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22 June 2011
Diiyeesxwhl Sigidimhaanak’
In all that the Gitxsan will do, we plan to do it with real Gitxsan flavour. On Monday, June 14, 2011, the Sigidimhaanak met at the New Hazelton Community Centre. Their agenda included traditional seating, genealogy, liiget, a panel of speakers cultural beliefs and protocol. The Indian Act, and the sending of our people to residential schools, was designed to beat that all down. What is wrong with the desire to remain “being Gitxsan?” Many of us want to not lose “being Gitxsan” and at the same time champion
the Indian Act. To us, “being Gitxsan” means:
• That Delgamuukxw is implemented;
• That we benefit on all 33,000 square kilometres of Gitxsan house’s lands;
• That all house members are included.
The first point is essentially the blueprint of how we interact with governments and industry. It is a part of the body of law. All it
says is, let’s get on with living together.
Sadly enough, the federal government is still very much concerned about the “Indian problem”. The federal government has summoned the rcmp and csis according to what was posted on the net. I know that the Indian Affairs chiefs have called for a national day of action that did not really do anything. We agree that there are illegal matters to tend to but the appearance does not look good. For the Gitxsan, we do not need to engage in any action other than talks to implement the law. When we met with the rcmp, they are not proud of their legacy with the residential schools. There are good people out there who do not want to repeat history. How we live together should be about healing the wounds of yesterday, not to create more. I mention this for awareness of certain undercurrents of attitudes that still exist. In all that we do in society, hopefully sanity will prevail. We won’t forget yesterday, but we need to move on.
The work of the Sigidimhanaak continues to be valuable in Gitxsan life. Brainstorming what all aspects of the feast is what we need to hear. Very slowly, you the reader can see that there is nothing to hide. You see what we do, see what we think. It comes down to betterment of the whole community.
Art Wilson
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