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A reflection on the Tu Cho Indigenous water conference,
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On my way to the Tu Cho Indigenous Water Rights Conference I travelled from Edmonton to Yellowknife with Nelson Hart, a United Church Minister from Nelson House. He talked about the big Hydro contract that was in negotiation at the time in his community. The NCN band was proposing to be a partner in the Wuskwatim hydroelectric generating project and the community was to vote on the project.
It was causing great conflict in the community. The band council was accused by some of not representing the best interests of the community. There was a lack of information among band membership of all the details of the agreement. It had not been translated into Cree as promised, so members were being asked to vote on an agreement that they hadn’t read. There were concerns that the financial commitments which the band was taking on in the agreement were not in the best interest of band members, and the long term benefits being discussed were outweighed by the costs to the people and the environment.
The other side dismissed the concerns of long-term impacts, and stressed the financial benefits to the band, the economic development the project brought to the community, and the jobs to address the high unemployment rate. They pointed out the concessions that Hydro had made to respect the environment and cultural issues that had been raised. Nelson shared that he was concerned about the divisiveness the project had caused in his community.
As we flew further north, the expanse of Great Slave Lake was like nothing I had ever seen. It was late afternoon and the sun reflecting off that water was truly beautiful. I later read words from Chief Addie Jonnasson who said, “As a child I can remember that my parents taught me to respect the land and respect the water. I was taught that whenever I was to go out on the lake I was to make an offering. Those are the things that our Elders continue to pass onto our young generations”.
Flying in over Great Slave Lake that day, it was impossible not to stop and thank the Creator for the gift of such a beautiful body of water.
Although Great Slave Lake looked perfect and untouched, as it must have looked when Chief Addie’s ancestors made an offering before going out on the water, we were to learn over the next few days, of course, that it was not. Even in this far northern place, man’s greed and exploitation of creation have contaminated water, left contaminants in the earth, and impacted the lives of those who depend on and care for the environment.
During the Tu Cho Indigenous Water Rights Conference in Yellowknife
from June 21- 23, at the Weledeh River Site, chiefs, elders, environmental
leaders, indigenous leaders, treaty negotiators, Church representatives,
and indigenous youth gathered to talk about sustainable practices
and human rights to water.
The people of “Treaty 8” territory would make a story for the 06-07 KAIROS resource book on water and mining. Elders from the Akaitcho First Nations which make up the Treaty 8 territory attended the conference, and spoke intensely of their history in the area. Prospectors came to their camps and saw that they had gold (in their tents!), and then took credit for discovering gold and starting a white man’s gold rush! As mining developed, the Municipal, Territorial and Federal Governments received tax and royalty revenues so were complicit in allowing corporations to move into Akaitcho territory.
The mines that were created in the 1950’s were given permission to use water, and to divert it into a creek leading into a bay in Great Slave Lake. Gold and diamond mining practices release toxins such as ammonia, sulphur dioxide, mercury, and arsenic into the water and air. In the late 50’s the arsenic released into the air by one such mine, Giant Mine, lay over the snow on Yellowknife Bay, and in the spring all the Aboriginal peoples’domesticated animals died. The arsenic was in the water, and as a result two children died, and an elderly woman.
Today that mine is closed, but it the Aboriginal people who live on the surrounding land are left with its legacy. Two large tailing ponds of arsenic dust remain open and on a windy day the arsenic dust blows into the air. Four inches of arsenic mud lines the bottom of Yellowknife Bay. And there are 16 underground chambers of arsenic, eleven stories deep, buried on the site, equalling 270,000 tons of arsenic. The area is prone to earthquake movement so could release this dust to the atmosphere at any time. The surrounding community has high rates of cancer. The Dene blames this on the toxins in their environment.
The Municipal, Territorial and Federal Governments do not accept
responsibility for clean up of the toxins and environmental damage
and
the corporations are long gone. Recently the Department of Fisheries
has agreed to freeze the arsenic underground, but because it is
the cheapest option, not the most sensible. As the Dene ask –
how long can they maintain the giant freezing system required to
keep the mass frozen? A permanent solution should be found. The
Dene call the project the “giant arsicle”!
There is renewed interest in mining in the Akaitcho Territories, and the Indigenous people want to protect their land and resources this time. The NWT Treaty 8 Tribal Corporation is a coalition of Akaitcho nations that signed a treaty with the Crown in 1900. They talked about this as a peace treaty, not a “surrender” treaty. They want to exert their jurisdiction over their lands, and have created an “interim measures agreement” which will ensure that they are part of any decisions made regarding development in their territory. They want the Government to recognise their right to determine how their land is developed, and for any development to be based on environmental, cultural, spiritual, and economic factors that are relevant to the Dene people.
A couple of young men sit with us over a great traditional meal cooked over an open fire. They are bright, articulate, here with their elders, talking about important issues of treaty rights to water, indigenous jurisdiction to their waters, mining and its impact, watersheds and ecosystems.
The lunch is sponsored by one of the mining companies.
When asked what they will do now that they are done school, the young men reply “work for the mine, I guess”.
Back in Manitoba, after the Water Rights Conference, the band at Nelson House votes narrowly in favor of joining Manitoba Hydro in the project to dam the waters that run by their community.
What we must do, as churches, is stand in solidarity with Indigenous people to ensure that they are in control of the path that is taken on their land – that it is taken with respect and care for the land, and this includes all water, animals, plants, and air. We must recognize and respect the diversity of Indigenous peoples, and that our support is rooted in human rights values, principles and beliefs, including that rights are inalienable, universal and non-discriminatory.
And as churches we must pray for the Treaty 8 Tribal Corporation and communities like Nelson House, as each community makes decisions which are best for their people, as they move into a future that is full of contradictions, compromises, and hope.
-- Debby Coombs is the regional representative for KAIRS: Cambrian-Agassiz (Manitoba, Nunavut, and NW Ontario. She attended the Tu Cho Indigenous Water Conference in June 2006 on behalf of KAIROS.)
Info: www.akaitcho.info/index.html
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