Press Releases

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Ma’amtagila Nation opposes application for new fish farm

On Tuesday, chiefs from four Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw nations voiced fierce opposition to an application for a new fish farm in the Johnstone Strait, off Vancouver Island. The public meeting was a step towards Grieg Seafood and Tlowitsis Nation gaining approval for a new large, open-net facility near the entrance to Knight Inlet.

With rain thundering outside, a group of Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw community members and leaders gathered in traditional regalia, including button blankets and woven cedar, at the Port McNeil Community Centre. Many had traveled from nearby Alert Bay by boat. Chief Ernest Alfred, hereditary chief and elected councillor of the ‘Namgis First Nation, spoke first. 

“We have some strong words for our relatives — to clean up their act and to quit with the greed now,” said Alfred. “This administration has been silencing the people of the Tlowitsis and especially the Ma’a̱mtagila, who you see represented here.”

Pointing to maps showing the proposed fish farm location, Alfred was emphatic: “The Ma’a̱mtagila own this area! They own this area, but it isn’t exclusive. You need to understand that this is disputed territory.”

The fish farm application is the latest expansion of the business partnership between the Tlowitsis Nation and Norwegian aquaculture giant Grieg Seafood. It seeks permission to build a new fish farm operation of five, 200m pens in the waters of Chatham Channel, a move that would reverse several years of provincial and federal moves to close the destructive industry. This narrow waterway is off the central coast of Vancouver Island and in the middle of the territories of the Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw Peoples. 

More specifically, it is the territory of the Ma’a̱mtagila Nation, a fact recognized by the Department of Indian Affairs in 1886 and again in 1914. The territories of the Ma’a̱mtagila have also been recognized, according to potlatch law, by the chiefs of the Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw nations, and also by anthropologists. 

In 1945, the Ma’a̱mtagila, weakened by decades of colonial violence and disease, agreed to amalgamate administratively with the nearby Łowitsis, or Tlowitsis.  The DIA agreement clearly stipulated that they would exist as equals, a single band with two chiefs. However, this never occurred and the Ma’a̱mtagila were systematically excluded until being entirely erased. 

The Tlowitsis Nation does not hold elections and the community has had the same chief since 1982. Chief John Smith, who took over the position from his brother, also appoints all positions within the Nation. In 1998, as chief of what was then the Tlowitsis-Mumtagila First Nation, Smith submitted to the government a band council resolution which declared, “The Mumtagila ceded title and authority to their lands to the chiefs of the Tlowitsis.” It summarily removed Mumtagila from the nation’s name, and retained claim to all their territory. As of today, the Government of Canada does not recognize the existence of the Ma’a̱mtagila Nation. 

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Ma’a̱mtagilan Brian Wadhams referred directly to this moment. “At the stroke of a pen! Our tribe was annihilated, by two people. Why did that government allow that to happen?” 

It is in these waters that the Tlowitsis leadership is now proposing the construction of a new Atlantic salmon fish farm. Tuesday’s meeting, as well as an online meeting earlier in the day, were held in fulfilment of the application process. In attendance were representatives from the province, the Department of Fisheries & Oceans, as well as Bernie Taekema of resource consulting firm ennregs. Five chiefs from the Kwago'ł, Mamalilikala, Łowitsis, and Ma’a̱mtagila nations led a group of thirty community members, who stood in opposition to both the potential environmental impacts of the project and the failure to consider Indigenous legal protocol. Of the sixty people present at the online portion, none spoke in favour of the project.

“You’re talking to the wrong people,” said Andrew Wadhams, one of three Ma’a̱mtagila hereditary chiefs and chief of the Tlowitsis Nation. “We come here with respect today, hoping to be heard. We’re not going to go away and we need you guys to do the right thing, so we can sort this out.” He paused, “But there ain’t going to be no fish farm going in there.”

This application follows over a decade of unremitting opposition to fish farms in the area. This work has produced significant results, such as Ottawa’s recent decision to block restocking at the most controversial sites in the Discovery Islands. In 2019, the federal government vowed to phase out the industry by 2025. However, that promise was subsequently walked back in 2020, and there has been no progress since then. Currently the federal government has not released a timeline for the promised transition from ocean-based to land-based farming. 

The frustration in the room on Tuesday was palpable.

“You can’t do this,” said John Powell, elected chief of the Mamalilikula, standing alongside several councilors from his nation. “That territory belongs to us as well. We’ve worked so hard to take these fish farms out of our territories, because of the damage they’ve done. The peripheral damage and the lateral damage is as great as the areas where these farms are in.”

According to law, the application must include an opportunity for members of the public to submit their feedback. The deadline to submit comments is January 13, 2022. 

For those in the room on Tuesday, there was no doubt.

“We are never going to go away, us Ma’a̱mtagila,” said elder Maxine Matilpi. After speaking at length in Kwakwala, she directed her words to Chief Smith: “I come from my father, chief of the Ma’a̱mtagila, ‘Maxwayalidzi. We are never going to go away and we are going to fight for what belongs to us.”

For more information, please contact:   

Seneca Ambers T̓łat ̓łaḵwidalag̱a   
250-508-8173  
senecaambers@gmail.com  
www.maamtagila.ca 

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Ma'amtagila Nation Seeks Recognition of Inextinguishable Rights & Title

VICTORIA, Lək ̓ʷəŋən Territory & I'tsika̱n, Ma’amtagila Territory — The Ma’amtagila leadership demand the Government of Canada, the Government of British Columbia and the Tlowitsis First Nation Chief and Council to cease all negotiations or treaty processes pertaining to Ma’amtagila territory and invite healing and reconciliation of historical and ongoing injustices.

“The Ma’amtagila never gave their land away,” said chief Nelson Bruce of the Hayalikawayi namima (clan), whose grandfather was the great chief ḵwa̱mxa̱laga̱lis-ik’aweg̱ ilakw.

The Ma’amtagila are one of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw First Nations whose territory lies in the Johnstone Strait area of northern Vancouver Island and the Great Bear Rainforest. Notably the areas of Call Inlet, Port Neville, Port Harvey and on Vancouver Island areas of Adam & Eve River and adjacent watersheds.

The Ławitʼsis (Tlowitsis) and Ma’amtagila have always been distinct neighboring nations with kinship and resource sharing practices. Colonial duress forced their centralization and amalgamation, but they have always maintained their own governance, territory and hereditary practices. In 1945 it was decided by the majority of Ma'amtagila and Ławitʼsis chiefs that they could help one another and share resources if they were to join as one under the DIA band structure. The amalgamated band was known as the Turnour Island Band. Turnour Island Band is now known as the Tlowitsis First Nation which has not had an election in approximately 40 years.

Through a series of ill mannered, unvalidated and illegitimate resolutions and processes the Ma’amtagila have been silenced, disempowered, and disregarded by the federal and provincial governments. But we are still here. We still love our Ławitʼsis family relations, our nation, and our Potlatch governance.

"The Ma’amtagila Hereditary Chiefs are the rightful representatives of the Ma’amtagila people and remain the holders of Aboriginal rights and title in their territories,” said Noah Ross, lawyer for the Ma’amtagila.

“The Tlowitsis First Nation has no authority to cede Ma’amtagila territory in treaty negotiations with the Provincial and Federal government.”

Ma’amtagila leadership is now calling on the governments that are negotiating with Tlowitsis First Nation to cease all negotiations pertaining to Ma’amtagila lands and waters and do the hard work of reconciliation with the Ma’amtagila to repair the injustice.

For more information, please contact:

Seneca Ambers T̓łat ̓łaḵwidalag̱a

250-508-8173
senecaambers@gmail.com
www.maamtagila.ca