A stone’s throw from the bustling marinas of Salt Spring Island lies Grace Islet. Blazing with camas flowers, the islet has been protected as a cemetery by indigenous grave keepers for centuries.
How does the BC government relate to such traditions? By allowing a luxury house to be built directly overtop of the burial cairns on Grace Islet. The equivalent—a longhouse set-up on Ross Bay Cemetery—would be unthinkable.
The double-standards around protections afforded to settler, versus First Nations, burial grounds has struck a chord with islanders. Activists have taken to the water, attempting to interrupt construction. Businesses such as Slegg Lumber and Island Marine Construction have withdrawn from the project. For many, it’s a matter of common decency: “I consider those laid there my ancestors and would certainly stand up for the protection of your ancestors’ graves,” says protestor Joe Akerman.
Writing in the Times Colonist, Minister Steve Thomson claims that the approach he’s taken strikes “a balance between the rights of the landowner and the province’s obligation to protect archaeological sites.”
Thomson opines that “these kinds of disputes are better left to… open communications by the involved parties.” Yet the minister has refused to arrange face-to-face consultation between stakeholders, and owner Barry Slawsky has worked at every turn to prevent such dialogue.
According to Cowichan Chief Seymour, “it’s not the first time that (graves) have been disturbed, but this is the first time that the landowner has refused to meet with the us to talk. (We) have put requests in for a meeting with the landowner, and we haven’t even got a reply.”
Meanwhile, despite a provision within the site alteration permit allowing for inspection by First Nations, grave keepers have been prevented from visiting the site.
Violations of permit conditions are nothing new: the owner violated the first permit in 2012 when he excavated without archaeological oversight. Instead of stopping work, BC’s Archaeological Branch issued a revised permit. The branch now appears to be ignoring photographic evidence showing graves encased in concrete.
Frustrated First Nations are considering turning to the courts to force consultation in the wake of growing concerns that the owner is running roughshod over their heritage.
Such cultural effacement may become impossible in the post-Tsilhqot’in era. The Supreme Court’s Tsilhqot’in ruling re-affirmed aboriginal title to land, recognizing First Nations ownership of burial sites. September 11th, Christy Clark will meet with BC chiefs to discuss how overlapping jurisdictions among equal stakeholders can be reconciled in light of the ruling.
"Whatever happened to ‘rest in peace’ for our people? Is that only for certain people?” asks Tseycum chief Vern Jacks.
Though the immediate fight is about saving Grace, this struggle exposes the provincial government’s lackluster approach to First Nations consultation. Tsilhqot’in gives teeth to that duty, moving to a demand for ‘consent’ from First Nations on matters affecting their traditional territories.
“It’s about protection; it’s not only Grace Islet. It’s the whole of BC. This government needs a crash course in what we believe in,” says Jacks.
