BCYCNA - Feature Series, Lisa Weighton

VICTORIANEWS

A veteran remembersOn the Canadian navy’s centennial, a 100-year-old sailor tells the story of his service.

News, Page A3

Man of honour Thrifty Foods founder Alex Campbell has received another prestigious kudo, this time from the B.C. Business Hall of Fame.

Business, Page A20

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 Proudly serving Esquimalt & Victoria www.vicnews.com

SPECIAL REPORTREBIRTH THROUGH REBURIAL: PART 1

Smoke, fire and ceremony

Centuries old ancestral remains close the dividing line for First Nations

MLisa WeightonSpecial to the News

Mary Anne Thomas’ palms raise toward the canopy of trees. She’s inviting her ancestors to the table – a lavish feast to be sent from this world to the next with fire.

It’s a cold December afternoon and about 30 First Nations people have gathered on the Songhees reserve to pay tribute to one of their own – a young woman dubbed Sleni, unearthed during a sewer relin-ing project along Dallas Road.

The feast table is built like a Jenga game of firewood blocks. A white tablecloth is anchored with heavy plates of fried bread, Mason jars filled with hot tea, bowls of whole crab, smoked salmon, fruit, and glass cups and wooden bowls.

Thomas motions and several people light the crumpled newspa-pers stuffed in the spaces between the stacks of wood.

Thomas, a respected Esquimalt elder, patiently waits for the ances-tors to arrive as grey-black smoke swirls around.

Flames lick at the corners of the table cloth, slowly consuming the feast.

The burning ceremony can take hours, winding down long after dark. Each ceremony is different, but it’s never over until the ances-tors say so.

Sleni, meaning “young woman” died nearly 300 years ago.The community burns food and clothing to nourish her because in

many First Nations cultures ancestors are still very much alive.“They don’t leave us,” said Leslie McGarry, director of cultural and

community relations at the Native Friendship Centre in Victoria.“They don’t go to one of two places like they do in mainstream

society.”Coastal people believe in four parallel universes: the living world,

sea world, sky world and spirit world. All co-exist.“The spirit world comes to us during our potlatches,” McGarry

said. “So when we start a potluck, one of the first things that happens is the elder-women sing mourning songs to acknowledge the people who have passed away ... we welcome them to be with us.” Don Denton/News staff

Leslie McGarry stands next to native artifacts in Thunderbird Park. The totem pole in front of her was carved by her maternal great-grandfather Mungo Martin.PLEASE SEE UNEARTHED REMAINS, A12

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continued from A1While the ancestors provide guidance and rely

on the living for food and clothing, the living rely on the ancestors for forgiveness for their wrongdoings.

The discovery of Sleni’s remains was enough to make the First Nations community mourn as intensely as if she died today.

But some people outside First Nations culture have difficulty understanding why, McGarry said.

“Maybe this person was a button blanket maker, maybe they were a cedar bark weaver, maybe they were a teacher,” she said.

A person’s contribution to village life is acknowledged and laid to rest when they die, McGarry said.

“When those remains are unearthed, it triggers a lot of people emotionally. It’s not only a disruption to their grave site, but a disrespectful disruption to the whole village.”

Once remains are unearthed, protocol demands

burning food and clothing, prayers and a reburial.So with the city’s co-operation, Sleni was reburied

across the street, and the burning ceremony was organized to make amends.

Back at the ceremony, Thomas and Songhees elder Elmer George begin reciting song-like prayers in their language.

George has kind eyes and soft creases that caress his face.

He whispers when he talks, like he’s telling you a secret.

“It’s a prayer asking the creator to look after her from today on,” he explained.

As respected elders and spiritual advisors it’s their job to guide the community to make things right.

“We’re asking forgiveness for having her body disturbed,” George said.

Esquimalt Chief Andy Thomas sits in a front row seat under a thick blanket alongside Songhees Chief Robert Sam.

Other community members sit in canvas camping chairs, their hands stuffed in mittens to ward off the biting cold.

The Mason jars shatter in the inferno’s heat. Tea pours out, sizzling as it evaporates over the fruit and seafood. Serving bowls pop and crackle as black smoke fills the air.

Thomas releases wail-like cries that flutter across the water like a flock of doves released from a cage.

The wind changes and the smoke drifts toward a pile of clothing laid out to be burned after the feast.

Thomas leans in toward George, sharing something she’s learned.

He nods. She turns to face the crowd.“She told me her name is Sarah,” Thomas said.“Sarah is really eager to get those clothes. She

wants to get dressed before she eats.”Smoke clouds around Sarah’s new dress,

complete with accessories.It looks like a ready-to-wear outfit you’d see

hanging in a store window, only it’s flat on the ground.

There’s a handbag, black shoes, hat, even undergarments. There’s also a full suit for her father, clothing for her mother, blankets, hand-made Cowichan sweaters, two more pairs of men’s and women’s shoes, a top hat and jackets.

“Her clothes are all raggy. She’s so thankful for the food and the new clothing. So thankful,” Thomas said, her hands clasped together, shaking them for emphasis.

The clothing burns bright as the fire transports it from the physical to the spirit world.

“I was really sad to see her coming with real raggy clothes,” Thomas said. “She’s set now.”

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What’s next� FRIDAY: A long history of resentment between First Nations and non-First Nations people rises to the surface when remains are unearthed. What are the challenges and where do they come from?

� JUNE 2: Unearthed remains are bringing the City of Victoria and the First Nations community together.

Unearthed remains trigger unique First Nations response

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Proudly serving Esquimalt & Victoria www.vicnews.comFriday, May 28, 2010

No rain on this paradeThe 112th Island Farms Victoria Day Parade draws huge numbers of awestruck onlookers.

News, Page A3

Bike to workAnnual event returns to get commuters out of their cars and onto their bikes.

News, Page A5

Ron Sam stands near burial sites on Songhees First Nation lands in Esquimalt. First Nations’ remains are found throughout Greater Victoria and strict protocol must be followed when they’re uncovered.

Don Denton/News staff


RCultural differences a dividing line

Lisa WeightonSpecial to the News

Ron Sam’s cellphone buzzes away in his jacket pocket as he sits down at the Songhees band office.

Whenever shovels hit the dirt in the Capital Region, the Songhees First Nation councillor in charge of his band’s archeol-ogy and lands portfolio waits for a call.

“They found remains this morning. My phone’s been going off like crazy,” he said, checking the number on his mobile before tucking it back in his jacket pocket.

Builders just uncovered three individual sets of remains on a residential develop-ment off Cadboro Bay road near the Saan-ich-Oak Bay border. Soon after, archeolo-

gists arrive on site to set up sifting screens to sort through all the dirt, rock and bone.

When remains are unearthed, Sam is responsible for overseeing the strict proto-col that follows – an important job because of the strong connection between the liv-ing and the dead in First Nations culture.

“That person is alive to us and we have to put them back together as soon as pos-sible,” he said.

But sometimes, people don’t understand how important it is, or how to do it right, he added.

Sam has to co-operate with the city, developers and property owners to make it happen.

And breakdowns in those relationships in the past have bred resentment. Resent-

ment for blasé developers who plow through rock and bone like they’re the same thing. Resentment about the land that’s been taken from them in the past. Resentment for the threat to an eroding culture.

It’s good work. Satisfying work. But it’s also frustrating, Sam said.

Many developers have archeologists on hand when digging in areas that likely con-tain remains. As soon as remains are found, the B.C. Archeology Branch regulates that all work must stop immediately.

Sam’s uncle and Songhees First Nations Chief, Robert Sam, said some developers blatantly ignore the rules.

PLEASE SEE FIRST NATIONS, A13

Swiftsure could bea slow raceTravis PatersonNews staff

Low pressure weather systems and malignant tides indicate a long day and night for crews sailing this weekend’s Swiftsure International Yacht Race.

But if the wind does come – and it could, said race spokesperson Bob Bentham – speeds could hit upwards of 20 nautical miles per hour (37 km/h).

“It doesn’t mean we can’t get a westerly push. If one of the sys-tems moves inland we could get wind of 20 knots,” he said.

Marine surface analysis shows the low pressure system sitting near the entrance to the Puget Sound and Georgia Straight, sug-gesting lighter winds (5-15 knots).

Nothing will detract from the goal of winning the race, however. All conditions are challenging, par-ticularly the tide, for which Victo-ria waters are known.

Participating boat crews have been asked to pledge to keep it clean, in line with the Clean Regatta Bronze Certification Level from the Sailors for the Sea organization.

“We’re taking a sample of the carbon footprint of crews to tell us how much energy they used to get here and hopefully find ways to have participants reduce their footprint when they return next year,” Bentham said.

Racing begins at Clover Point, 9:50 a.m. Saturday (May 29).

The regatta started in 1930 with six boats and peaked in the mid-1980s with 440 boats. This year, 180 registered.

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VICTORIA NEWS - Friday, May 28, 2010 www.vicnews.com • A13

continued from A1“Developers don’t

like to be held up while they deal with remains. What happens is the instructions given to workers are, ‘if you find anything like that, just rebury it. Don’t say anything,’” he said.

“It’s not very respectful to our ancestors who walked and lived on that land.”

Mike Miller, president of Abstract Developments in Oak Bay, said blasting through bone for financial sake isn’t worth jeopardizing his reputation – even if it means sitting on his hands for weeks, months or years.

“I’ve heard that (other developers) will just keep going. They’ll tell the excavator operator not to worry about it,” he said.

The conflict stems from a breakdown in western versus First Nations priorities, Chief Sam said.

And living life on this border between traditional values and contemporary life is getting increasingly difficult, said Esquimalt First Nation chief Andy Thomas.

“It’s too hard to be an Indian today,” he said, following a ceremony for a 300-year-old ancestor unearthed during a sewer relining project along Dallas Road.

“You have the responsibility (to your culture) on this side,” he said, bending an elbow and upturning one palm at his side.

“And on this (non-First Nations) side, you only have to worry about yourself,” he said, raising the other palm like a scale, demonstrating the balancing act it takes to walk the line between his two worlds.

Balancing traditional and contemporary values is difficult, said Leslie McGarry, with the Victoria Native Friendship Centre.

“It’s frustrating to sit on the fringe and think, ‘I wish I lived in my village 300 years ago. I wish I was back there with direction and focus for the betterment of my community.’”

About 15 years ago, McGarry got a call from the chief of the Nanoose Bay tribe saying 200 sets of remains had been unearthed while developers were building a golf course.

“People don’t seem to get it until they feel it,” she told him. “So if I were you I would bring my people down to Ross Bay Cemetery and have a salmon barbecue on top of Emily Carr’s grave and then watch the fur and feathers fly.”

There’s a sense that First Nations beliefs come second, McGarry said, who is one in a long line of cultural historians.

McGarry spends a lot of time looking back at her people’s history, and said there’s pressure from non-First Nations to simply “get over the past.”

“You don’t get over the past,” she said, referring to everything from colonialism to loss of land.

“Then why do we have Remembrance Day? It’s part of your future, it’s part of your present.”

Remembering is important when it comes to remains, Sam said, because eventually, there will be no more land to develop and no more archaeology sites.

“That’s why we want to mitigate our sites or all we’ll have is a piece of paper” documenting where our ancestors were buried.

Strengthening relationships between First Nations and non-First Nations communities will be one of the biggest challenges in the years ahead, said McGarry.

“You have two completely different world views coming

together to talk about anything from land claims to

the preservation of language. They don’t even see the world in

the same way. How do you get those two sides to come together

and communicate, especially when both sides are so firmly

entrenched in their belief systems?”

[email protected]

First Nations balance traditional and contemporary values

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VICTORIA NEWS - Friday, May 28, 2010 www.vicnews.com • A13

continued from A1“Developers don’t

like to be held up while they deal with remains. What happens is the instructions given to workers are, ‘if you find anything like that, just rebury it. Don’t say anything,’” he said.

“It’s not very respectful to our ancestors who walked and lived on that land.”

Mike Miller, president of Abstract Developments in Oak Bay, said blasting through bone for financial sake isn’t worth jeopardizing his reputation – even if it means sitting on his hands for weeks, months or years.

“I’ve heard that (other developers) will just keep going. They’ll tell the excavator operator not to worry about it,” he said.

The conflict stems from a breakdown in western versus First Nations priorities, Chief Sam said.

And living life on this border between traditional values and contemporary life is getting increasingly difficult, said Esquimalt First Nation chief Andy Thomas.

“It’s too hard to be an Indian today,” he said, following a ceremony for a 300-year-old ancestor unearthed during a sewer relining project along Dallas Road.

“You have the responsibility (to your culture) on this side,” he said, bending an elbow and upturning one palm at his side.

“And on this (non-First Nations) side, you only have to worry about yourself,” he said, raising the other palm like a scale, demonstrating the balancing act it takes to walk the line between his two worlds.

Balancing traditional and contemporary values is difficult, said Leslie McGarry, with the Victoria Native Friendship Centre.

“It’s frustrating to sit on the fringe and think, ‘I wish I lived in my village 300 years ago. I wish I was back there with direction and focus for the betterment of my community.’”

About 15 years ago, McGarry got a call from the chief of the Nanoose Bay tribe saying 200 sets of remains had been unearthed while developers were building a golf course.

“People don’t seem to get it until they feel it,” she told him. “So if I were you I would bring my people down to Ross Bay Cemetery and have a salmon barbecue on top of Emily Carr’s grave and then watch the fur and feathers fly.”

There’s a sense that First Nations beliefs come second, McGarry said, who is one in a long line of cultural historians.

McGarry spends a lot of time looking back at her people’s history, and said there’s pressure from non-First Nations to simply “get over the past.”

“You don’t get over the past,” she said, referring to everything from colonialism to loss of land.

“Then why do we have Remembrance Day? It’s part of your future, it’s part of your present.”

Remembering is important when it comes to remains, Sam said, because eventually, there will be no more land to develop and no more archaeology sites.

“That’s why we want to mitigate our sites or all we’ll have is a piece of paper” documenting where our ancestors were buried.

Strengthening relationships between First Nations and non-First Nations communities will be one of the biggest challenges in the years ahead, said McGarry.

“You have two completely different world views coming

together to talk about anything from land claims to

the preservation of language. They don’t even see the world in

the same way. How do you get those two sides to come together

and communicate, especially when both sides are so firmly

entrenched in their belief systems?”

[email protected]

First Nations balance traditional and contemporary values

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VICTORIA NEWS - Wednesday, June 2, 2010 www.vicnews.com • A3


Blueprint for reconciliation

VCity of Victoria builds new relationship with First Nations

Lisa WeightonSpecial to the News

Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin holds his hands like he’s balancing a tray in front of him.

“Haichka,” he said, a respectful Coast Salish term used to welcome guests.

He’s addressing Songhees First Nation com-munity members and elders after a burning ceremony to show respect for a 300-year-old ancestor who’s remains were disturbed dur-ing a city project.

The respectful greeting has become com-mon practice among local politicians.

But it started with Fortin’s predecessor, Alan Lowe.

“We always started by giving thanks for First Nations allowing us to be on their terri-tory,” Lowe said from his lofty Government Street office.

Lowe was mayor between 1999 and 2008. While he now runs his own architecture business, the First Nations’ community still gives him full credit for drafting the blueprint toward reconciling First Nations and non-First Nations differences.

“It’s all due to Alan Lowe,” said Songhees Chief Robert Sam.

The relationship is continuing to evolve. And while it’s painful for the First Nations’ community when ancestral remains are unearthed, it brings everyone together: the city, developers, First Nations councils, the province and homeowners. And some say, that could just be the platform needed to con-tinue coming together.

When Lowe was first elected, the city had virtually no relationship with the First Nations community.

“I was the first mayor that actually invited the chiefs of both the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations to my office.”

Initially, he thought it could have been tense.

“But they were so excited to be invited because they had never been invited before,” Lowe said.

“It was part of a process where we started to be more co-operative as opposed to having a more antagonistic relationship of the past.”

Lowe said he knows other mayors weren’t successful in trying to build those relation-ships. Perhaps he was successful because he wasn’t white.

“The Chinese were also discriminated

against and I still remember some of my friends that I would meet down in Chinatown, and one (First Nations) guy ... used to tell me, ‘we’re very close to the Chinese community because when no one else would allow us to go to the restaurants, we were welcome in Chinatown.’”

Recently, the city provided almost $10,000 to fund a burning ceremony to reconcile for work crews disturbing a First Nations burial site.

“I think Dean is still following up with what we’ve built up in the past,” Lowe said.

“We got off on a bad foot from initial con-tact,” Fortin said. “It’s not a very proud his-tory of the past 150 years.”

As local governments start repairing those relationships, they can communicate more with First Nation’s on a “chief-to-chief” basis, he said.

“We’ve all gotten into a canoe together,” Fortin said. “We’re starting to paddle and we’re not sure where we’re going, but we’re all going there together.”

At the reburial ceremony on Dallas Road in December, Fortin and city councillors each laid a white rose on the grave marker.

The gesture was enough to make Songhees Coun. Ron Sam well up.

Even though he was crying, making no effort to hide or brush away the tears, a little piece of him seemed to be healing.

“It means something when you see council-lors and a mayor pay their respects like that,” Sam said.

‘We’ve just never had that before.”That sort of action comes from the premise

that we’re on First Nation’s territory, Fortin said.

[email protected]

Sharon Tiffin/News staff

Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin with carvings of the spindle whorls by master carver Butch Dick at City Hall.

Book snaps picture of First Nations’ collectionRarely seen photos from RBC MuseumAndrew FarrisNews staff

It took nine drafts but in the end, it was worth it.

Dan Savard’s book, Images from the Likeness House, will bring to light the Royal B.C. Museum’s huge collection of reference photos of Pacific Northwest First Nations, rarely seen by the public.

The collection has more than 7,500 photos, spanning the late 1850s, when the first photographs of B.C. were ever taken, to the 1920s, when more modern photographic techniques came into use.

Savard hopes the book, his first, will succeed in “getting the photos out for the public.” They can also be used for “an enormous number of practical uses,” from tribal elders learning about their own heritage and land claim suits, to curriculum developers and professional photographers.

The theme of the book is “the interplay between photographic enthusiasts and the First Nations people,” Savard said.

Many of the photographs were taken by Europeans looking for the exotic, who had no knowledge of the cultures they were portraying.

“You have to ask yourself – is this the photographic record that First Peoples would have chosen to leave of themselves?”

The book goes into the mind of a photographer, explaining why one might take a snap, how they would do it at the time, and what it means to us today.

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BCYCNA - Feature Series, Lisa Weighton

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