[news] Surviving Canada Report: June 24: St'at'imc Nation

[Resist!ca]

By Macdonald Stainsby Millions of people a year travel a couple of hours north of Vancouver to visit Whistler. Using an image of being nestled in pristine wilderness, ski slopes have shaved off the sides of the mountains, housing has sprawled throughout the forest and concrete has been poured throughout the area. While most animals have fled to safer grounds, when the village town for disposable incomes does contact wildlife, the outcome for the animals is often deadly, with many bears being "destroyed" annually after addiction to human waste sets in. Further north on Highway 99, there is a valley visited by perhaps thousands of people a year; animals from grizzlies to wolverines continue to roam, wild berries and vegetables grow abundantly, life itself maintains dominance in the area. The St'at'imc Nation has lived with, off and as a part of this land and in an area from just north of what is now Vancouver to Lillooet, and east over the mountains to Harrison Hot Springs "from time out of mind".

URL: http://resist.ca/story/2005/7/8/202137/9811