Fortune Minerals Ltd T.FT

Klappan

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Robin is working to qualm the Tahltan reservations and when he does they will see great progress.




For the Record
1910 Declaration of the Tahltan Tribe
We, the undersigned members of the Tahltan tribe, speaking for ourselves, and our entire tribe, hereby
make known to all whom it may concern, that we have heard of the Indian Rights movement among the
Indian tribes of the Coast, and of the southern interior of B.C.. Also we have read the Declaration made
by the chiefs of the southern interior tribes at Spences Bridge on the 16th July last, and we hereby
declare our complete agreement with the demands of same, and with the position taken by the said
chiefs, and their people on all the questions stated in the said Declaration, and we furthermore make
known that it is our desire and intention to join with them in the fight for our mutual rights, and that we will
assist in the furtherance of this object in every way we can, until such time as all these matters of moment
to us are finally settled. We further declare as follows:—
Firstly—We claim the sovereign right to all the country of our tribe—this country of ours which we
have held intact from the encroachments of other tribes, from time immemorial, at the cost of our own
blood. We have done this because our lives depended on our country. We have never treated with them,
nor given them any such title. (We have only very lately learned the B.C. government makes this claim,
and that it has for long considered as its property all the territories of the Indian tribes in B.C.)
Secondly--We desire that a part of our country, consisting of one or more large areas (to be erected
by us),be retained by us for our own use, said lands and all thereon to be acknowledged by the
government as our absolute property. The rest of our tribal land we are willing to relinquish to the B.C.
government for adequate compensation.
Thirdly—We wish it known that a small portion of our lands at the mouth of the Tahltan river, was
set apart a few years ago by Mr. Vowell as an Indian reservation. These few acres are the only
reservation made for our tribe. We may state we never applied for the reservation of this piece of land,
and we had no knowledge why the government set it apart for us, nor do we know exactly yet.
Fourthly---We desire that all questions regarding our lands, hunting, fishing, etc., and every matter
concerning our welfare, be settled by treaty between us and the Dominion and B.C. governments.
Fifthly—We are of the opinion it will be better for ourselves, also better for the governments and all
concerned, if these treaties are made with us at a very early date, so all friction, and misunderstanding
between us and the whites may be avoided, for we hear lately much talk of white settlement in the region,
and the building of railways, etc., in the near future.
Signed at Telegraph Creek, B.C., this eighteenth day of October, nineteen hundred and ten, by
Nanok, Chief of the Tahltans
Nastulta, alias Little Jackson
George Assadza, Kenetl, alias Big Jackson
and eighty other members of the tribe

Resource projects fought by First Nations in B.C.

Globe and Mail UpdatePublished on Saturday, Mar. 27, 2010 4:25PM EDT

Some key resource projects now being fought by first nations in British :

• The Sacred Headwaters, an area about 100 kilometres southeast of Iskut, contains the Mount Klappan coal deposit, one of the world's largest undeveloped stocks of high-quality anthracite coal. The Tahltan band opposes a Fortune Minerals mine there and is also against coal-bed methane extraction throughout the region, proposed by Shell Canada Ltd.
• Several bands west of Williams Lake are trying to block a plan by Taseko Mines Ltd. to develop an open-pit copper and gold mine. The mine would destroy Fish Lake, but the company has promised to build a new lake and stock it with trout.
• The West Moberly Band went to the Supreme Court of B.C. to halt a test mining project, by First Coal Corp., southwest of Chetwynd. The court ruled the government had failed to properly consult and must work with the band on a plan to save endangered caribou that winter near the proposed coal-mine site.

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Gypsy Miles From Nowhere		3/28/2010 9:51:13 PM I would like to comment here regarding one situation that I do know about which is the Tahltan Declaration of 1911 which stated that the Tahltan People never have and never plan to sign any treaty with the Canadian or British Government. To the best of my knowledge there still has never been any form of treaty signed with the Tahltan who are also the people protesting the Klappan projects. One other point that I have noticed is that all these major projects that are in the works involve huge sums of money. I've often heard and seen that many people have their price. When situations like this come to a head, it is obvious to see the people flocking to those areas in search of cash. Unfortunately not everyone is immune to the lure of the dollar. That goes for First Nations, White, Metis, Russians, Americans or anyone else. There is always room for people in positions of power to abuse it. Look to several of our own federal and provincial government officials if you need proof. How can anyone look to a First Nations Chief for example and expect that person to be any less susceptible to the lure of a big payoff; it happens and I've seen it. Then the rest of the band is left holding the bag for the bad decisions and arrangements made by their own leaders. An empty bag at that. Can we say that these people are any worse than ourselves because some of their leaders aren't of the highest calibre? Can we count the prime ministers and presidents on one hand? On two? Or is it more? How do we keep from repeating the tradgedies of the past? How do we keep everyone honest? 0 0 Report Abuse
FN_2010		3/28/2010 4:47:29 PM Canadian history time: Canada re-patriated its constitution (Constitution Act, 1982). That repatriation was supported by Parliament and nine of ten provinces. The only holdout was Quebec. Under the Constitution Act, 1982, section 35(1) recognized the aboriginal and treaty rights. This meant that their pre-existing rights were elevated to constitutional status. First Nations have the treaty or aboriginal right to hunt and fish. The Supreme Court has recognized that for the right to remain in existence, it is only logical that there be animals to hunt and fish to fish. One way to ensure that these animals continue to exist is to ensure that sufficient safeguards are in place for habitat protection. If you can show your project meets will ensure that caribou habitat (for example) is protected, your project can proceed. If your project doesn't take sufficient steps to ensure that caribou habitat is protected, then it gets halted. 3 1 Report Abuse
FN_2010		3/28/2010 4:26:09 PM falenf - what is the point of your comment? If you prove that someone else lived there 30,000 years ago, does that de-legitimize the past 29,000 years of First Nations inhabitants? You want some science, read National Geographic. They recently had an article examining the mitochondrial DNA of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It showed definitively that Indigenous peoples do not come from Asia. They come from here. 2 2 Report Abuse
Mixed Blood		3/28/2010 8:57:36 AM Absolutely environmental safeguards are must.it has been proven that you can mine coal or gold without too much adverse effects on the environment and you can reclaim this land. As those living closest to the areas concern the Indians need to have more than verbal assurances that their enviroment will not be poisoned. Mitigation plans need to be in place and tested to prove they'll work. As far as fish lake, very little fishing has been done there by natives. I used to work at Connie Lake and know the area well ( very beautiful and remote) 9 1 Report Abuse
falanf		3/28/2010 5:08:16 AM What was the name of the people who inhabited the west coast before the First Nations people arrived - and what happened to them/ Or was the land completely empty right up until the current First Nations tribes arrived from somewhere else? This is a serious question - does any expert have a serious, factual answer? 7 4 Report Abuse