A Vindication: Mythical and Real
by Sharon Skolnick

Canada - In what the New York Times called "a bold act of judicial activism," Canada's Supreme Court has accepted the oral history of the Gitxsan tribe [Kispiox, British Columbia, Canada] as evidence to settle claims on more than 22,000 square miles of northwestern British Columbia. This ruling may redefine how Canada deals with native people nationwide.

Ancient Gitxsan tales tell of great birds leading the people to new settlement as the glaciers receded. An enraged giant grizzly destroyed the founding village of Temlaham by thrashing in the river and sending up a huge foaming wave that swept everything away. Geologists and botanists hired by the Gitxsan found evidence in deep-drilled core samples of a monumental mud slide that leveled the area about 3500 years ago, within the Gitxsan habitation time frame.

"Something has to be done to put things back in balance," said Canadian Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart in response to the ruling.

Earth's First InterTribal Park

The Sinkyone coastal wilderness, a rugged area south of Cape Mendocino has supported great cultural and biological diversity for over 8,000 years.

In recent years, the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council [ITSWC, 1190 N. State St. #333, Ukiah, CA 95482. (707) 463-6745] has planted redwoods, restored salmon habitat, removed logging roads and restored cultural resources. In an action hailed by environmentalists and opposed by the timber industry, the Council - made up of eleven federally-recognized American Indian groups in Mendocino County - has acquired ownership of the Sinkyone.

The Trust for Public Land Regional Director Ted Harrison says the TPL sold the land to the ITSWC to "ensure long-term conservation stewardship … and serve as an historically important social justice achievement."

The 3,900 acres of rugged cliffs and redwood groves will return to the descendants of its original inhabitants. After ITSWC supporters raised more than $100,000, the balance of the $1.4 million needed for the purchase was donated by the Lannan Foundation.

The Council includes nine bands of the Pomo tribe and the Yurok and Hoopa tribes. The groups, forcibly removed from the area 150 years ago, have agreed to develop the history and artifact-laden parcel as an intertribal park, where native people will practice traditional ways while protecting the fragile, over-logged ecosystem from further destruction by reinstating traditional land management practices.

"The Council envisions a park based on 10,000-year old native traditions in which humans are seen as an asset to the ecosystem, not as a threat," stated ITSWC Chair Priscilla Hunter, pointing out that "indigenous people worldwide are watching developments here."

Now that the InterTribal Park is a reality, a trail network providing limited public access to the area is planned, as well as a series of California Indian-led eco-tours that will offer visitors a rare chance to experience indigenous perspectives on Indian land.