Douglas Treaty

Foraging First Nations class disrupted by police Students ordered to drop knives, sparking protest JUDITH LAVOIE Times Colonist An outdoor class on traditional First Nations practices came to an abrupt end this week after police arrived and told students to drop the knives they were using to forage for roots and plants.    High school students from Lau,Welnew Tribal School were shaken by the incident at Centennial Park in Central Saanich. A Facebook group set up to protest police actions immediately drew almost 2,000 supporters.    However, Central Saanich police defended their response, saying they needed to ensure park users were safe [...]

Chief threatens suit over road Tseycum leader wants money and land for paved-over gravesites on scenic route in North Saanich. It's all about respect, he says. JUDITH LAVOIE Times Colonist The Tseycum First Nation is asking for money and land in exchange for allowing West Saanich Road traffic to continue running unimpeded through the North Saanich reserve.    West Saanich Road was built over Tseycum gravesites and the band hasn't been properly compensated, said Tseycum Chief Vern Jacks.    The band is talking about suing the provincial government, or even digging up the road to rebury ancestors, he said.    Jacks has a [...]

Natives appeal case VICTORIA – Two native men are appealing a precedent-setting decision outlawing pit-lamping – the use of lights to hunt game at night.    Ivan Morris and Carl Olson, of the Saanich First Nation were caught using a flashlight to spot and shoot what turned out to be a decoy deer near Youbou in 1996.    The B.C. Supreme Court rejected an earlier appeal that the 1852 Douglas Treaty allows aboriginals to hunt at night with lights.  Their latest appeal will be heard in the B.C. Court of Appeal. RECENT POSTS How are we doing? Leave [...]

Natives given OK to hunt with lights UNDER DOUGLAS TREATY: B.C. Wildfire Fed outraged; natives say it’s traditional hunting [IMAGE] Ivan Morris (left) and Carol Olsen, the hunters who were charged with hunting with lights at night, discuss their Supreme Court of Canada case with the media at a news conference in Vancouver yesterday afternoon.  SAM LEUNG – THE PROVINCE BY ETHAN BARON STAFF REPORTER    A Vancouver Island native band yesterday won the right to hunt with lights at night, in a 4-3 Supreme Court of Canada decision blasted by B.C.’s hunting lobby.    “I’m outraged,” said Paul Adams, executive-director of [...]

What are your thoughts on the Douglas Treaty? Let us know through this survey by clicking the button below: Survey Transcript ÍY SȻÁĆEL E TIÁ ÁNEȻ W̱EM,LEŚELWET TŦE NE SNÁ ĆSE AȽE SEN EṮ W̱SÁNEĆ My English name is Hannah is, and my W̱ILṈEW̱ SNÁ is W̱EM,LEŚELWET and I'm a direct descendant of the Douglas Treaty. What do you think to hunt & fish meant to our ancestors? I think to hunt and fish for my ancestors was a way of life. It was a way of being, and it was how we took care of our people, [...]

What are your thoughts on the Douglas Treaty? Let us know through this survey by clicking the button below: Survey Transcript ÍY, SȻÁĆEL Joni Olson TŦE NE SNÁ. Tsartlip First Nation is my home community. I am a W̱SÁNEĆ person. My name is Joni Olson. I work at the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council, but hopefully we'll just be answering the questions today, as per who I am as a W̱SÁNEĆ woman. HÍSW̱ḴE What does to hunt and fish as formerly mean to our ancestors? To me it means to care for the environment in which the animals that we [...]

What are your thoughts on the Douglas Treaty? Let us know through this survey by clicking the button below: Survey Transcript ÍY, SȻÁĆEL SIÁM ĆSE ÁȽE S[SNÁ] TŦE NE SNÁ EN EṮ W̱JOȽEȽP] Good day, my name is Joe Seward. I'm Tsartlip council, my traditional name is ŦḴOTEĆTEN and I come from here in the Tsartlip village. Do you think that the Douglas Treaty should have economic rights in a modern context?  I definitely think there should be some sort of benefit or compensation to our people for the loss of land use. Our identity as W̱SÁNEĆ people [...]

What are your thoughts on the Douglas Treaty? Let us know through this survey by clicking the button below: Survey Transcript My name is Verta Elsworth. I am from the W̱JOȽEȽP as Tsartlip, but our First Nations phrase is W̱JOȽEȽP, land of the maples, born and raised here. My traditional name is WILṈEW̱ SNÁ and who am I? I'm a wife of almost 40 years. I have six children and seven grandchildren. What does to hunt and fish as formerly mean to you? When the treaty was signed in 1850, it certainly changed because our land was what [...]

What are your thoughts on the Douglas Treaty? Let us know through this survey by clicking the button below: Survey Transcript My English name is Simon Smith Junior. My W̱ILṈEW̱ name is KwaliKen and I'm from Tsartlip. What do you think to hunt and fish as formerly meant to our ancestors? They were thinking about them at the time, but they were also thinking about the generations to come. They wanted their hunting to be carried on as the way it is, as formerly, but it changes as the years go on. We adapted our hunting practices along [...]

What are your thoughts on the Douglas Treaty? Let us know through this survey by clicking the button below: Survey Transcript My baptism name is Simon Smith Sr. I’m named after my great grandfather LESĆIM who was a hereditary chief of our village, and I carry his name. What do you think to hunt and fish as formerly meant to our ancestors? I guess when we talk about the Douglas Treaty, in the beginning, it wasn't hunting and fishing. It was a peacekeeping treaty because one of the farmers shot one of our children going across his field [...]