Terrace

Voices from North Terrace, BC.

A well-attended session in Terrace produced a wide variety of views - both about spending priorities for the Trust and how the fund should be managed. Community needs identified ranged from education to language and cultural programs, job creation to economic development, treaty negotiations to youth programs. One area where all present agreed support was required was in building the human resource capacity of First Nations communities from within.

Representatives were at the meeting from surrounding Nisga’a, Gitxsan, Tsimshian, Haisla, and Wet’suwet’en territories. The majority of attendees were either elected or hereditary leaders, with a few social service workers and community members also in attendance.

While some communities felt that funding was needed to train people to work in a variety of professions that would support Band operations, others felt that there were already trained people in the communities, but not enough resources to hire them. All agreed that there is a need to motivate community members to explore career opportunities both on and off reserve.

There were a number of discussions around dependency and problems stemming from Indian act mentalities. One attendee gave as an example of his community’s youth programs, which provide youth everything from tuition to rides to lunch money, but excuses are still found and youth success rates are still low. A local chief councilor made a point that if the New Relationship is built on existing DIA systems and mentalities, it cannot be a truly new relationship. He stressed the need to re-think existing systems to find new ways that work.

One in-depth discussion revolved around the need to engage and motivate youth – both to participate in community activities and to actively seek out job opportunities. One speaker pointed out that many young First Nations people in the communities are not aware of their job options, or are easily discouraged by the lack of support available to them. There was support for a program where leader mentorship for youth, particularly since the tradition of aunts and uncles mentoring youth has declined in recent years.

Another discussion ensued about the need to create economic diversity in communities, and structures whereby jobs and industry would stay in and provide maximum benefit to First Nations. Forestry and other industries have provided short term careers for many people, but have not proved sustainable managed by private outside interests. Some participants felt that funds should be used to create economic partnerships and revenue sharing opportunities.

Where many felt that they focus should be on job creation and economic development, others brought forth priorities related to cultural development, including language revival, arts and traditional practices. Some of those present were actively involved in language and cultural programs and expressed concerns about the lack of funding available.

Social programs such as counseling and health services were also identified as a priority by many present, and concerns were addressed regarding the ability of the Trust to reach members living off-reserve. Board Member Dave Porter, who was present at the meeting, clarified that funds were available to urban populations and programs as well as those on-reserve, but that applications still needed to be ‘sponsored’ by a Band.

Others still saw treaty settlement as a top priority. A few people expressed a need to establish self-governance as a first step toward community building. A representative of the Nisga’a Lisims government cautioned that bands and tribal councils should not neglect capacity building or they could be unprepared to assume the many responsibilities of self-governance.

Discussions about managing the fund also produced a wide range of opinions. While many attendees felt that the fund should be invested and allowed to grow, with only interest dispensed, others believed that the better approach would be to spend the money now in order to both address and demonstrate an immediate need. All present agreed on the approach of soliciting future contributions from a variety of partners, be they government, business or non-profit interest groups.

All in all, the Terrace meeting was a dynamic meeting that produced a lively discussion and a variety of viewpoints.