Coast Mountain News Thursday, October 8, 2015
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Vol. 31 | No. 20 Thursday, October 8, 2015
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Nuxalk ladies dance 'Ista' underneath the new pole on King Island
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Nations “working together” raise Ista Pole at 20-Year Reunion on King Island BY CAITLIN THOMPSON The sun was shining brightly as the colourful image of the first woman to touch the earth, Ista, was pulled to her intended home on King Island on Monday, September 28. Carved by Peter Snow, who was assisted by Alvin and Lyle Mack, Dale McCreery, Vivian George and Brian James, the Ista pole features a brightly coloured blue face and cedar hat, while the body of the woman is dressed in a traditional black and red blanket.
King Island, known as Nuxalknalus in Nuxalk, is the home of Ista, which was site of an 21-day occupation in 1995. As Nuxalkmc Jacinda Mack describes in her master’s project paper, “Remembering Ista,” the “Stand at Ista” was fraught with emotional, social and political upheaval within the Nuxalk community and the community at large. Interfor’s plans to clearcut the area in 1995 were interrupted by declarations of Nuxalk sovereignty over the territory, which challenged the authority of the Canadian government and the legitimacy of Interfor’s
permits. An alliance was formed between the Forest Action Network and the hereditary system of Nuxalk governance, the House of Smayusta, which exposed an alarming fracture between elected band council members and the hereditary leadership, as well as between individual community members. 17 Nuxalk people were jailed for the actions, and despite more direct action in 1997, Fog Creek was eventually logged as planned. However, reunion organizer Hereditary Chief Deric Snow sees the “Stand
at Ista” as a pivotal moment wherein Nuxalk people experienced a cultural awakening, and both the celebration and the pole were intended to commemorate that aspect of the event. “It was an extremely important event in our Nation’s history - community and spiritually - and we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it,” said Nuxalk Stewardship Director Megan Moody. “Those who focus on the divisions it created are missing the point of the reunion and the Stand(s) at Ista. We need to move forward, focus on the
positives and continue to heal as a community.” King Island is 312 square miles in area and overlaps both Nuxalk and Heiltsuk territory. The island received its English name in 1793 from Captain George Vancouver, who served under Captain James King in his youth. The island is part of land and resource agreements for the Great Bear Rainforest that were successfully negotiated in 2006 between Coastal First Nations leaders and the Province. In December 2009, the Province and Coastal First Nations signed
a Reconciliation Protocol that committed the parties to government to government arrangements and shared decision making. Recent provincial Strategic Land and Resource Planning indicates the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources plans to possibly establish a conservancy on King Island as part of the Proposed 2015 Great Bear Rainforest Order. Under the Park Act conservancies “explicitly recognize the importance of the area to First Nations for social, ceremonial and cultural uses.” SEE 'LEADERS' ON PAGE 3
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