B.C. establishing more protected areas
Achievement awards filled with talent and success
Polar bear hunter’s traditional life now a political pawn
B.C. establishing more protected areas
By Rudy Kelly
The B.C. government announced an expansion of protected areas in the province last month, which concerns some First Nations groups, worried that it may hinder economic development in their territories.
Hartley Bay, BC
B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner introduced legislation April 17 calling for 41 new protected areas, or conservancies, to be established, along with three new parks. These conservancies comprise about 165,030 hectares – approximately 161,618 hectares of land and 3,412 hectares of marine foreshore.
“I’m concerned that it will impact our ability to move forward on some economic oportunities,” said Robert Hill, of the Gitga’at Nation, on whose asserted territory nine of the proposed conservancies will be established.
Hill, the Chief Councilor of the Gitga’at home community of Hartley Bay, was surprised at the number of conservancies being proposed for Gitga’at territory but acknowledged the area’s environmental significance as it includes Princess Royal Island and the Great Bear Rainforest.
The announcement comes a year after interest groups, including the province and First Nations, signed an agreement to protect the Great Bear Rainforest, which has some of the most spectacular scenery in the world and stretches from Vancouver Island to Alaska. It is also home to hundreds of species, including cougars, wolves, salmon, grizzly bears and the Kermode, or Spirit Bear, a unique subspecies of the black bear, in which one in ten cubs display a recessive white colored coat.
Recently, Minister Penner sought to alleviate First Nations concerns, saying that not all development was going to be disallowed in the new designated areas.
“It excludes commercial logging and mining and large-scale hydroelectric projects,” he said, “But does allow the First Nations to engage in certain low-level or low-impact economic activity, such as fishing activities or tourist activities and local run-of-the-river hydro projects.”
Hill was heartened by Penner’s words and hopes there will be room for flexibility in case opportunities grow beyond what was first anticipated.
“Sometimes what happens is small-scale projects turn into larger ones,” said Hill, noting that “currently, our nation is looking at a major shellfish aquaculture project.”
With the announcement so recent, Hill said the Gitga’at had not yet drawn any concrete conclusions on the ramifications of the conservancies but would be looking further into it and, likely, speaking to the province in depth about it soon.
Gitga’at territory, located about 90 miles southeast of Prince Rupert and 50 miles southwest of Kitamaat, is accessible only by ferry or floatplane. It covers roughly 7,500 square kilometres of land and water.
There are now a total of 65 conservancies in B.C.’s Central Coast and North Coast as 24 were established last year which, according to the environment ministry, gives B.C. the highest percentage of protected land in Canada and one of the highest of any jurisdiction in the world.
Achievement awards filled with talent and success
By Terry Lusty
Edmonton’s Jubilee Auditorium was the Aboriginal center of attention March 16, as the 14th National Aboriginal Achievement Awards honoured 14 of the country’s brightest stars. The high-profile extravaganza, which was featured nation-wide on March 31 on Global Television, is a must for anyone who’s never experienced it as it proved, once again, a mecca that attracted many of Aboriginal country’s “who’s who.”
And, for Alberta and British Columbia residents, the icing on the cake was the fact that five of those province’s finest were recipients.
The finale was amazing.
Leading the pack with the prestigious honour of Lifetime Achievement was Metis Elder and activist Bertha Clark-Jones of Cree ancestry, one of 14 children who grew up advocating for women’s rights. She was instrumental in the founding of such powerhouses as the VANWS (Voice of Alberta Native Women’s Society), did service in the Canadian Air Force and was never afraid to raise her voice as an advocate for the underdog. The lady has always been a strong proponent of Native language retention, customs, history and traditions and was rewarded with a long, standing ovation for her service to her people and community.
Leela Gilday
Emceed by the captivating allure of one of Canada’s most adored Aboriginal actors, Adam Beach (Flags of our Fathers, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee), his role was further complimented by the co-emceeing of Granny and Wind Dancer, puppet creations of the talented comedian DerRic Starlight from Alberta’s Tsuu T’ina First Nation and assisted by Doug Bedard.
Red Power Squad's Conway Kootenay.
Again, too, the audience was treated to some of the nation’s top entertainers in music, song and dance. Showcased this year was the younger crop of rising vocal talent in the persons of Taima, Kinnie Starr and the group Breach of Trust (Marty Ballentyne) as well as the established, traditional vocal styling of veterans such as Fara Palmer, Andrea Menard and Leela Gilday. The crowd was absolutely enthralled by one of the early, opening acts, the feverish high energy and athletic dynamism exhibited by Conway Kootenay’s hip-hop group Red Power Squad. Rounding out the field of entertainment was the song/dance routine of the versatile Tamara Podemski. She was accompanied by the young choral group, Awasisak Nikamowak, from Edmonton’s Prince Charles School that is under the mentorship of educator and recording artist Sheryl Sewepagaham of the renowned group Asani.
Additional recipients included:
• NWT’s Alestine Andre for Culture, Heritage and Spirituality
• B.C’s Hugh Braker for Law and Justice
• AB’s Joane Cardinal-Schubert for Arts
• AB’s Lewis Cardinal for Public Service
• NWT’s Fred Carmichael for Politics
• AB’s Dr. Joe Couture for Health
• B.C.’s Wegadesk Gorup-Paul for Sports
• AB’s James Makokis for Youth
• MB’s Lisa Meeches for Media
• B.C.’s Joe Michel for Education
• ON’s Monica Peters for Technology and Trades
• B.C.’s Jack Poole for Business and Commerce
• B.C.’s Chief David Walkem for Environment
While the foregoing recipients set the bar for many of today’s aspiring leaders and contributors and successes, they were not averse to acknowledging those who set standards for them. Certainly their journeys and achievements were the result of their numerous years of honest efforts, drive, commitment and tenacity. They are rightly recognized for assisting both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in the promotion of living side by side harmoniously while making them a better place to live now and tomorrow.
Polar bear hunter’s traditional life now a political pawn
By Bob Weber
In 26 years of chasing polar bears, Nathaniel Kalluk has never had another hunt like it.
“It was springtime, many years ago,” he begins, running a hand through hair coal black contrasted by one eyebrow white as the predator he stalks.
“We were travelling all night and in the morning we camped. We were tired and went to sleep – until we heard the dogs howling at about 4 a.m.”
Kalluk had staked his dog team downwind of his tent, the side on which bears approach. That way, any bear would have to go through the dogs first and the hunters would have plenty of warning.
But this time, when the dogs woke him, he realized the wind had shifted. When he burst from his tent, right there, “very close,” was a bear. A big one, upwards of three metres long.
The hunters scrambled. Confusion reigned.
“I couldn't find my rifle,” admits Kalluk, a little embarrassed.
Fortunately, the group had left a cache of seal meat outside the tent. The cache was big enough to distract the bear.
“Lucky thing,” says Kalluk, with Inuit understatement.
Finally, one of the hunters found his weapon.
“I saw the bear getting ready to attack. The hunter and the bear looked at each other, and he shot it.
“That was… over-excitement.”
Kalluk, 52, leans back on a chair in his tidy kitchen and smiles at the memory of the lucky cache. But in truth, he feels a bit like that seal meat these days – chewed by forces much more powerful than he.
He fears the hunt that has been his life since 1981 has become a political pawn for southern interests that understand little of its value and importance.
Late last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to add the bears to a list of endangered species, citing concerns that climate change is melting sea ice crucial to the way bears hunt seals.
Whether the bears are currently endangered is disputed.
There are probably 25,000 of them in the circumpolar North, about 15,000 in Canada. Some populations are clearly in trouble. Some seem to show early signs of decline, some are healthy and some seem to be increasing.
But the U.S. move, which would tightly restrict the ability of American sport hunters to bring back skins and trophies from their hunt, unleashed an international blizzard of controversy.
The linking of an iconic species to one of today's most heated political debates continues to generate comment from around the world. Newspapers in Hong Kong, Chicago, Boston, New York and London – as well as many Canadian dailies – have sounded off on the issue, which has even provided fodder for serialized comic strips.
“I don't think it's about polar bears,” sighs Kalluk. “I think it’s about governments.”
Kalluk’s own life is inextricably bound up with the bears. He’s tried the south. At 15, he moved away for school for four years, finishing up in Ottawa.
“That didn't go well,” Kalluk recalls. “Drugs and booze. So I quit school and came back up here, which is much better.”
Seeking a life on the land, he moved to a remote outpost camp, where he met his wife. The two now have four children and are expecting their third grandchild.
He began hunting polar bears, and soon after, started guiding for southern hunters, mostly Americans.
Kalluk runs Nanuk Outfitting and has four guides working for him. He’s already been out on two successful hunts this year and has another 18 tags.
Clients gets a 10-day hunt. They travel by dogsled, watch for bear tracks and stop periodically to scan the horizon. At night, they sleep in a cozy shelter Kalluk has rigged up on the back of a komatik, or sled, on mattresses and caribou skins, wearing traditional caribou clothing made by local women.
“There's nothing to see but ice and bears,” he says. “It’s pure.”
Now is when seal pups are being born in snowy dens on the ice – “just like a little igloo” – and the bears are active and easy to find.
“There's lots of bears. In one day I could see seven bears. I’ve seen sows with three cubs.”
Once a bear is spotted, the hunters begin a chase that can take days. When the hunters get close enough, Kalluk unleashes the dogs, who circle the bear and immobilize it.
Finally, the hunter takes his shot.
For this, each client pays US$27,000, 20 per cent of which goes to Kalluk’s American agent. The rest stays in Resolute. It goes to the guides, the women who sew the parkas and the local Co-op that provides supplies. The meat goes to anyone who wants it.
“It tastes a little like lamb,” says Kalluk, who has a tub full of polar bear haunch frozen outside his storage shed.
Kalluk has clients booked through 2009.
“People call me and say, ‘Nathaniel, if there’s any cancellations, book me in.’ They think it’s the hunt of a lifetime.”
Kalluk also offers muskox and caribou hunts, but neither pay as well and local muskox numbers are declining. He also takes a few non-hunting tourists around in the summer.
Outside of the public sector, polar bear guiding is almost the only game in town.
“We need the polar bears.”
Kalluk understands concerns about global warming. He understands, too, why the image of a struggling polar bear makes such a powerful and persuasive image.
But he doesn’t understand why the debate he sees in the south seems so detached from the reality he sees out his front door.
And he doesn’t understand why Inuit like him should have to pay to salve someone else’s conscience.
“We’re just caught in the middle where the governments are clashing.
“I'm happy. I like life. Why do you want to stop the hunt?”