Other Press Telereg Extravaganza! September 20, 1993 vlayoquot Blockade Camp Was One Big Boys’ Club one woman's attempt to discover ecotopia marred by new age hippie twits by Alisa Smith (Source: The Martlet, University of Victoria) VICTORIA (CUP) - The first thing that struck us as we entered the common area of the Clayoquot Peace Camp was the rank smell — like a barn. Unwashed people, unwashed dogs treading over straw. We were detained at the gate, our packs straining against our shoulders, as a woman with a vacant look and periodic mental vacuum insisted on “greeting” us to the camp by reciting all the camp rules. She had a few problems remembering them; however, even though they were posted on a huge sign just behind her. All the camp Men’s Movement followers were huddled up on a stage, baring their masculine souls and hairy chests to each other amidst the ineessant bongo drumming — monotonous and madden- ing from four in the morning ‘til way after dark. We were also to dis- cover these men had commandeered control of the peace camp, with their sensitive New Age (militaristic) tactics. Although assured by some of the camp “residents” in the chow line that the communal camp was a model for Utopia, I had other ideas. Welcome, I thought, to hell. As a feminist and an individualist, I was appalled by what I saw. As an environmentalist, I was dismayed. How could I feel so alien- ated amongst all these people who were supposed to be rallying to the same cause, my cause? At a typical nightly consensus circle, there were about 150 people clustered around the central hearth, protected from the ele- ments by a MASH-like awning camouflaged with netting — almost as if they were expecting an aerial bombing by the MacMillan Bloedel planes and choppers that flew overhead daily. The circle was facilitated by some of the Friends of Clayoquot Sound organizers (although by August their presence seemed minimal at the camp, as they seem to have relinquished it to the hippies.) Some of the mandatory circle procedures struck me as bizarre. If you agreed with someone you weren't supposed to speak, but TWIN- KLE (by wiggling your fingers). I’m sorry, but as a dignified person I must refuse such wigglings. There was a talking stick, to indicate who had the floor. Ninety per cent of the time it was one of the Men's Movement boys who nabbed it, as they thought they were extremely interesting and knowl- edgeable. Women haven't been socialized to be such unself-conscious losers in front of large groups. I could not believe the circle lasted way past dusk, when all that was (by mostly men) discussed was the mode of protest for the next day's blockade. The choices were: carrying a charred stick or not carrying a charred stick, carrying a sprig of cedar or not carrying a . sprig of cedar, and standing on the road in a line or in a circle. There was supposed to be symbolism involved. The sprig of cedar question was particularly controversial as some people were philosophically opposed to the idea. Said one man, “After all, once you pick it, it’s really just dead. It would be wrong to hurt the cedar tree so.” A fierce argument ensued about whether pick- ing a sprig really hurt or not. Spiritual Man took advantage of a hiatus in the debate to make a grand speech. “All you have to do,” he said in slow measured tones, ~ “is ASK the cedar tree if it WANTS you to pick the sprig When I ask, the cedar tells me Yes, take it brother. To me, the cedar is sacred. When I pick a sprig, to dry and put into bundles to burn for cleansing smoke, I gently pick it, and sniff it. I put it right to my nose, and sniff deeply. You do this too, and the cedar will tell you to go ahead and pick.” What do you say to a man who insists the cedar told him it was okay? Fortunately, the cedar didn’t tell anyone No, or things could've gotten ugly. About (great white) Spiritual Man: his beliefs were obviously lifted (swiped, appropriated) from Native cultures. But his interest stopped at the burning of (somebody else's) spiritual cedar: him and most others at the camp had no interest in or knowledge of Native issues (ie. the unresolved land claim status of most of the Clayoquot area they are trying to protect). When the Friends of Clayoquot did mention the issue, it re- ceived much less interest than the dream of flying that an acid-burn- out-case hippie woman shared with the enthralled group. But after all, said “Iron Ron” at a Gender Issues Circle, you can’t really concentrate on more than one issue at a time. Environmen- talism, that’s it. (Yup, otherwise your head just might explode if you tried to squeeze in something else, like women’s rights or Native land claims.) That was the topic of the day, feminism (or where to shove it). I have never been privy to such overt misogyny and woman-bashing as I heard that afternoon. My friend Ana joined the circle with some concrete proposals to help include women in the camp's decision making, make them feel more comfortable, and deal with sexism/sexual harassment. However, her modest proposal of a gender alternating speak- ers list to keep men from dominating discussions was seen as high treason by the Movement boys. In typical patriarchal fashion, they had mastered the rules of the consensus game and twisted them to their own selfish ends. While wagging a finger, Wild Man Richard said, “I will block any proposal to start a gender alternating speakers list ... l am a huMAN first.” Blocking is the ultimate No in consensus, where the entire group is prevented from a course of action based on one person’s moral grounds. Iron Ron insisted there were many men being driven away by the “feminist agenda” he claimed dominated the entire camp. I said if there was any kind of feminist agenda at this camp it had sure gone right over my head; and I would've been a lot happier at the camp if I'd seen one. On the other hand, I'd heard of rampant sexual harassment which had caused many women to leave. The overt sexism had driven out many others. I just knew I was itching to get out. Another man, in his 50s, said that feminism was counter-pro- ductive and just resulted in male-bashing. He neglected to acknowl- edge his female-bashing. He said that he and a friend had scratched out the statement about “feminist principles” on the camp pamphlet. woman looked at him in shock, and said she didn’t believe anyone could do that. Inherent in her shock was the discovery that women’s rights had been set back 30 years at the camp. She got up and left the circle. I later heard that she left the camp that very day. Since the 1960s, environmentalism has been jealously guarded by males, causing women to revolt from the movement in the early 70s. The rift still hasn’t healed; men are not willing to share the reins of power. However, these things I did not say. I was tired from the hours of listening to men who would not dream of listening in re- turn; so I went quietly to my tent. Outrageously, shortly after we left the camp the Vancouver Sun printed “Eco-feminists run ‘Peace Camp’ at Clayoquot Sound.” This just goes to show how completely out of touch with reality the main- stream press is. It is true that some of the key organizers are feminists, PROTESTERS PUT ON MASS TRIAL by Dave Clements (Source: The Martlet, University of Victoria) VICTORIA (CUP) — Suits and tie-dyes joined forces Aug. 30 to protest the mass trials of anti-logging activists arrested at Clayoquot Sound. Almost 500 people were arrested in the southwest of Van- couver Island this summer while trying to block the clear-cut log- ging of old-growth rain forests on Native land. The first 52 defendants, including blockade organizer Tzeporah Berman, were greeted by a vigil of drumming and chant- ing after the court adjourned for lunch on their first day. “The trials raise very serious questions about the judicial process,” said William Thomas, spokesperson for the Friends of Clayoquot Sound. The protesters were arrested for trespassing, after the B.C. government won an injunction against interfering with logging in Clayoquot. Many of those arrested on the blockades will be tried en masse, and plans such as the renting of the Newcombe theatre at the Royal B.C. Museum to try approximately 200 at once have environ- mentalists and lawyers concerned. ' “There is a lot of pressure on people to plead guilty,” said Thomas. “One woman said we've already been sentenced — to one month in the Newcombe.” “They need to balance the concern of ‘moving quickly with giving the defense time to adequately prepare,” said defense counsel Glen Orris. “However, I’m not saying that trying so many [people] stops them from being treated as individuals.” After most of the defendants had left, the crowd of about 300 walked through the downtown core, waving banners and chant- ing often-used slogans. Tourists and businesspeople scampered out of the path of the throng. German tourist Gunter Schaub commented: “These are the same problems as Germany... clearcutting is a problem. There should be another way.” The terminus of the journey saw a rally outside the Ministry of Forests, where protest organizers gave brief speeches. Terry Brown, one cf the first arrested at the blockade, criti- cized the B.C. government for spending $1.5 million to set up a publicity office in Brussels. The office was created to combat the international knowledge of B.C’s clearcutting practices, he said. Protesters vowed to continue the fight to save the Sound, and to reform logging practices in the province. “We will stand on the line until the Clayoquot decision is reversed,” said Berman. & but the peace camp has really taken on a life of its own, where women are silenced and demeaned. However, in keeping with its bias of upholding the status quo, the Sun chose to make feminists look overbearing and up- tight. For example, the sarcastic statement: “But even in the en- lightened Peace Camp there is political incorrectness.” Enlightened? Only if you were raised in the Victorian era. And the political incorrectness the Sun referred to was sexual harassment, not merely a coy transgression against an eco- feminist dictatorship. The article also says the camp has “no toler- ance for Paul Watson-type macho environmentalism.” I would have welcomed the blast-em-up style ofWatson, as opposed to the many put-em-down misogynist environmentalists at the Peace Camp. We got a ride from the camp to Nanaimo with Tom, a retired man from Toronto, David, a Harley biker/hand logger from Squamish, and David’s daughter. They had come to be on the blockade, but hadn’t gone to the main camp. They chose to stay distant, as the Peace Camp protesters clearly did not want “others” in their midst. There was a sign on one of the camp convoy vans reading something like “If you look around you and there aren’t enough people like you, maybe it’s time you joined us.” I suppose it was a message to the “outside” world, but when viewed in the context of the camp it was quite disturbing. Anyway, it was nice to have a reality check after the Peace Camp, and remember the diversity of people who support saving the Clayoquot, and sensible logging practices in general. David told me there was good money to be had in hand logging — certainly enough to support a family — but not the kind of money corporations like MacMillan Bloedel are looking for. David told me it was their greed that is ruining the forests. He said his years on a woodlot outside McBride, in the Rockies, were idyllic. “Fresh air, delicious potatoes you could pick right out of the ground, and eggs straight out of the chicken’s ass. What more could you want?” Clearcutting does not promote such a lifestyle, cuz who wants to raise chickens in a clearcut? Camping in the Black Hole, the vast clearcut appropriately chosen as the site of the Peace Camp, was unpleasant enough. It was truly devoid of life. No birds chirped, and I didn’t see any>« Bambis. Just stumps from hill to hill to hill .. . Driving away, every other hill was a clearcut. We could see the soil eroded to rock on the steep slopes. Trees won't quickly return when there’s no dirt. Maybe in a thousand years, when the lichens have eaten away the rock and made new dirt, but not in our lifetimes. We saw mud slides, where logging roads had been built on terrain that was too steep. We saw washouts and blown down trees, and barren streams. Apparently, the hills around Ucluelet have been replanted five times - five times because the trees didn’t take hold. The trees that are replaced are often a thousand years old; so logic says it'll be another thousand years until the forest returns. It’s things like this that break my heart. No picture of a clearcut can prepare you for the sight of such immense devasta- tion. Go out and look! It’ll make you mad, or make you want to cry, or both. When will the clearcutting end, on public land (land os- tensibly owned by you and me), and on unceded, un-treatied, Native land? When will the government listen? These are the reasons I went to the Clayoquot blockade. However, those of us in urban areas have the opportunity to bring pressure to bear on the government, where it belongs. Write more letters, go to urban protests, put up posters. Harcourt is nervous. Make him acknowledge the power of the electorate: you. It’s the people that put him there, and it’s the people that must prevail. & 55 Cl Heo Liets ®7Ro0 Carpenter Derek Vhhlaaary Check itout babe - new seat Covers in rhe back , justtor you! f Oe Kb Under the eee impression that he is The Coo kst Guy n” The Unwerse, Marty stryhes out on He Fak date