[IPSM] Report: Action against Sun Peaks Resort

[samir at resist.ca]

----- Forwarded message from No One is Illegal-Vancouver  -----
Date: Fri, 04 Nov 2005 11:27:59 -0800 (PST)
From: No One is Illegal-Vancouver
Subject: Report: Action against Sun Peaks Resort

* pls forward *

On Saturday, October 22, No One is Illegal members in an unannounced
action went to the Vancouver Snow Show to protest the occupation of Sun
Peaks Ski resort on Secwepemc territories, land which has never been
ceded, released, nor surrendered.

Sun peaks resort is located near Kamloops, British Columbia and is owned
by Nippon Cable.  Despite the fact that the United Nations has repeatedly
condemned Canada for violating International Human Rights of Indigenous
communities, Sun Peaks Ski Resort continues to abuse the rights of the
Secwepemc people through the continuous expansion of its overpriced bed
units and hotel chains such as Delta Hotels on the Secwepemc Territories.

Sun Peaks Resorts has forced the arrests of 54 Secwepemc Elders, youth and
land-users.  In the past four years five Aboriginal Protection Centers,
two traditional cedar bark homes, a hunting cabin, two sacred sweat
lodges, and one cordwood home (home to a young family) have all been
bulldozed or burnt down.

Environmental activists have since echoed the concerns of the Secwepemc
people noting the irreplaceable damage of the surrounding environment
should this expansion be allowed to continue. The development of Sun Peaks
Resort has led to the destruction of the vital mountain ecosystem through
clear-cuts. Sun Peaks resort pollutes the water with weed-control
chemicals for their golf course and with chemical and bacterial additives
used to make artificial snow. Sun Peaks over-consumes water and energy to
make this artificial snow (it takes 1/3 the energy of a average town to
run a medium ski area). Indigenous writer and activist, Arthur Manual
states that “Our Elders and traditional land users know that the added
burden these resort users would put on the land would totally destroy the
land and make it unusable for traditional land purposes.” (Manuel, 2003,
p. 324.)*

The Boycott of Sun Peaks Resort is supported by hundreds of organizations
and individuals including Naomi Klein, Ward Churchill, Assembly of First
Nations, Council of Canadians, Women in the Woods, Canadian Union of
Postal Workers (CUPW) and many others.

No One is Illegal members gathered outside and inside the Snow Show to
vocalize their disgust with Sunpeaks blatant refusal to acknowledge the
rights of the Secwepemc people and to encourage skiers, snowboarders and
tourists alike to “BOYCOTT SUNPEAKS”.  People were generally responsive
towards the campaign offering both words of support for the Secwepemc
defenders and disgust at the actions of Sunpeaks with hundreds of leaflets
distributed.  The action continued for several hours while Sunpeaks
representatives and security photographed and harassed No One is Illegal
members.

The next day, Elder Irene Billy and Ska7cis Manuel returned from Geneva
where they delivered an independent indigenous submission on Canada’s
human rights record. A number of indigenous nations: the Nuxalk Nation;
the Secwepemc people who are defending Skwelkwek’welt against the
expansion of Sun Peaks Ski Resort; the St’at’imc nation who is opposed to
the construction of a ski resort at Sutikalh; and the Pilalt Nation who
wants to protect fishing at Cheam and their sacred mountains; made it
clear that they want to protect their territories and that they will not
extinguish their land rights. Many of their members, including elders and
youth, have been arrested for exercising their indigenous rights and
protecting their territories. Elder Irene Billy herself had been arrested
at Sun Peaks Ski Resort and said: “As indigenous peoples we have the right
to decide what happens in our territories and no development can happen
without our prior informed consent.”


For more information on Skwekwek’welt support
http://noii-van.resist.ca/skwelkwekwelt


** Manuel, Art. (2003) Aboriginal Rights on the Ground: Making Section 35
Meaningful. Box of Treasures or Empty Box? Twenty Years of Section 35
Edited by Ardith Walken and Halie Bruce. Canada. Pp 314-342.