the changing face of treaty negotiations there is no question that negotiating an nstq treaty has been frustrating and divi- sive. for years, canada and bc have had very narrow mandates at the treaty table based on the idea that, for an exchange of some money and some treaty settlement lands, nstq should agree to list all of its aborigi- nal title and rights in a “final agreement”, ending canada’s and bc’s obligations to nstq on anything not included in that agreement. nstq has been at the treaty table since 1993-94 and has endured delays and in- transigence by canada and bc. a low point came in 2002, when the bc government of the day held a province-wide referendum on first nations treaty rights. despite the challenges, nstq was able to complete agreement-in-principle nego- tiations in december 2014. in february of 2016, nstq held a referendum asking its members if they wanted to continue into stage 5 final agreement negotiations in the bc treaty process and the members agreed by a 2 to 1 margin. it is easy to be cynical about the treaty process, given the delays and lack of move- ment. however, recent developments offer promise that nstq will be able to achieve a fair, balanced and honourable treaty. the first development was the excel- lent victory of the tsilhqot’in people in the 2014 decision of the supreme court of canada in tsilhqot’in nation v. british columbia, 2014 scc 44, [2014] 2 s.c.r. 256. in that case, canada’s highest court debunked canada’s and bc’s “postage stamp” approach to aboriginal title and de- termined that the tsilhqot’in held aborigi- nal title over broad “tracts of land” they had used regularly and defended prior to 1846. although there are limits on the use of aboriginal title lands that do not apply to treaty settlement lands, the nstq treaty team believes that the “tracts of land” ap- proach to aboriginal title justifies a much larger offer of treaty settlement lands than we received in the agreement-in-principle n e g o t i a t i o n s , which was based on the former “postage stamp” approach. the tsilhqot’in have already been able to use their court decision to reach the nen- qay deni accord with british co- lumbia regarding jurisdiction and stewardship of aboriginal title lands. other helpful developments came with a change of government at both the fed- eral and provincial levels. both levels of government have finally endorsed the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples (“undrip”). that internationally-recognized document pro- vides that “indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, oc- cupied or otherwise used or acquired”. they have the right to “own, use, develop and control those lands” as they see fit. undrip calls upon states to provide legal recognition and protection of those lands and fairly compensate indigenous peoples where such lands have been taken away. the nstq treaty team believes it can use undrip to strengthen nstq’s ongoing role throughout the traditional territory and increase benefits flowing from develop- ments on the territory. undrip also pro- vides support for re-opening the discus- sion on compensation for past alienation of lands and resources—something that has been “off the table” so far in negotia- tions under the bc treaty process. canada’s liberal government and bc’s ndp/green government have provided new hope for a fair and honourable treaty through mandate letters to their respec- tive ministers. canada’s ministers are told “it is time for a renewed, n a t i o n - t o - nation rela- tionship with i n d i g e n o u s peoples, based recogni- on tion of rights, respect, co- operation, and partnership.” a c c o r d i n g l y, the minister of crown-indige- nous relations north- and ern affairs is mandated to negotiate comprehensive modern treaties in a manner that reflects a recognition of rights approach and rec- onciliation rather than modification of ab- original rights into treaty rights. she is also required to work with indigenous peoples on closing socio-economic gaps and reduc- ing health inequities between them and the general population. she is called upon to develop a new overall fiscal relationship with first nations. bc’s minister of indigenous relations and reconciliation is mandated to work toward fully adopting undrip, the truth and rec- oncilation commission calls to action and the tsilhqot’in court decision and others. he is also mandated to develop gaming revenue-sharing with first nations—some- thing bc has opposed for years. yet another development is canada’s es- tablishment of 10 principles respecting the government of canada’s relation- ship with indigenous peoples. this docu- ment contains an acknowledgement that “the existence of indigenous rights is not dependent on an agreement and, where agreements are formed, they should be based on the recognition and implemen- tation of rights and not their extinguish- ment, modification, or surrender.” this is a complete reversal of the position of previ- ous canadian governments who vigorously pursued “modification” of rights as the ba- sis of the bc treaty process. another departure from long-standing federal policy has been the establishment of a collaborative fiscal policy develop- ment process between canada and “sig- natory” first nations—those first nations such as the nisga’a, tsawwassen, west- bank and yukon first nations who already have treaties or self-government agree- ments. through this process, the parties are seeking to get away from a “cookie cutter” approach to first nations funding and to recognize the objective of reducing socio-economic gaps. an additional table has also been established for discussions between canada and those first nations such as nstq still in the process of negoti- ating treaty-related fiscal agreements. even to the cynical among us, the above developments feel like a real shift and a positive one at that. the nstq treaty team looks forward to testing that “feel- ing” at the treaty table during final agree- ment – stage 5 negotiations. *late june 2018 update* – nstq treaty team is pleased to announce that after a very long period of time since the aip was ‘initialled’ by nstq government rep- resentatives back in 2014, we can finally announce that the “official agreement- in-principle signing ceremony” will be taking place mid-july 2018* at the xats’ūll heritage village location 20 minutes north of williams lake, with both federal and provincial ministers in attendance. once signed by all parties, the nstq treaty table will officially enter stage five – final nego- tiations of the six stage treaty process, al- lowing nstq treaty team to really put their hard hats on to get down to the hard ne- gotiating required to ensure a final agree- ment that will benefit nstq members and communities with a meaningful and pros- perous future for generations to come. [*actual date still in the works by will most likely be one of july 17, 18 or 19. please stay tuned for updated information, or contact your band office for confirmed de- tails] are you creative? central cariboo arts and culture wants to support you! by anne burrill there are many ways to be creative or to participate in arts activities. some people draw or paint, some write songs or play music, others act in live theatre performances, dance, tell stories, take photos, or do traditional craft-making. being creative is part of being human! some of us just dive right in and learn as we go, some of us have taken a class, or learned from a friend or family member. others may want to try making art, or doing something creative, but don’t quite know where to start. some of us may have been making art for a long time and may even make it into a business for themselves or sell things they make. the central cariboo arts and culture society (ccacs) is an organization that supports and promotes arts and culture in the central cariboo (around williams lake). they are exploring how their organization could provide support for arts and creative activities in the first nations communities of t’exelc, xats’ūll, stswecem’c xgat’tem, and esk’etemc. over the next few weeks, members of these communities and indigenous people who live in williams lake are invited to share their ideas about what kinds of things would help support creative arts in first nations communities. if you are interested in arts and creative activities, they would like to hear from you. they have an online survey that will be open for participation until the end of august. if there is enough interest in the topic, they will get people together to share ideas. the survey only has 10 questions and will take about five minutes to fill out. you can participate in the online survey before august 30 by clicking here (or by copying this link and entering into your browser): https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2bgyzk3 page 4 lexey’em july/august 2018 sellars to run for williams lake indian band chief after serving three terms as councillor, willie sellars is throwing his hat in for chief indian band williams lake (t’exelc) councillor willie sellars has seized the opportunity to announce his plan to run for chief in the august 2018 election, and used the occassion of national indigneous peoples day to make this announcement. “i’m extremely excited to officially announce my candidacy for chief of the williams lake indian band,” sellars said. “our community has been extremely fortunate to have chief ann louie at the helm for the last 10 years.” praising louie for providing “great leadership,” sellars said he would love to see her stay on for another term, but said she’s made the decision to move onto other things. “i’m extremely grateful chief ann’s hard work and guidance and know that i’ll have huge shoes to fill if i’m successful in my efforts to become elected as chief.” sellars, 34, has served three terms on council already. he lives on sugar cane reserve with his three children — milah, cash and lewis. during the winters, he is the goaltender with the williams lake stampeders and during the summers he dip-nets, participates in cultural activities and plays community fastball. in the spring of 2018, sellars tried his hand at bull riding in the indoor rodeo, and was paired with montreal canadiens and team canada gold medalist goaltender carey price, who opened his chute. sellars also authored the internationally acclaimed children’s novel “dipnetting with dad,” which tells the tale of an aboriginal youth’s fishing experiences with his father and extended family. in 2018, sellars will release a follow-up book titled “hockey with dad”. if elected as chief, sellars will serve a four- year term.