOT MEASURE ˆ Robyn Ward Board member Animikii

circle of support, where aunties, uncles, cousins and extended family all worked together to support the child. All of that was stripped.… All children deserve a circle of support,” says Laranna Scott, early learning and child care manager with Métis Nation BC. “Children are a gift from creator, born to be nurtured, loved and cared for. That’s how they've been traditionally viewed and how I view them today.”

When the Province of BC passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s Act into law in November 2019, as per the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) 94 Calls to Action, this created a framework for a path forward that respects the human rights of Indigenous Peoples, and introduces better transparency and predictability in the work we do together.

The declaration act has a particular focus on ensuring the rights of Indigenous children are upheld. The TRC’s first five Calls to Action call on the provincial and federal governments to commit to reducing children in care, and to developing national standards on apprehension and custody. It is important that we continue to hold our governments and ourselves accountable to these Calls to Action because the overrepresentation of Indigenous children and youth in care has implications not only for social and cultural reconciliation, but institutional and economic reconciliation. Our children are our future – true reconciliation must begin with them. ç

Kylee Swift, Sofia Vitalis, Amber Bedard and Kim van der Woerd are from Reciprocal Consulting Inc. THE REMOVAL OF INDIGENOUS CHILDREN IS NOT AN INDIGENOUS ISSUE, BUT A CANADIAN ONE. HERE ARE SOME WAYS TO START MAKING A DIFFERENCE:

•Indigenous children as a population are growing twice as fast as non-Indigenous children. Invest in Indigenous children and families – every statistic shows that by investing in Indigenous children and families, you will get a return on your investment (Laranna Scott, Métis Nation BC) •Invest and partner with the Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund for ethical, Indigenous-led philanthropy •Hire Indigenous talent, and hire and train students to ensure that Indigenous Peoples have equitable access to jobs, training and education opportunities (Animikii, TRC Call to Action No. 92) •Provide education for your management and staff on the history of Indigenous Peoples, including the history and legacy of colonialism. Include skills-based training on human rights and anti-racism (Animikii) •Learn about what nations are doing to rebuild systems of care for their children •Commit to meaningful, respectful consultation with Indigenous communities to create economic development opportunities (Animikii, TRC Call to Action No. 92) •Read the Indigenous Ally Toolkit, then find local organizations that work with Indigenous children and youth and ask them what resources and contributions they need