First of all we would like to acknowledge Tatau, the Creator, through Manakays, the Great Spirit, for all that he has provided since the beginning of time and still provides today!

Forestry is another big issue that the media has been talking about. Everything from Clayoqout Sound, tribal parks, trips to Europe and forest guardians has all been discussed.

In the past and still today our people have specific areas within their territory to protect. This includes all sacred sites, trees, rivers, streams and wildlife. We as people must take care of our land because it is a part of our obligations to Tatau, the Creator not to any foreign government. We must maintain our obligations to Tatau, the Creator, in order that the forests will provide for us.

After the settlers first arrived they soon realized the amount of timber we had on our land. They noticed the size and the beauty of our mighty trees and decided to take it for themselves and for their own values.

The settlers first started taking our trees with hand saws and axes then slowly moved to more easier and faster ways to destroy our forests. Now they have machines that can destroy forests ten times faster than when they first started such as the chainsaw, highlead towers, grapple yarders, sawmills and pulpmills. Beautiful isn't it?

Logging companies go into our lands without a care about what they do. The only thing on their mind is the money and not the trees, not the plants, not the birds nor the fish or animals. They always say "Forests mean jobs"! What about "Forests sustain life" or "Forests are sacred"!

Whenever a logging company wants to log a place they hire archaeologists to come in and do rubber stamp archaeological surveys and assessments. All this to make their logging plans look good. When logging plans begin our burial sites, sacred sites and traditional sites that are still used by our peoples today are desecrated.

These companies also spray herbicides and pesticides which destroys all our berries that we pick, our plant medicines and other traditional plant foods we eat. These plants are also homes and food to many other forms of life.

The way our land is being handled today is totally opposite to the way it was in the past. Our people are signing into agreements that are called memorandum of understandings or interim agreements with the Canadian and provincial governments that allow logging to continue. They even sign the agreements to be able to help in the destruction of our forests. When our people sign these agreements they are signing our rights and title away.

Our people are even signing agreements with the two foreign governments to establish tribal parks. Indian parks? Internationally parks are known only for forests and animals. Are these governments putting us in the category as animals? Are these governments putting us in the category as savages? People don't live in parks! No where else in the world do you see any one living in parks. Sometimes they include the Indian reserves in these tribal parks. What next? Maybe they'll even place Indian casinos in these tribal parks.

Usually when these tribal parks are established they have something bad attached to it. There is a situation in one area where a native group signed a tripartite agreement with the Canadian and provincial government to establish a major tribal park on their territory. Not to long after it was signed their new tribal park was advertised in most of the newspapers within "BC". After all this advertisement was done nothing was even mentioned about the huge open pit mine that was being started near the new tribal park. Nothing was ever mentioned if the agreement with the tribal park included the new mining operation. Were the people of the local area notified? Were neighbouring native groups informed and that there maybe damages happening to their land because of the mining? Do the people know what the damage will be? Do the people know that the environment will be destroyed?

Also in dealing with forest issues; Mr. Andrew Petter,"BC" minister of forests, travelled to Europe to promote "BC" forest products and the new tribal park they established with the Haisla people. What sort of image does this give to the Europeans about the relationship between natives and the Canadian and "BC" provincial government? It is practically the same type of action that premiere Mike Harcourt did along with George Watts of the Nu-cha-nulth! The provincial government has been pushing tactics like this in order to get the European people to buy their "BC" forests products. The provincial government is trying to protray to the world that everything between themselves and their natives is alright! They want to do this in order to take down the environmental sanctions that were placed on "BC" forest products by Europe.

Now, we have people from a group called "SHARE" pushing for logging on our lands. These are the people that drive around town with the yellow ribbons on their vehicles. These are the people who promote logging! These are the people who promote clearcut logging! Many traditional and environmental people have been harassed and threatened by this group. Their boats are being untied in the middle of the night, their vehicles are being damaged, threatening phone calls at all hours and yards being thrashed. Does Europe know about this?

In one area people from "SHARE" went on to a reserve and vandalized someone's yard. One of the "SHARE" members was caught and arrested. This person who was arrested happened to be a main member of a white supremacist group. Does everybody else know what we are faced with? At one time there was an MLA on tv at a "SHARE" rendevouz gathering promoting clearcut logging. Are we as native people safe? Some of our own people don't realize this and yet they drive around with a yellow ribbon tied to their vehicle.

The latest news that came from the provincial government is the announcement of the FOREST PRACTISE CODE(FPC). There has been no consent for the two foreign governments to log our land and there has been no consent given to allow them to practise the FPC. This idea is totally outrageous while at the same time they only leave a tiny section for aboriginal use.

Logging has threatened the forest life support system since the first settlers had first started cutting our trees. Our winged brothers and sisters are now becoming lost because their nesting homes are vanishing. Different life forms that depend on these forests are slowly becoming extinct. We cannot depend on re-foresting the trees because it will take hundreds of years to build homes suitable for all our brothers and sisters of the forest.

It is disgusting that the Canadian and "BC" government promote and give out timber licences for logging on our land yet they have not established any treaty, agreements or any sort of arrangements properly with our peoples. Especially when their ways of logging are so primitive and barbaric!

We cannot allow this destruction to continue! We must keep our forests to nurture our most valuable resource, our children. We must keep our trees to provide us with oxygen. It would be suicide to deliberately extinguish all of our main oxygen supply.

We have had good responses from our previous articles and we encourage you to keep responding!

We not only speak for ourselves; but also for the birds, trees, animals, fish, sky,....

For the future of our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born....

Way!

SIGNED

Nuximlayc
Hereditary Chief Lawrence Pootlass

Qwatsinas
Hereditary Chief Edward Moody

Slicxwliqw'
Hereditary Chief Charlie Nelson

Qwatsi
Hereditary Chief David Clelliman

Liciw7mutusayc
Hereditary Chief Taylor King

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