—— "other press >>> FEATURES continued from page 21 chief and council sit down for negotiations with the BCTC. "It's a colonial system that was never ours, which uses divide and conquer tactics," she says. The B.C. Supreme Court decided in 1997’s Delgamuukw decision that abo- riginal title—ownership of land—can be established with any proof of existence prior to the arrival of European settlers. "The decision confirmed that aboriginal title does exist in British Columbia, that it’s a right to the land itself—not just the right to hunt, fish or gather—and that when dealing with Crown land, the government must consult with and may have to compensate First Nations whose rights may be affected," reads the BCTC Web site. Despite the Court’s_ ruling, Edenshaw says, the BCTC con- sistently approaches treaty negoti- ations with the intent to drastically undermine demands put forward by each individual band, in terms of money, resources and land. Facing the endless resources of the government, chief and council more often than not succumb. As well, Edenshaw feels, any money negotiated in the process— if it makes it past the band office—is often funneled into social and community programs which don’t directly benefit the community. According to Edenshaw, a recent strate- gy the B.C. government has adopted has been to sell traditional Native land before it gets negotiated away. The British Columbia Assets and Lands Corporation (BCAL) is the company the government uses to sell Crown land. In places such as Skwelkwek’welt (Sun Peaks) and Sutikalh (Melvin Creek), tra- ditional land was sold to ski resort developers while negotiations were still unresolved. "BCAL are basically the official bootleg- gers of Native territories for the B.C. government,” says Edenshaw. This unilateral action from the govern- ment served as the impetus for several recent NYM occupations. In spring 2001, the Sun Peaks ski resort in Kamloops was occupied, giving birth to the Secwepemc chapter of the NYM. BCAL itself has also been a target, with both its Victoria and Kamloops offices occupied this summer. Edenshaw justifies NYM actions in the context of the government’s decisions to sell disputed land. "Legally, under their own laws, they’re breaking their own laws. Until these land claim issues are dealt with, they’re going to continue to do this. And there’s a bigger push right now because a lot of the land claims are coming to an end." “They'll use their language, and they'll use their laws and their loopholes to defend it, but it’s just wrong, basically." The B.C. Liberals’ plans to put the treaty process itself up to referendum is also “If we were to go out and block a road in all camouflage, people are going to think [we are] ‘fucking terrorists.’” contested by NYM members. "With the media and the stance of the government and the way that people are in general in B.C., there’s a lot of redneck, racist people out there," says Edenshaw. "And with the referendum, you're giving the power to that racist majority to outvote the minority." Edenshaw feels that the attacks on the U.S. and the subsequent anti-terrorism legislation have radically altered the politi- cal landscape for activist organizations such as NYM. As is now the case with most activist groups, he feels there has been a self-imposed and large-scale abandonment of long-held beliefs. "If we were to go out and block a road in all camouflage, people are going to think ‘fucking terrorists’ [The war on terrorism] changes things in a gigantic way. One of the big things it changes is that instead of [the NYM] being the really good, healthy organisation that we are, helping out the community, they’re gonna now be able to paint a picture why we’re so bad, a defamation campaign. "We have to watch what we write, we have to watch what we say publicly. Basically, they’ve got a lot of leverage on us now, a ton of leverage they shouldn’t have." As the NYM grows and becomes a stronger voice for Native youth, so do their tactics and their focus. Already, estab- lished leaders like NYM member Honey Desjarlais are studying tribal law as a potential means of representing Natives in future negotiations with the Canadian government. But according to Edenshaw, the polit- ical branch of the movement isn’t the only one that’s growing. Aspects of the organization that foster cultural expression among Native youth are also gaining momentum. "[NYM is giving youth] that push for big self-esteem; we’re pushing for young people to do what they want, and to be proud of themselves. "We’ve got people who are film- makers, writers. We’ve got [our own] magazine, and we’ve got tons of independent young filmmakers with cameras running around everywhere now," says Edenshaw. While the hip-hop, the writing and the filmmaking make serious activism enjoyable for youth, Edenshaw maintains that given the serious issues at hand, all work is approached in a political context. "The broader picture," says Edenshaw, "is that there are so many young Native people out there, so many young people are fucked. Why are they fucked? Well, it’s really obvious." "Our people got colonised, raped, murdered, killed. They got raped again, raped again and raped again. It’s really obvious why we would be hurting. So the broader picture is there are now thousands and thousands of kids who are more proud of who they are, whereas they could have been committing suicide. "[First Nations] do have the highest rates of suicide," he says. "We do have the high- est rates of prostitution and drug-use. With Native people, when it comes to statistics on bad things, Native people are the high- est on that. And when it comes to good things, we’re the lowest. So the question is: How are we gonna change that?