Albert
King:
"We cannot get the native foods as in
the Old Day. Our means of getting these foods are curtailed. We
have to have sufficient land that we may be able to provide
ourselves and our children with food. We are very glad to know
that you are willing to help us obtain more land, and also in the
title of the reserve here. We have a grievance about Mr. Jacobsen
who leased about 20 acres of land right in the centre of the
village here and agreed to pay a stipulated sum of it every year.
He got the land but we have not received a cent of it."
Jim Pollard:
"We understand you represent the
Government and consequently we are very pleased at it. We further
understand that you will do what is right by us and also
understand that if we have not enough land, you will recommend to
the Government to let us have more, and that is very satisfactory
to us. Eventually our natural resources will be limited in time.
The wood, and the fish are getting scarce. This means a lot to us.
The old men of the tribe told us to be very careful with our land
and property here, not to give it away or sell it. Some of the
Indians in other places have sold their land and we don't approve
of it."
"The Lord gave us this land and we used this land and we used to eat these fruits which the Lord provided. We would do the same again."
"We want to let you know that the fish is the same as a bank. This is where we derive our income."
Tom Henry:
"Now, all up and down the salt water
there are posts saying that this land belongs to the whiteman who
have bought it from the Government. If I take any sticks from
these places the whiteman will come along and say, ' Leave that
alone, it belongs to me.' I hear that the white man are making a
good deal of money out of the land which formally belonged to the
Indians. If I were to go to USA, England or go on anybody's land
like that I would be put in jail right away. We should like to
know, why our lands have been taken from us in this way. We don't
want to lose any more land than we have already lost."
Captain Schooner:
"I think the government ought to help
us as they have made a lot of money out of the Indians, and it is
the duty of the government to do what they can for us. I don't
know why the government won't pay us for what they have taken. We
used to get lots of berries, but now, when we get berries, the
whiteman put us off the land."
"We are telling you all our troubles. The white people are not doing justice to us. We have lost a lot of land up the river."
