Victory in Canada's high court. This clash between historic Native claims and big business interests is also the root of a heated legal battle over land rights in British Columbia. Natives appealed this rip-off and won a momentous decision from the federal Supreme Court in December 1997. Native title to land and resources is enshrined in the constitution, and Aboriginal oral history will carry equal stature with colonial written history in negotiations and proof of evidence. The ruling also states that where Aboriginal title claims exist, land use plans must be negotiated with the tribes and reimbursement must be paid - with the result that mineral exploration and other development has ground to a halt.
Native youth defend the future.
Nonetheless, the federal and provincial administrations hoped to proceed with further dismantling of sovereignty and were ready to offer huge perquisites to individuals who could ratify agreements in tribes' names. Their strong stand was encouraged by the two dozen women and men from the Native Youth Movement who appealed eloquently to their elders at the summit. The province of 'BC' is not a sovereign nation, and the involvement of the provincial government means treaties being negotiated in the BC Treaty process are not real treaties. To present it otherwise is fraud. Too many of those in the band councils knowingly participate in these deceptions.