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The article "First Nations in northern B.C. worry Site C will obliterate their heritage" made me think about how modern society treats the traditional owners of our land. We assume that because we have high technology and are more "developed" we do not need to listen to what they want, their ideas, or learn about their history. As shown in the article, all that BC hydro wanted to do was jump all the bureaucratic hurdles and get to the point where they could build their project. They did not care that their was a sacred burial ground there because, with the modern world, who wants to bury their dead in a secret place when they can have a beautiful marble slab engraved with their name and can buried among other dead bodies?
This article made me realize that a lot of the time, we don't care about people's feeling and we like to look at problems as if we are machines of an expanding empire rather than seeing the problems as if we are people.
This is a problem all around the world where traditional owners' wishes are not being respected and sacred sites are not being protected and it needs to change.
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4 Comment(s)
That's a really good point about the conflict between traditional ways of life in an area vs modern way of life - in some cases, the two are directly opposed, such as people who prefer a nomadic lifestyle versus those who choose to subdivide land into private ownership. In a lot of places you simply can't have both at the same time, and you're right in that it's often the case the solution of the larger society is seen as 'correct'.
It's great that you've identified the rights of indigenous people and respect for other cultures as an important issue that needs to be considered. You can continue to think about how we can do that using systems already in place (e.g. legislation which protects the rights of indigenous peoples) , or think about what else you'd like to introduce?
There has always been a historic conflict between our "development" and first nations traditional way of life. To be fair, BC Hydro has conducted a lot of research in the area to evaluate the archaeological identity of this place. The problem is the definition of "culturally valuable" locations or assets which is most probably set by the government. What we can do, is to join the non-violent campaigns that support first nations rights to their lands -not only for burial areas, but also for hunting, farming or fishing- and demand from the government to change their definitions and put more regulations in place for industrial operations in these areas.
Actually I don't believe that this article contains all the information that we need to make a definite opinion. While the article contains lots of information it only contains information for one side of the issue. I believe that this issue will be tell tale in what happens in the future.
I totally agree with that you are stating. We should keep in mind that the First Nations were the first ones on this land and their rights should be acknowledged.
Beth Richardson
Oct 29, 2015