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The Vancouver Sun
OPINION
FRIDAY, FEBRURARY 9, 1996
C A19
DOUG DONALSON
…a communications officer with the Gitxsan in Hazelton
IIt’s June 9, 1987 and Gitxsan hereditary chief Antgulilibix is on the stand in a courtroom in Smithers. The landmark Delgam Uukw court action, where the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en are battling for ownership, jurisdiction and self-government over 56,000 square kilometres of territory in B.C.’s northwest, is entering its fifth week in B.C. Supreme Court in front of Chief Justice Allan McEachern. Lawyers for the Gitxsan want Antgulilibix to sing an oral history of here house. But the chief justice is refusing, telling the lawyers “this is a trial, not a performance.” Besides, says the judge, “I have a tin ear…so it’s not going to do any good to sing to me…” Eventually the judge relents and the song is sung. But the Gitxsan are left are left with a memorable story repeated often in the years since and an image immortalized in a political cartoon of Antgulilibix working on the chief justice’s ear with a can opener so the song can get through. The “tin ear” becomes an analogy for the inability of the Canadian judicial system to understand the Gitxsan world view.
Fast forward almost nine years to Feb. 1, 1996. The Gitxsan receive a letter from the aboriginal affairs minister, John Cashore, stating B.C. is walking away from treaty negotiations because of lack of progress at the table. Once again the Gitxsan are reminded that after 18 months of treaty negotiations their points are falling on deaf ears.
This time it’s political tin ears and the implications for all residents of B.C. are foreboding.
Those close to Gitxsan treaty negotiations know Cashore’s assertion of lack of progress at the table is a ruse. If anything, it is a lack of mandate for the provincial negotiating team and lack of political will at the cabinet level which has slowed progress. Says Gitxsan chief negotiator Mas Gak (Don Ryan):
“They want to look good in the polls so they can say they’re being tough on Indians. They are using this as another spin to see if they can get a few more points.”...
Gitxsan chiefs decided at a meeting this week to try to lead the NDP back to the negotiating table rather than proceed immediately with litigation. The chiefs have always favored negotiation since their first encounter with Europeans. They will encourage the province to take up an offer from the treaty commission to mediate a solution that brings BC back to the table. If a mediation meeting occurs, the Gitxsan will be sure to bring a new can opener for those tin ears at the table.
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