(This aboriginal rights conference organized by the Native Brotherhood of BC in Vancouver in 1982 is in response to the imminent repatriation of the Canadian constitution by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the subsequent passing of the 1982 Constitution Act. A flurry of activity is unleashed on the Gitxsan territories as chiefs attempt to reinforce negotiations on governance by documenting what they know of their lax yip (land).)
Neil Sterritt, president, Gitxsan-Carrier Tribal Council: You can’t separate aboriginal title, aboriginal rights, land claims from the Constitution. How successful we are when we go together into discussions with the first ministers on the Constitution and the definition will determine how successful we’ll be on land claims and aboriginal rights…
It’s the right to demand cultural recognition. We must have the right to demand that. It’s the right to practice our cultural beliefs. It’s the right to exercise authority and control over our environment within the 22,000 square miles by virtue of those cultural beliefs and the authority that they come from…
It has to be a collision course because that fundamental power, that fundamental ownership, that title, comes from the land and that’s the big difference. That’s why it’s so confusing for the federal government, that’s why they say it’s confusing, they don’t understand what we want. They understand. It’s simple. It’s sovereignty.