Unsettling Canada by Arthur Manuel

Author:Arthur Manuel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Between the Lines
Published: 2015-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

11

Sun Peaks to Geneva

Playgrounds and Fortresses

WHILE WE WERE IMMERSED in the softwood lumber battle abroad, a new ground war was erupting at home, one that would show our people’s courage and commitment, but also lay bare some of their divisions. It crept up on me, but it would lead to a number of Neskonlith Elders and youth, including two of my daughters, going to jail in an agonizing battle to protect our land. This was a painful lesson about how fiercely the Canadian government still fights in its war against our people.

The issue was Nippon Cable’s Sun Peaks development. I had signed the initial protocol when I was first elected, with an expectation of getting some benefits for our people. I had asked that our Secwepemc communities be given the right to supply gravel for the construction. It would have been a lucrative contract for us, and it seemed within the parameters of the protocol that we be given at least a preferential bid. I had pushed forward this idea in meetings with the Sun Peaks management, but finally we learned that we would be deprived of a preferential bid—in fact, we would not get to bid at all. The contract was given, with no call for tenders, to a white contractor. The Sun Peaks management idea of economic development for our people was to offer us space on our own mountain for an arts and craft store, which we knew would be a money-loser. Nothing more.

This financial snub was a minor issue, however. The deal became truly disturbing when we began to realize the extent of the proposed development. Nippon Cable, the company purchasing the Tod Mountain ski hill, was planning more than an upgrade of the tiny facility. When my children were small, it had been little more than a rope tow with a couple of trailers to warm up in between runs. The company now meant to supplant it with an all-season mega-resort, an instant city of condos, hotels, and restaurants on our territory.

All this was taking place in the area we called Skwelkwek’welt, which is part of our Neskonlith Douglas Reserve 1862 and only sixteen kilometres as the crow flies from Neskonlith. In our language, Skwelkwek’welt means alpine region; the area encompasses Tod Mountain, Mount Cahilty, and Mount Morrisey. Skwelkwek’welt also includes the mountain watersheds with McGillivray Lake, Morrisey Lake, Cahilty Lake, Eileen Lake, and all of the systems flowing in and out of these lakes. This area provides us with a variety of plant foods such as roots, berries, plant stalks, mushrooms, and lichens, as well as serving as a home to deer, moose, bear, beaver, lynx, cougar, and wolverine. As one of the last places in our territory where we can still hunt for food, gather medicines, and continue to practice other Secwepemc cultural traditions, it has a special importance to our youth who are learning our traditional ways.

As we looked into the Nippon Cable Sun Peaks master plan, we learned that the proposed resort activities included heli-skiing, cat-skiing, and snowmobiling.

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