Canada’s Oldest First Nation’s Newspaper - Serving Nuu-chah-nulth-aht since 1974 Canadian Publications Mail Product haas^i>sa “ Interesting News” Vol. 31 - No. 2 - January 29, 2004 Sales Agreement No. 40047776
Ha-Shilth-Sa celebrates 30 years By David Wiwchar Manager / Editor & Southern Region Reporter Port Alberni (1973) - After six months of operations, the West Coast District Council of Indian Chiefs needed a method of delivering news and information to their communities upand-down the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island.
On January 24, 1974 a new newspaper appeared in mailboxes up-and-down the west coast of Vancouver Island proclaiming, "Your paper needs a name", and within a few months was given the name "Ha-Shilth-Sa", meaning 'interesting news'. George Watts, who was president of the Council in 1973, met with friend, and Valley Times editor Alan Krasnic to discuss the problem. "He said if I wanted a good political organization it needed a good communications system. He said a newspaper would allow constant communication with our people. At the same time a number of employment programs were coming out, so we applied for a grant and we got it," said Watts, who was also concerned about the way First Nations issues were being reported in the mainstream media. "It was frustrating because no matter what you told the reporters, they never seemed to get the story straight. So our newspaper would make sure our people got the truth," he said. On January 24, 1974 a new newspaper appeared in mailboxes up-and-down the west coast of Vancouver Island proclaiming, "Your paper needs a name", and within a few months was given the name "Ha-Shilth-Sa", meaning 'interesting news'. "Back in those days we only had eight or ten tribal council staff members, and close to half of them were working on the newspaper. But when the paper came out it was everybody's job to lick stamps and mail out the newspaper," said Watts. "I was always excited about it. We always looked forward to the next edition coming out," he said. "The idea was to have this newspaper as
the voice of the west coast people and to keep people informed on what was going on throughout the district," said Jan Broadland, Ha-Shilth-Sa's first editor, who was 24-years old when she started her three-year stint at the newspaper. "We started on a federal grant for people who were out of work. I was just a young thing and knew nothing, and they were so nice to me and I was so grateful to be hired," she said. "It was the best job I ever had in my life because the people were so wonderful and friendly. When the council decided to get away from federal funding I stayed on in a volunteer role. It was a really good time," she said. Three decades later, Jan Broadland still subscribes to the newspaper and enjoys keeping up-to-date on Nuu-chah-nulth issues and events. "I've got every issue of the paper. I save them. I really enjoy the calendars. I think they're wonderful," she said. "It evolved out of our dissatisfaction with mainstream coverage. Our issues never got out. It was clear that we needed our own media outlet," said Richard Watts. "It's a way for our people to know what's going on in the tribal council and in fisheries, forestry, and treaty issues," he said. "By publishing community news, people understand that Ha-Shilth-Sa is their newspaper."
"I think we do have a successful tribal council comparatively speaking. I still think we have to do a lot of things, but we do well when it comes to doing a comparative analysis across Canada, and I base a lot of that success on the newspaper," said George Watts. "To keep people interested in what we were trying to do and get them to take ownership in it, we made sure there was family news, sports, cultural news, and put quite a bit of emphasis on human interest and success stories," said George Watts. "I think, without getting onto a bragging wave, that we do have a successful tribal council comparatively speaking. I still think we have to do a lot of things, but we do well when it comes to doing a comparative analysis across
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NTC meet at Maht Mahs ........................................ Page 3 Treaty Process examined ........................................ Page 3 Ahousaht battles DFO over clam fishery ............. Page 4 Alberni Bulldogs launch mentor program ........... Page 6 Bruce Haddock sentenced to jail ............................Page 9 NEDC Business News ............................................. Page 20
A decade after it was shut down by a Supreme Court decision, the NTC Smokehouse sign lies in tall grass near the closed facility.
NTC Smokehouse decision: Ten Years later By David Wiwchar Southern Region Reporter A decade after the NTC Smokehouse case went to the Supreme Court of Canada, Aboriginal legal scholars are still debating whether the case was a win or a loss. Regardless of the seven-judge panel’s final summation, the case is still referred to as one of the most important Aboriginal rights cases in the history of Canadian law. A huge smokehouse was built on the Hupacasath reserve at River Road and Josephine in Port Alberni in 1985 with a plan to sell smoked, value added First Nations caught salmon. The state-of-the-art NTC Smokehouse officially opened on December 5th, 1985, then on July 24th, 1987, after 18 months in operation, DFO fisheries officers charged the business with multiple counts of selling and purchasing fish not caught under the
authority of a commercial licence, contrary to the BC Fishery Regulations, and with selling and purchasing fish caught under the authority of an Indian food fish licence contrary to the same regulations.
A decade after the NTC Smokehouse case went to the Supreme Court of Canada, Aboriginal legal scholars are still debating whether the case was a win or a loss. On August 19th, 1998, BC Provincial Court Justice MacLeod charged NTC Smokehouse and fined the business $60,000. NTC lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, but the appeal was dismissed by a majority of five of the seven Supreme Court judges. “Technically it was a loss, but it was a victory in that it established a legal test
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If undeliverable, please return to: Ha-Shilth-Sa P.O. Box 1383, Port Alberni, B.C. V9Y 7M2
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ISSN 0715-4143