Tag Archives: Nishga Declaration 1980

Gitksan-Carrier (Wet’suwet’en) Declaration, 1977

01 Thursday Jan 2015

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Since time immemorial, we. The Gitksan and Carrier People of Kitwanga, Kitseguecla, Gitanmaax, Sikadoak, Kispiox, Hagwilget and Moricetown, have exercised Sovereignty over our land. We have used and conserved the resources of our land with care and respect. We have governed ourselves. We have governed the land, the waters, the fish and the animals. This is written on our totem poles. It is recounted in our songs and dances. It is present in our language and in our spiritual beliefs. Our Sovereignty is our Culture.

Our Aboriginal Rights and Title to this Land have never been extinguished by treaty or by any agreement with the Crown. Gitksan and Carrier Sovereignty continue within these tribal areas.

We have suffered many injustices. In the past, the development schemes of public and private enterprise have seriously altered Indian life and culture. These developments have not included, in any meaningful way, our hopes, aspirations and needs.

The future must be different. The way of life of our people must be recognized, protected and fostered by the Governments of Canada and the Laws of Canada. Only then will we be able to participate fully in Canadian society.

We, the Gitksan and Carrier People, will continue to exercise our Sovereignty in the areas of Education, Social and Economic Development, Land Use and Conservation, Local and Regional Government.

We have waited one hundred years. We have been patient. Through serious negotiation, the basis for a meaningful and dignified relationship between the Gitksan and Carrier People and the Governments of Canada and of British Columbia will be determined. These negotiations require mutual and positive participation by the Federal Government and the Provincial Government.

Today, the Governments of Canada and British Columbia undertake a bold new journey to negotiate with the Gitksan and Carrier People. During this journey, we will fulfill the hopes and aspirations of our ancestors and the needs of future generations.

Let us begin negotiations.

Recognize our Sovereignty, recognize our rights, so that we may fully recognize yours.

Kispiox

November 7, 1977

Note: since this Declaration it has become usual to use the name “Wet’suwet’en” instead of “Carrier” in the case of the houses which allied with the Gitxsan in the Delgamuukw / Gisdayway court action.Gitxsan-Carrier Declaration

Carrier Sekani Declaration, 1982

01 Thursday Jan 2015

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Carrier Sekani Declaration and Claim, 1982

April 15th, 1982

Whereas we of the Carrier and Sekani Tribes have been, since time immemorial, the original owners, occupants and users of the north central part of what is now called the province of British Columbia and more specifically that area of the said province outlined in red contained in the map attached hereto as schedule “A” [herein referred to as “the said lands”].

And whereas in addition to the original ownership, occupancy and use, we have exercised jurisdiction as a sovereign people over the said lands since time immemorial,

And whereas this original ownership, occupancy and use, and jurisdiction by our people over the said lands has never been surrendered by our people through conquest, treaty or any other legal means to the British Crown or to its colonial governments or to the Crown in right of the province of British Columbia or to the Crown in right of Canada or to any other government,

And whereas this original ownership, occupancy and use by our people, and jurisdiction over the said lands has never been superseded by law,

And whereas much of the said lands is, without our consent, now occupied and its resources used by peoples not indigenous to our lands,

And whereas such occupation and use by non indigenous people to the said lands is without compensation to our people,

We, the representatives of the Carrier and Sekani Tribes hereby declare and assert our continued original ownership, occupancy and use of, and jurisdiction over the said lands and all its resources,

And we further declare and assert the continued existence of those rights which flow from our original ownership, occupancy and use of, and the jurisdiction of the said lands and all its resources,

And further we hereby demand of the governments of Canada and British Columbia compensation for their past, present and proposed use and occupancy of our lands and all its resources.

Executive of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council

Nishga Declaration 1980

29 Monday Dec 2014

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Nishga Chief Gideon Minesque, c. 1915

Nishga Chief Gideon Minesque, c. 1915

The Nishga People is a distinct and unique society within the many faceted cultural mosaic that is Canada. The issue is whether the Nishga element within this mosaic will be allowed to face the ‘difficulties,’ will be allowed to become full participants contributing in a positive way to the well-being of the Naas Valley in particular and the country in general. The positive aspect of this participation, we feel, must be through self-determination, self-determination that is dependent on the shared and mutual responsibility of governments and Nishga People.

If Canadian Society and Nishga Society of which it is a part, is to be truly free, we as a distinct people and as citizens, must be allowed to face the difficulties and find the answers, answers that can only be found by determining our own social, economic and political participation in Canadian life. Governments, both Federal and Provincial, must be persuaded that Nishga self-determination is the path that will lead to a fuller and richer life for Nishga People and all Canadians.

We, as Nishgas, are living in a world where dynamic initiatives must be taken to achieve self-determination especially in respect to the natural resources of the Naas Valley, in order to control our own process of development within the larger Canadian society and to make decisions that affect our lives and the lives of our children. We realize that our struggle for self-determination will be a difficult one, but we refuse to believe that it is vain, if governments and the Nishga People agree to their mutual responsibility for that growth and development. Nishga self-determination of resource development within the Naas Valley is the economic base that will allow for self-determination of the other aspects of modern 20th Century society that makes up this Canada of ours.

In 1969, Nishga Tribal Council agreed in principle with the “statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy,” in the face of strong opposition from other Native Peoples across the nation. That agreed principle was incorporated in the policy statement: “true equality presupposes that the Indian people have the right to full and equal participation in the cultural, social, economic and political life of Canada.” Such an agreement in principle, however, does not necessarily mean the acceptance of the steps to implement as suggested by the 1969 Policy Statement. Co-existent with the NTC agreement of the stated principle is also the NTC agreement with the Hawthorne Report, that “Indians should be regarded as Citizens Plus; in addition to the normal rights and duties of citizenship, Indians possess certain rights as charter members of the Canadian Community.”

Undergirding the whole of the above, is the demand that, as the inhabitants since time immemoriam of the Naas Valley, all plans for resource extraction and “development” must cease until aboriginal title is accepted by the Provincial Government. Also, we, the Nishga People, believe that both the Government of BC and the Government of Canada must be prepared to negotiate with the Nishgas on the basis that we, the Nishgas, are inseparable from our land; that it cannot be bought or sold in exchange for “extinguishing of title.”

Conclusion

What we seek is the right to survive as a People and a Culture. This, we believe, can only be accomplished through free, open-minded and just negotiations with the provincial and federal authorities, negotiations that are based on the understanding that self-determination is the ‘answer’ that government seeks to the ‘difficulties’ as they apply to the Nishga People.

Printed in “Citizens Plus – the Nishga people of the Naas River Valley in Northwestern British Columbia; Nishga Land is not for sale” Revised Edition, April, 1980. Published by the Nishga Tribal Council, New Aiyansh, BC, V0J 1A0, (604) 633 2215. Produced by Hugh McCullum, Project North, 154 Glenrose Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M4T 1K8, (416) 481 3574.