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TUESDAY JULY 3, 2012
Proudly serving Williams Lake and the Cariboo-Chilcotin since 1930
Panel to visit mine site
VOL. 82. No. 53
$1.34 inc. HST
Cut ‘em some slack Greg Sabatino photo
Barrel racer Linda Geensen of 150 Mile House rounds barrel two during Friday morning’s slack performance at the 86th Annual Williams Lake Stampede. For more coverage see Thursday’s Tribune and check www.wltribune.com.
The federal review panel for the New Prosperity mine project will conduct a site visit of the project area this month. A letter to registered parties from panel chair Bill Ross says the visit will include the mine site location, transmission line corridor, access road and the load-out facility near Macalister. The panel will not meet with Taseko Mines Ltd. or any registered parties during the visit due to fairness concerns. A summary of the tour will be posted on the public registry. The panel is inviting registered parties to suggest areas or features that the panel should see during the tour. Suggestions should include a map, if possible. Suggestions should be submitted by July 6. All correspondence received will be considered part of the public record. Questions or comments about the visit or other matters related to the project can be sent to Livain Michaud, panel manager, at newprosperityreview@ceaa-acee.gc.ca or via fax at 613-957-0941.
Petroglyph ownership in dispute
Inside the Tribune NEWS Council raises taxes again.
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SPORTS Tough Mudders conquer.
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COMMUNITY B1 French Immersion settles in. Weather outlook: Sunny with showers today and tomorrow and the next day.
Monica Lamb-Yorski Tribune Staff Writer A recently repatriated petroglyph rock is at the centre of a controversy in the Cariboo Chilcotin. After two years of working with the Museum of Vancouver, the Stswecem’c/Xgat’tem (formerly known as the Canoe Creek Nation) celebrated the rock’s return to the Churn Creek Protected Area on June 13. The rock had been removed from the Crowsbar area on the Fraser River in 1926, first residing in Stanley Park and then at the Museum of Vancouver. On the morning of the repatriation celebration, Tlet’inqox chief Joe Alphonse contacted the Tribune, saying the markings on the rock were Tsilhqot’in. While he applauded the petroglyph’s return, he said his nation would be holding its own ceremony in the near future. Alphonse also complained there was no consultation with his na-
tion by either the Stswecem’c/ Xgat’tem or the Museum of Vancouver over the petroglyph rock’s repatriation. Two weeks later, the Stswecem’c/ Xgat’tem issued a press lease voicing its disappointment. In the release, Stswecem’c/ Xgat’tem chief Hank Adam said it was unfortunate that the Tsilhqot’in National Government (TNG) has challenged the repatriation. “My late grandfather and father lived in Stswecem’c and Stswepe’7eca (Crowsbar) all their lives and there are no accounts of Tsilhqot’in speaking people living in or near the area,” Adam said, adding the Tsilhqot’in never lived in the round pit-homes, which were the traditional winter homes of the Secwepemc people. The Northern Secwepemc te Qelmucw (NStQ) have been trying for more than four years to negotiate a resolution of the boundary with the TNG, Adam said. “The TNG have suggested that
consultation by Stswecem’c/Xgat/ tem should have taken place prior to the rock coming home. TNG felt this was necessary because the petroglyph went through TNG territory. This has been strongly disputed by the Secwepemc, and the Tsilhqot’in continue to refuse to work on an agreement with the NStQ boundary,” the press release stated, adding the TNG refuse to engage in constructive resolution issues between the two nations and are making public statements and asserting territory far beyond their traditional territory. “It appears that the Tsilhqot’in want to attempt to establish a claim to Secwepemc Territory through the media. “This is unfortunate and we certainly hope that they will reconsider the benefit of entering into a constructive relationship.” Alphonse took exception to the statements in the press release and told the Tribune Thursday he was astounded. “I think it’s absolutely disre-
spectful and I’m taken aback,” Alphonse said. “They’re the ones that went through the media announcing the repatriation of the petroglyph rock without notifying us. It’s not just us that they did that too. The Lilooett Nation contacted us and want to have a joint ceremony with us so we’re in contact regarding that.” Regarding the overlap of boundaries, and the discussions between the two parties, Alphonse alleged NStQ has not moved an inch in the four years of meetings. “There’s give and take on both sides. When dealing with those issues, those issues we insist should include community members and elders. What we’re talking about and are most interested in is healing, because in dealing with that, you have to deal with the intertribal warfare that happened and occurred. You have to bury the hatchet,” Alphonse said. See WE Page A3