Continued from Page 6.

Workshops involving Skeetchestn and the Deadman Creek Improvement District in 2001 have helped to set the stage for this ecosystem planning collaboration.

This presents a window for addressing other jurisdictions from inside the valley. Resource development in the valley can trigger a referral process for band intervention (and by extension the Deadman Watereshed Committee) when development activities threaten cultural practices, including sustainable local resource use.

Science and TEK

Currently, the Band’s natural resource management activities provides an ecological focal point for federal and provincial agencies and natural resource management. Science is an important cornerstone to natural resource management programming in the valley, and the Skeetchestn Band ensures that traditional ecological knowledge is afforded local weight in decision-making through collaborative community-based programming – linking elders and their knowledge to resource management through their Secwepemc language (Chief Ron Ignace, pers. com.). The Skeetchestn Band finds that historical and contemporary local knowledge is often overlooked in many scientific based studies within the watershed. It has been our experience in the past that these local sources of knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge often prove more accurate than much of the scientific data collected and/or presented. In addition, project referrals may trigger a heritage investigation to accommodate the systematic study and analysis of an area for the purpose of protection and conservation.

Sustainable-use of Natural Resources – Protection Through Heritage

A 1998 Traditional Heritage Conservation Law sets out the Band’s procedures which proponents of development are required to follow when consulting with the band. These may concern land developments and resource management projects within the bands territory, including those that may impact rivers and waterways of the Deadman Watershed and that may impact on the bands cultural practices.

This law extends current jurisdiction of the band beyond reserve lands and the confines Indian Act. The Law can function in isolation, or in concert with federal and provincial statute, or community ecosystem-conservation. The Law represents an important jurisdictional tool for the watershed’s non-aboriginal residents as well, who may benefit from the protection of local natural resources and ecosystem values.