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13 July 2011
The Gisaga’as Saga
You will recall the burning of the Gisaga’as Chief ’s administration building by the Git’an’maaxs band acting under the regime of the Indian Act. June 27th, last week, the two parties met in Vancouver after agreeing to a mediation process. They agreed that:
1) The plaintiffs will continue to leave the gate on the road open, not requiring a key, for the purposes of fishing for food, social and ceremonial needs, berry picking and gathering herbs.
2) The Plaintiffs and the Defendants (other than Gitxsan Treaty Society) will meet as soon as possible to discuss issues of mutual interest, including providing access for a commercial fishery.
3) The litigation will be held in abeyance for 90 days from June 27th, with any current deadlines that have been established being equivalently postponed. This will be subject to any further extensions agreed to agreed to by council.
4) Should the parties agree to discontinue the litigation, they will abandon their monetary claims including any claims for costs.
I suppose both parties will bring this back to their Committees of the Whole and suggest what the next steps might be. This initial meeting shows for now that they can work together. No movement would have been bad news for either party. We wish them continued progress with what is important to them and good work.
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A Retraction: I, Art Wilson, take full ownership of the subject matter of my article two weeks ago. The matter is in court, and therefore, my suggestion of how to solve our problems should have happened before the matter went to court. My apology to the incoming Band councils; disregard my article as my suggestion is not possible at this time. Only the court process can deal with the matter in due course.
Art Wilson
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