Seeking his remains+justice for war chief unjustly hanged

[Tsilquot'in Chief Ahan]

Exclusive Report!

News and Comment
by Tehaliwaskenhas - Bob Kennedy ( Onyota'a:ka / Oneida )

Copyright
Turtle Island Native Network
http://www.turtleisland.org

March 1, 2008

Tsilhqotin leaders, including at least five chiefs - hereditary and elected - as well as some community members, travelled to New Westminister, BC for their spiritual reclamation ceremony Friday, combined with a Coast Salish welcome - held more than 140 years after the unjust hanging of the Tsilhqotin war Chief Ahan. . .

*PHOTO: February 29th, 2008, there was an exchange of gifts between Tsilhqotin Chief Ervin Charleyboy and the daughter of Qayqayt First Nation Chief Rhonda Larrabee (New Westminster Indian Band) http://www.turtleisland.org/culture/tsilhqotin081.gif

*PHOTO: Approximately 20 people gathered in the parking lot of the New Westminster Secondary School, to pay tribute to the Tsilhquot'in ancestors, particularly war Chief Ahan who was executed by the Colonial Government in 1865. Here the Tsilhquot'in drum and sing, as nearby local First Nation and school officials watch. . . http://www.turtleisland.org/culture/tsilhqotin082.gif
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Exclusive Report!

Spirit of war Chief Ahan, is guiding the Tsilhquot'in in their modern-day battle with British Columbia . . .

News and Comment
by Tehaliwaskenhas - Bob Kennedy ( Onyota'a:ka / Oneida )

Copyright
Turtle Island Native Network
http://www.turtleisland.org

February 29, 2008

"We'll turn up the heat!"

The Tsilquot'in have issued an Aboriginal Rights warning to British Columbia and Canada. In an exclusive interview with Turtle Island Native Network, Joe Alphonse, Director of Tsilquot'in government services, explained that today marks a critical deadline his people established, following the recent BC Supreme Court "William" decision, that confirmed Tsilquot'in Aboriginal Title of traditional lands.

The Tsilquot'in National Government gave BC until today to start doing business with them based on that legal decision - to consult with them before carrying on business regarding third-party activities on Tsilquot'in lands.

But that has not happened.

The BC government is moving ahead with renewal of tenures, ignoring Tsilquot'in interests.

Alphonse makes the point, as he and Chief Ervin Charleboy are guided by their ancestors - specifically, the six war chiefs, unjustly hanged in the 1800's for defending Tsilquot'in territory.

Today a ceremony in New Westminster, at a site believed to hold the remains of Chief Ahan, illustrates respect for him and the other five chiefs who fought for their rights, but also provides powerful perspective regarding unfinished business today.

"Reconcile and deal with us once and for all - it is time for you to swallow your ego ... come forward and do the right thing," are the words Alphonse uses to explain the Tsilquot'in position.

"There is another force that's out there that's working with us," explained Alphonse as he clearly points to the power of Chief Ahan and the unplanned timing of this reclamation ceremony. "He's making noise again - still fighting".

So you believe the war chiefs' spirits are still with us and making their point, I asked. "Absolutely!" exclaimed Joe Alphonse.

The Tsilquot'in did not plan this.

The possible location of the remains of Chief Ahan, arose as a result of plans to demolish the New Westminster Secondary School, to build a new high school and a middle school on 8th street land - an old cemetary site, never properly decommissioned by the city.

"It's a long overdue ceremony," as the Tsilquot'in bring their hope, prayers and songs to the site to honour their fallen warrior - Chief Ahan.

His burial site may be elsewhere in New Westminster - but nearby and close enough, that today's ceremony will encompass that site too, explained Alphonse.

The Tsilquot'in look toward a formal process of trying to locate the remains, "We will take the necessary steps to get the DNA samples and once we have that confirmed then we will dig up that grave site and we will take his remains and bring his remains home". As for their modern-day battle with BC, Joe Alphonse warns the province, that the Tsilquot'in do not stand alone. There have been talks with many First Nations, the Leadership Council, the Summit and Union of BC Indian Chiefs - all who call for recognition of rights and honourable dealings by the "foreign" governments.

As for their modern-day battle with BC, Joe Alphonse warns the province, that the Tsilquot'in do not stand alone. There have been talks with many First Nations, the Leadership Council, the Summit and Union of BC Indian Chiefs - all who call for recognition of rights and honourable dealings by the "foreign" governments.

Alphonse believes BC has "drawn a line in the sand," by its ongoing actions regarding activities on Tsilquot'in "declared" lands. Declared by the Tsilquot'in and affirmed by the BC Supreme Court in the Tsilhqot'in v. BC case.

The Xeni' Gwetin First Nation challenged the Crown's authority to provide a forest license to a third party within their territory. The court ruled that the First Nation has sufficient evidence to prove title to at least 50 per cent of their Tsilhqot'in territory.

See background below . . .
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Special gathering taking place more than 140 years since the wrongful hanging of war chief, by the Colonial Government . . .

News and Comment
by Tehaliwaskenhas - Bob Kennedy ( Onyota'a:ka / Oneida )
Copyright
Turtle Island Native Network
http://www.turtleisland.org

February 28, 2008

Turtle Island Native Network has learned that there will be a spiritual reclamation ceremony this week in the City of New Westminister, in honour of Tsilquot'in Chief Ahan (Kwutan).

For his part in the killing of members of a road crew, the Tsilhqot'in war Chief was unjustly executed.

His remains may be located in New Westminster, possibly in the former Douglas Road Cemetery or in the vicinity of the former New Westminster Court House.

At Friday's ceremony there will be a representative from the local Quay'qayt First Nation to help officiate.

What has sparked this latest development in the longstanding grievances of the Tsilquot'in?

A New Westminster school project (a new secondary school and a new middle school ) has become the lightning rod for what I believe is an exceptional opportunity, to have true reconciliation for the Tsilquot'in People who lost six war chiefs - hanged for murder, when in fact they were at war to protect their people and territory from white settlers, including some who were using small pox blankets to kill the Tsilquot'in.

The land, location of the current New Westminster High School, and a former cemetary site, is the same place the new schools are planned, and this land might be where the remains of Chief Ahan were buried.

Turtle Island Native Network has confirmed that Tsilquot'in National Chief Ervin Charleyboy and Joseph Alphonse -Tsilquot'in Director of Government Services are scheduled to participate in a ceremony this Friday at the school site. They will be joined by NDP MLAs Charlie Wyse representing Cariboo South, and Chuck Puchmayr of New Westminster, who are pressing the local school board and the BC government to launch a full search of the land for Chief Ahan's remains.

Another possible location of those remains, is where the old courthouse existed in 1865 when Chief Ahan was convicted and hanged. However, the Columbia Skytrain station was built on that site.

There already has been an exhaustive archival search. Now it is hoped that the use of modern science - careful, direct archaeological investigations might lead to a discovery of the human remains. But no-one wants to hold out false hope.

Whether or not the remains are ever located, true reconciliation requires recognition of the past wrong against the Tsilquot'in, and this must be done formally.

Here is the wording of a motion by the NDP opposition in the BC Legislature, "Be it resolved that the BC Legislative Assembly seek a posthumous exoneration from the Federal Government for each of the six Chiefs of the Tsilquot'in hanged as a result of the Chilcotin War of 1864".

An earlier resolution called for a pardon, but the Tsilquot'in said that was unacceptable, because it still suggested their ancestors - the war chiefs, were criminals. They were not.

They were honourable warriors, not murderers. Their action was defensive, against the invasion of Tsilhqot'in territory. They must be exonerated. This is of paramount importance to the Tsilhqotin, and necessary for the credibility of the government's policy of reconciliation with First Nations.

In this new era of reconciliation in British Columbia, it is not too much to ask.

In 1993 a justice inquiry was held to address the injustice of the hangings. Judge Anthony Sarich declared, ". . .that episode of history has left a wound in the body of Chilcotin society. It is time to heal that wound. Since that trial and the hangings occurred before British Columbia joined Confederation, it is appropriate that Victoria grant a posthumous pardon to those chiefs, and I so recommend. I also recommend that a senior official of the Ministry of Attorney General consult with the Ts'ilquot'in Tribal Council so as to research and identify those chiefs and locate their burial ground. I further recommend that, pursuant to the express requests of the present, chiefs, the remains of the former chiefs be reburied at a site chosen by the tribal council and a suitable memorial be erected to their memory. The ministry should finance this project..."

One of the responses of the province to the inquiry's findings was an apology for the hangings of the Tsilhqot'in chiefs. This apology and the dedication of an accompanying monument at the site of the hangings on their anniversary date October 26th in 1999, led to the annual Klatsassin Memorial Day, a holiday and ceremony among the Tsilhqot'in which rotates annually among the Tsilhqot'in communities.

As well, mountains were named in honour of the War Chiefs.

Today's issues between non-natives and the Tsilhqot'in people are tied to the tragic, troubled past relationships, especially as the result of the hanging of six chiefs accused of murdering a road crew in 1864.

Today the Chilcotin War is as fresh in Tsilhqot'in peoples minds as if it happened this century. Its significance is so pronounced that as a subject for cultural stories for youngsters, it is at the top of the list.

The Tsilhqot'in are the modern-day communities of Tlet'inqox, ?Esdilagh, Yunesit'in, Tsi Del Del and Xeni Gwet'in - administered through a system of Chieftainship and the Tsilhqot'in National Government.

The Xeni Gwet'in of course are familiar to us, because of their recent BC Supreme Court victory - when Aboriginal Rights were affirmed and their ownership of most of their traditional territory was confirmed.

The traditional territory of the Tsilhqot'in people is a high plateau stretching 300 kilometres between the Fraser River and Coast Mountains to where the Chilcotin and Chilco Rivers converge.

The Memorial plaque at Quesnel states: 1864 TSILHQOT'IN CHIEFS MEMORIAL "This monument marks the gravesite of five Tsilhqot'in chiefs who were executed under crown authority at Quesnellemouth on October 26th, 1864. Accused of massacring a road-building party, these chiefs were tried, convicted, hanged and buried side by side near this site by the colony of British Columbia. The Tsilhqot'in object to the chiefs being tried as criminals and continue to maintain that this was a territorial dispute between two warring nations. It was Chief LHATSAS?IN who said before he was killed: "WE MEANT WAR, NOT MURDER" This commemorative plaque has been raised to honour those who lost their lives in defence of the territory and the traditional way of life of the Tsilhqot'in and to express the inconsolable grief that has been collectively experienced at the injustice the Tsilhqot'in perceive was done to their chiefs. A sixth chief, Kwutan, was executed in New Westminster in July 1865. This plaque was dedicated with respect to the honour of: Head War Chief LHATSAS?IN Chief BIYIL, Chief TILAGHED, Chief TAQED, Chief CHAYSES."


Because this current situation relates to schools, it is only fitting that this opportunity presented to us all, is about education - a furthering of the education of BC about First Nations.

It's what I like to refer to as a "conspiracy to succeed" - those of us with like minds, who conspire to do the right thing to bring about good results.

Perhaps some day there will be another memorial and plaque - this one honouring Chief Ahan in New Westminster.

Maybe someone will suggest the new secondary school or middle school be named in honour of him and the Tsilhqot'in.

After all, the Tsilhqot'in have already been assured by the New Westminster Board of Education that they will deal with the matter regarding Chief Ahan "in a way that brings honour to the Tsilhqot'in Chief and the Tsilhqot'in First Nation".

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*Thanks to Leya Eguchi for contributing information and photos to Turtle Island Native Network

[Justice for Chief Ahan]

Justice for Chief Ahan
Tsilhqot'in Patience - when does push come to shove . . .

"You want reconciliation. You want a new relationship? Then deal with this issue." Joe Alphonse, Tsilhqot'in Director of Government Services stated in a recent Turtle Island Native Network interview, "It's about respect, recognition, and wanting to be heard. We will continue to fight until we get that."

News and Comment
by Tehaliwaskenhas - Bob Kennedy ( Onyota'a:ka / Oneida )
Copyright
Turtle Island Native Network
http://www.turtleisland.org

June 29, 2008

Already threatened with derailment by a faulty treaty process, Premier Gordon Campbell's plan for reconciliation with First Nations in British Columbia, is about to hit a brick wall - manifested in the person of a guy named Joe Alphonse.

"If they want a fight, they're going to have a fight on their hands. We won't shy away from that," exclaimed the Tsilhqot'in National Government director, no doubt inspired by the fighting spirits of his people's ancestral warriors. That became clear in an interview with Turtle Island Native Network, following his receipt of a research report last week informing the Tsilhqot'in that their war chief Ahan's remains, are not buried on a school site in New Westminster, British Columbia.

Alphonse's anger flows from the frustration he and his people face daily over this issue. When you talk about the six war chiefs that were hung, "that's the core being of the Tsilhqot'in people today," he explained. It's among the first stories Tsilhqot'in children are taught.

"We've been waiting since 1865 to resolve this issue," Alphonse reminds British Columbians, as he threatens to initiate legal action to halt the school project (plans for a new middle school and new high school).

A courtroom is not something that intimidates the Tsilhqot'in - despite the circumstances surrounding a huge historical injustice faced by their ancestors. "Fortunately for us there's no hanging today." An obvious reference by Alphonse to the war chiefs who went to a colonial court expecting justice, but instead were executed as murderers.

It took until 1993 for the "foreign" government of BC to wake up to the many concerns of the *sovereign Tsilhqot'in people. Historical wrongdoing and modern-day systemic racism led to the Cariboo-Chilcotin Justice Inquiry. It's findings emphasized the need for immediate action to heal the wounds of the past. One of the provincial responses was the Attorney General's apology for the hangings of the chiefs. But here we are fifteen years later, and key recommendations continue to gather dust.

The Inquiry recommended a posthumous pardon for the chiefs. BC conceded they were warriors, not murderers. There has been no pardon! The Inquiry said the provincial government should ensure resources are not stripped from Tsilhqot'in traditional lands while land claims remain unresolved. As we know, this recommendation has not been implemented. The Inquiry said the province must work with the Tsilhqot'in to find all the remains of the war chiefs and make sure they are repatriated. It was only in February of this year that Chief Ahan's remains became of concern to the province, because of the 'capital project' and the likelihood bodies are buried beneath the current school, site of a previous cemetary.

Several months later, provincial officials are intent on moving ahead with the school project, bolstered by a report that according to them leaves little doubt Chief Ahan's bones are not buried in their school-ground.

They explained there is no conclusive documentation to provide the definitive burial location for Tsilhqot’in Chief Ahan. The research report noted that the New Westminster Public Cemetery (Douglas Road Cemetery) could not by law allow the burial of Chief Ahan within its boundaries. Meanwhile, the Colonial Gaol was required by law to bury all executed prisoners within the walls of prison grounds. Officials conclude that it is highly likely that the remains of Tsilhqot’in Chief Ahan were interred at the Colonial Gaol site. ( Today, this site includes a portion of 668 Carnarvon Street and part of the Clarkson Street right-of-way. ) One explanation for the whereabouts of the chief's remains - It is possible that the remains were found, and then re-interred on the site in 1899.

Will the project move forward now? Not if Joe Alphonse has his way. "We saw the full report, their findings - it's based on nothing". The report "dismissed our concerns," said Alphonse who challenges the research and the methodology - conclusions he believes are nothing more than speculations based on today's interpretations of the government policy of the 1800's, and a few news clippings. "There's no actual proof whatsoever. As far as we're concerned we have not been convinced that the body is not at that location, and we have to presume the body is at that location."

Fuelling the fire of their hopes that the chief's remains are at the school site, is New Westminster MLA Chuck Puchmayr - a New Democrat who has been championing on behalf of the First Nation. According to Alphonse, Puchmayr's NDP is the only friend of the Tsilhqot'in in Victoria.

Perhaps, but you have to wonder why the NDP during their days of governance, didn't respect the Tsilhqot'in enough to implement the Justice Inquiry recommendations. Why now?

The Minister of Education's recent comment that there's already been enough delay on the school project, made matters worse - made her appear to be annoyed. "At what? a bunch of Indians? I think we've been very patient," said Alphonse. His belief is that the Ministry of Education and New Westminster School District are desperate. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but are we going to cave in to pressure? No we're not. We've been shuffled off since 1865."

Meanwhile, in New Westminster youngsters are being educated inside a dangerous old building. It most likely would not withstand an earthquake. But beneath the kids, their desks, books and pencils may lie the long-lost human remains of a First Nations hero.

For some this is about building a school. For others it represents an opportunity to build a foundation for reconciliation with the Tsilhqot'in.

For Joe Alphonse, the capital project is a mirror that reflects today's BC - an example of the stark realities facing First Nations as they continue to seek justice, in a world dictated by non-aboriginal laws, politics, cultural misunderstandings, and an apparent attitude of get-over-it or get out of the way.

For British Columbians who want to succeed in their reconciliation, there needs to be ongoing education - a greater comprehension of First Nations interests and perspectives. After all, "Success Through Education" is the New Westminster School District's motto.

It seems to me there are lessons to be learned by all of us - the need for a new school, and a new school of thought on how to work with First Nations.

Someone once said that if we heed it, history can be the teacher.


* ( NOTE FROM THE TURTLE ISLAND NATIVE NETWORK EDITOR: Context is so very important in understanding today's conflicts with First Nations. Tsilhqot'in people have never signed away any rights or anything in any treaty. To this day their children learn of the invasion of their territory and how their war chiefs defended their rights, lands and and territory against the invaders. Among the newcomers to their land were those who brought blankets deliberately carrying disease to kill the people. Chief Ahan was tricked into going to trial in New Westminster where he was executed. His body was buried somewhere in that "foreign" land called Canada. This concept of foreign is not to be taken lightly, and to the Tsilhqot'in people is no different than if their leaders had been hanged in the U.S. or other far away land. For BC or Canada to take their concerns lightly is an infringement on their rights as First Nations people. )
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Previously reported on this subject . . .
http://www.turtleisland.org/discussion/ ... =9063#9063