March 6, 2014 Now that the celebration is all over and the Chilcotin Nation are claiming victory over New Prosperity Mine, Nobody is a winner and we all went backwards. Its not over yet. Look at all the employment that this mine would have created and our young people would have benefited from this mine. Our young people need a future, we need a better life for them. Over the course of the mine hearings, I heard the leader say that we will lose our culture if the mine goes in. Cmon grab a brain! You can work in a mine and still keep your culture. The only time you practice your culture is when you hold culture camps and get paid for it. Our Elders never got paid for these kinds of activities, they did it on their own and they never got paid from their bands. You need to thank all your mining activist buddies for doing all the talking for you, like Amnesty International, Council for Canadians, Mining Watch Canada, Sierra Club, Fish Lake Alliance, Friends of Nemiah. J.P. LaPlante does not know everything about mining; he is just an activist and gets paid big money. And Sage Birchwater is just using you guys, when this is all over he will write a book on this and put little blurbs in the book from the chiefs much like he did when he wrote the book called (Chiwid). What I am writing might not sit with some of you, but this is mild compared to what I could say to you face to face. How do you think I felt for the last three years since I started supporting the New Prosperity Mine? I was ostracized from my own Nation, some of my own family wont even talk to me and I led this Nation for twenty years. But thank God for the wonderful people in Williams Lake who welcomed me with open arms and I thank them for that. I also want to thank the few friends that I have from my own people and most of the Elders. Its embarrassing to hear some of you say that the white men are ruining our country. Look at Redstone reserve and the garbage across the creek on both sides of the one Kilometer road and the top side of the highway is starting to look like a garbage dump. Its been brought to the Chief and Council before but they dont care, so before you start accusing the white man of ruining your country, look at your back yard. Its embarrassing. I talk to one of the Elders in our community and he told me that his water is frozen, and that he was without water for two weeks. I know that Elder, hes my brother. The maintenance man knows about it and some of the council knew that and you have the gaul to say you respect the elders. Im an Elder and I dont get any respect from you guys. I get more respect from non native people in Williams Lake. I think you Chiefs have to get your heads out of the sand and start looking at the future of our younger generation. That is all I have to say. I have spoken. Sincerely Ervin Charleyboy Former Chief of the Alexis Creek Band & Former Tribal Chief of the Chilcotin Nation
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 06:25:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015