The stories of Indigenous people are rarely accepted as true, with the heavy burden of proof being worn by us. There is no clearer example of this than our stories from behind the walls of residential schools — we were largely not believed, leaving it up to us to advocate and push for the truth. As Indigenous people, we still have to fight to be heard when our sacred sites, burial grounds, ancestral belongings and traditional-use areas are illegally damaged, desecrated and destroyed.
The game-changing Ts虃ilhqot’in Decision at the Supreme Court of sa国际传媒 in 2014 consisted of a 25-year battle with the burden of proof being worn by our elders. The strength of oral testimonies from these elders was unbreakable during cross-examination and ultimately led to the first full recognition of Aboriginal title in sa国际传媒.
I believe that it is the duty of sa国际传媒 and its provinces to support the preservation of Indigenous oral histories, sacred spaces and historical artifacts, to make sure that the evidence of who we are exists into the future.
sa国际传媒’s Heritage Conservation Act (HCA), the piece of legislation that is suppose to protect our histories, has never worked for our people. We often come up against the desecration of heritage sites with no legal recourse. The HCA says it protects our historic sites, our ancestors’ belongings, our sacred and ceremonial places, and the remains of our ancestors themselves. This hasn’t been the case in our Nation’s experience.
As Ts虃ilhqot’in people, the evidence left of the land is like words in a book for us. It tells us not only of the past, but informs our future actions based on the legend or story that the land tells. It is our sacred responsibility to care for our ancestors’ homes, teachings, and belongings.
Long before there was a Heritage Conservation Act, many of our ancient village sites were plowed for hayfields. Houses, barns and roads were erected on our burial grounds.
Sadly, these events are still common today. In 2021, one of our ancestral villages was damaged by logging equipment on private land — an all-too-familiar event. The remains of our ancestors’ houses, belongings and food caches were trampled as the loggers turned this beautiful historic place into an industrial wasteland. The HCA claims to protect these sites, but it doesn’t require private land owners to do archeology assessments before building or logging on their land. It also has no teeth to enforce penalties. The same goes for situations on “Crown land.” There are no consequences for erasing our history from the land. This needs to change.
Ts虃ilhqot’in heritage is Ts虃ilhqot’in jurisdiction, and we are working hard to do what the HCA cannot — prevent damage to our sites in the first place. We have completed a comprehensive strategic plan for Ts虃ilhqot’in heritage management that addresses issues of jurisdiction, archeological practices, site protection, repatriation of artifacts, relationship building, research and education, and commemoration and outreach.
Most settlers to sa国际传媒 have trouble understanding what it means when we say that our creation stories are laid out on the land. To us, the places from our oldest stories are like our holy lands — it is our church. The stone tools we still find there are our sacred relics.
These artifacts belong with us, not in repositories in the Lower Mainland or in museums in far-off places. Our people must be able to freely walk in the footsteps of our ancestors — to visit the same places time and time again to pray, reflect and be grounded. We need these places to heal and to survive as a people.
In the early 1990s, while working as the archeology co-ordinator for my Nation, I organized ground-penetrating radar at one of our Nation’s historic burial sites in Quesnel. Working through the red tape at the time was not an easy feat. Indigenous peoples today still have the difficult and emotional task of conducting ground-penetrating radar at former residential schools throughout sa国际传媒. In doing this work we are waking sa国际传媒 up to the weight of our past, our stories, and our identity. Let’s hope we can sustain this momentum to ensure local Indigenous governments are supported in developing heritage management systems that work.
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