PRINCE GEORGE – The Saik’uz First Nation south of Vanderhoof has put the Province and industry on notice today.
“We’re not going to take this anymore. Where people come in and pillage the land and leave it barren and walk out of here. It’s not going to happen.”
Those were the words of the Saik’uz Cheif, Priscilla Mueller, who officially made a declaration as such:
1. The Province must immediately protect areas of high forest biodiversity value as well as moose and ungulate winter ranges within Saik’uz Territory on an interim basis until Saik’uz, the Province of British Columbia (Province), and the other Carrier Sekani First Nations conclude a resource management planning process;
2. Forest licensees and the Province must obtain Saik’uz’s free, prior, and informed consent before proceeding with any forestry (or any other resource development) activities in Saik’uz Territory; and
3. Saik’uz and the Province must immediately co-develop and implement rehabilitation and restoration projects in Saik’uz’s Territory to address the unjustified infringements of our Aboriginal title and rights that have occurred as a result of industrial forestry activities that have proceeded in Saik’uz Territory without Saik’uz consent and against our strenuous objections.
“We are not opposed to sustainable forest and resource management in specific areas of our Territory but the ‘key word’ here is sustainable,” says Mueller. “No more large clear-cuts. No more huge pine plantations. No more government and industry making important long-term land-use and forest management decisions while ignoring our needs and input, and without our consent. The land belongs to us. Our message to government and industry is that starting today, we get the final say about forest management, land use and how things are done in Saik’uz Territory. I strongly suggest that government and industry obtain our consent prior to attempting to proceed with any further resource development in our Territory.”
The First Nation will no now meet with government and industry to get the message across. And if they don’t get that message?
“We have some agreements that we need to be very careful on what our actions are but I can’t stop my members from going out there. Our members are coming and saying ‘We want to see this stop. We want changes.’ We can’t even find a moose. Fifteen years ago, there were plenty of moose. Now, today, you can’t find any moose. So I can’t stop our membership from taking action.”
