Immigrants come to Canada and receive the rights to a normal life while the Sinixt have no legal entitlement to a social insurance number, a medical care card or education for their children.
There was a letter in the Express ("Kootenay or Kootenays? Which is it?" March 19, 2008) wondering if the name of our region is the Kootenays or the West Kootenay.
Calling our region either the Kootenays or the West Kootenay is inaccurate. The original inhabitants--the Sinxt--for at least the last 9,000 years have called their territory Shwan'ix'qa which translates--in colonial lingo--as Upper Columbia River Basin.
The Kutenai Indians did not live here. Kutenai Territory is to the east of us between the Purcell and Rocky Mountain Ranges. The Okanagan Indians did not live here. Okanagan Territory is to the west of us between the Monashees and the Shuswap Highlands.
Why did the colonial machine hang this 'Kootenay' misnomer on the Shwan'ix'qa? Could it have something to do with the fact that the Sinixt are the 'Mother Tribe' of all the Salishan migrations and that a genocidal bounty was put on their heads--man, woman and child?
Could it have something to do with the Sinixt being the only native nation in Canada to be officially declared extinct by a Federal Order in Cabinet? Could this extinction order in 1956 have something to do with the governments of Canada and the USA ratifying the Columbia River Treaty carving up the water and hydroelectric resources of BC?
The Sinixt are not extinct and they continue to receive a bum deal. Immigrants come to Canada and receive the rights to a normal live while the Sinixt have no legal entitlement to a social insurance number, a medical care card or education for their children. It is unconscionable that the Sinixt are denied the legal right to work or access medical care and education on their own land--in the midst of Canadian prosperity.
I will leave further arguments for the court rooms and hopefully the school rooms of all who now enjoy the good life in the Shwan'ix'qa. Suffice to say it is a positive thing to know your real coordinates--both geographically and ethically.
If you can help the Siixt Peoples pass through 'extinction' please
contact: extinct1@telus.net
Prayers, legal assistance and material support of all types are gratefully appreciated.
contact: extinct1@telus.net
Prayers, legal assistance and material support of all types are gratefully appreciated.
Alex Peacemaker is an associate member of the Sinixt Nation Society.Recommend this Post
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