INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

The impact of the 2010 Olympics on Indigenous peoples involves those affecting the general population (homelessness, police abuse, etc.), yet to a greater extent due to the over-representation of Indigenous peoples among the oppressed. For example, an estimated 30 % (if not more) of the population in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) of Vancouver are Native. This is the result of the colonization and dispossession of Native peoples from their land, culture and way of life.
In addition, due to the colonial relationship that exists between Indigenous people and the state, and the relation between Indigenous peoples and land, the impact of 2010 also has specific impacts on Indigenous peoples not experienced by the general, non-Native population. This includes co-optation of (state-funded) Indigenous governance & political organizations, exploitation of culture, and increased ecological destruction resulting in greater dependence & dislocation.

Background
Vancouver is a port city located in the province of ‘British Columbia’, one of the last regions of N. America to be colonized by the British (beginning in late 1770s). The city itself is named after a British naval officer who helped survey & recon the coast during this period (Capt. George Vancouver). At the time, the region was comprised of over 40 different Indigenous nations. On the Northwest Coast, one of the highest densities of Indigenous peoples in N. America lived, based on abundant seafood resources & a moderate winter climate. The coastal region is a temperate rainforest with the highest amounts of precipitation in N. America, rarely freezing or snowing except at higher elevations.
The coast is separated from the interior plateau by the Coast Mountain Range. As clouds form over the Pacific Ocean and move inland, they hit the mountains and drop most of their precipitation. As a result, the interior region is one of the driest in N. America, with some areas experiencing desert conditions.

Indigenous Peoples
Estimates of the pre-contact population in BC range as high as 250,000. Within a century, this number had declined to some 25,000 due to colonial expansion, warfare, and disease epidemics (biological warfare). One of the primary agents of colonialism was the Hudson’s Bay Company, which also formed the first colonial government in the mid-1800s (and is today a primary 2010 sponsor).
The Hudson’s Bay Company, one of the oldest corporations in the world, established many of the first forts and trading posts in BC, along with its competitor the North West Company (the two were merged in 1821). HBC ships were used to bombard Native villages, and HBC officials oversaw many executions of chiefs & warriors. In 1849, the HBC was contracted by the British to govern the colony of Vancouver Island.
By the 1850s, Royal Navy gunboats were also stationed on the coast; heavily armed with cannons, rockets and Royal Marines, the navy was used to punish any attacks on settlers, including bombing villages, destroying houses, canoes & food provisions.
In 1858, the Fraser Valley gold rush occurred, setting off an invasion of tens of thousands of settlers into the lower mainland which was then declared another colony (‘British Columbia’—in 1866 the two colonies would be united into one, BC). As a result of the gold rush and influx of settlers, a devastating Smallpox epidemic occurred in 1862.
Beginning in Fort Victoria, colonial officials at first quarantined the Native population gathered around the fort, but then soon forced them out at gunpoint. Hundreds of Natives then traveled up the coast back to their villages, spreading the disease (an effect that officials could not have been ignorant of at this time). An estimated 1 in 3 Natives died within a few years.
In 1871, BC was made a province within Canada. In 1874, the provincial government passed the BC Lands Act to open up more land to settlement. However, the next year, the federal government issued a Duty of Disallowance, striking down the act as illegal due to the failure of BC to gain the legal surrender of Indigenous land as outlined in the 1763 Royal Proclamation. BC threatened to withdraw from confederation.
In 1876, the federal government passed the Indian Act, imposing government control over all Indigenous peoples & lands. BC’s illegal occupation of Indigenous land was allowed to stand and continues to this day. In 1884, the Indian Act was amended to ban Potlaches, Sundances, and other ceremonies. It was also through the Indian Act that Native children were forced into Residential Schools run by churches on contract to the government. Generations of Native children were taken from their families and forced to learn European/British culture, language, religion, etc. Widespread mental, physical and sexual abuse occurred.

Anti-Colonial Resistance
As early as the 1880s, Indigenous peoples in BC began protesting the theft of land & resources. Unlike other regions in Canada, British (and later Canadian) officials failed to make treaties surrendering land and title to the Crown. With the exception of a few small treaties on Vancouver Island (the Douglas Treaties, 1850-54), and a portion of Treaty No. 8, BC remains unsurrendered, sovereign Indigenous territory. Consequently, Indigenous peoples in the province have shown a strong tendency to resist colonialism and the ongoing theft of land & resources. In 1927, the Indian Act was amended to outlaw lands claim organizing.
Today, anti-colonial resistance is frequently expressed through protests and direct actions, including road-blocks, occupations of government offices, etc. During the 1990 ‘Oka Crisis’, Indigenous peoples in BC mounted the most solidarity actions with the Mohawks at that time, including road & railway blockades. Many of these solidarity actions emphasized sovereignty and local land struggles.
As a result of the Oka Crisis and the ongoing fight for land & rights in BC, the provincial and federal governments began a modern-day treaty process, in 1992 (under the New Democratic Party, NDP- a social-democratic party). The purpose of the BC Treaty Process is to legitimize the prior theft of land & resources, thereby creating greater economic certainty for government & corporations. It does this by extinguishing Native title & rights, using the state-funded Indian Act band councils to act as legal agents. One of its political functions, of course, is to undermine the grassroots Indigenous movement. Although disorganized (some would say dysfunctional), the movement has a strong legal, political, historical, and moral position from which to base itself, and therefore has great potential.
In 1995, a month-long armed standoff occurred at Gustafsen Lake/Ts’Peten in the southern interior region of BC (in Secwepemc territory). The siege saw some 450 heavily-armed RCMP, along with assistance from the Canadian Forces (inc. Bison armoured personnel carriers). Police attempted on several occasions to kill defenders using automatic weapons & sniper fire, as well as explosive devices. The police siege, the largest RCMP paramilitary operation in Canadian history, was overseen by the NDP.
In 1996, a Vancouver chapter of the Native Youth Movement (NYM) was established. The group was involved in numerous occupations & road blocks through the late ‘90s, including two occupations of the BC Treaty Commission offices. Beginning in 2000, a Secwepemc chapter of NYM was established, which has continued to be involved in opposing the expansion of the Sun Peaks ski resort (near Kamloops, referred to as Skwelkwek’welt). They also carried out a campaign of direct action from 2001-2005. Another proposed ski resort at Cayoosh Creek has been resisted by grassroots St’at’imc near Mt. Currie since 2000 as well. This opposition has included the establishment of a permanent occupation camp known as Sutikalh (which continues to exist in 2008).
At this time, a provincial election resulted in the BC Liberal Party taking power, with former Vancouver Mayor Gordon Campbell as Premier. The Liberals continued the neo-liberal policies established by the NDP, and expanded on them. They opened up resource industries to corporate investment, resulting in more mining, oil and gas, and ski resort projects. The Liberals also continued the 2010 Olympic bid, begun under the NDP.
Beginning in 2005, Indigenous nations in the northern region of the province began to be impacted by increased mining, oil & gas exploration. Some responded with legal challenges, roadblocks, occupations, and protests. This included the Tahltan, near Telegraph Creek, who opposed several large-scale mining & gas projects in their territory, including those in a headwater source for four major rivers. Among the proposed projects for the Tahltan’s ancestral territory are copper, gold, and coal mines, as well as natural gas. As part of their campaign, the Tahltan occupied a band council office for several months to oppose deals they were making with the corporations. Several elders were also arrested at road blocks, which gained widespread media coverage of their struggle.
These and many other forms of legal, political, and direct action, throughout the province and over the years, have caused considerable economic uncertainty for corporations. This fact is publicly discussed by financial institutions, business think-tanks, and government officials in the province, and certainty is one of the stated purposes of the treaty process. There is no doubt these factors had to be taken into account by those promoting and organizing the 2010 Winter Olympics, a platform for increasing international corporate investment into the region.

Native Co-optation into 2010
“Vancouver 2010 recognized early in the bid phase for the 2010 Winter Games that having the support and active participation of these [Indigenous] nations would enrich the Bid and the Winter Games… This relationship was recognized by the IOC as an important factor in Vancouver’s winning bid.”
(Fact Sheet, Vancouver2010.com)

Due to the history of Indigenous anti-colonial struggle in the province, and the great potential for disruption arising from this, 2010 Olympic organizers understood early on the need to co-opt Indigenous peoples (and to involve collaborators) in both the bid process as well as ongoing preparations. They also saw the benefits of exploiting Indigenous art & culture as part of 2010 promotion, as had occurred in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
From the beginning there was a concerted effort by government and 2010 organizers to present Indigenous peoples as equal and active participants in the Games, as ‘official partners’. Their main agents to accomplish this were the 4 local Indian Act* band councils on the traditional territories where the 2010 Olympics are to occur. These are the Squamish, Musqueam, Tseil-Watuth, and Lil’wat/St’at’imc.
Part of the Vancouver Bid Corporation from the outset were Gibby Jacobs (then-Squamish band chief), and Lyle Leo, a Lil’wat band councilor and businessman. These two band councils have gained the most from 2010 due to the fact that most Olympic construction, and Whistler itself, are located in their traditional territories. Gibby Jacobs is now a VANOC board member.
In early 2003, several months before the bid decision was made, the Squamish and Lil’wat band councils made a deal with the government & Bid corporation, including $20 million in money & land, and a Squamish-Lil’wat Cultural Center to be built in nearby Whistler (which by 2007 had ballooned to a cost of over $28 million, funded by the BC government, INAC, Bell Canada and other corporations). This deal committed the two band councils to participating in, and publicly supporting, 2010.
In May 2007, the BC government concluded an agreement with the Squamish and Mt. Currie bands, providing them with eight parcels of land in the Whistler area comprising 122 hectares in total. Corporate media reported the deal could make the two bands among the ‘wealthiest’ in the province because of property values in the Whistler resort area (with some of the most expensive homes in Canada). One parcel alone, zoned for residential development,
“could be worth at least $90 million, depending on how many homes, and what kind, are built there. On average, a single-family home in Whistler costs $1.2 million.”
(“Olympic-sized land deal ‘a winner’,” by Clare Ogilvie, The Province, May 11, 2007)

Other parcels are zoned for industrial use, as rural resources, or for recreation (such as a golf course). The band councils have the option of developing this land themselves, or selling them. In exchange, the two bands agreed to not context the expansion of Whistler’s boundaries into their traditional territories. Whistler, in turn, also received 120 hectares of ‘Crown’ land to expand its land base. Similar land deals have been made with the Musqueam, including the turn-over of a golfing course to the band council in Fall 2007.

Four Host First Nations (FHFN)
In 2004, the four area band councils (along with government & VANOC) established the Four Host First Nations (FHFN) as an official Indigenous Olympic organization. According to a Nov. 24, 2004, press release, the FHFN was established to
“take advantage of all opportunities including economic, and establish a clear First Nations presence in the [Olympic] Games while protecting aboriginal rights and title.”

The last reference flows from the Indian Act chiefs and councils co-optation of ‘Aboriginal rights and title’ as political & legal leverage in negotiations with government & corporations. It also helps portray them as defending Native peoples and ‘fighting’ for positive gains (rights and title). In reality, of course, they actively collaborate in eroding and extinguishing rights & title (including through events such as 2010).
In February 2006, the band council chiefs from the FHFN participated with VANOC at the closing of the Torino Winter Olympics in Italy, “inviting the world to join them in 2010.”
Through the band councils & Four Host FN, Olympic organizers also gained access to artists and cultural performance groups, who are now routinely employed for public VANOC events to officially open & welcome visitors (government & corporate officials, tourists, etc.).
During 2010, the Four Host First Nations and various Native performance groups will be highlighted in the opening and closing ceremonies. The Four Host First Nations will also be responsible for coordinating the 2010 Aboriginal Trade Pavilion, featuring a ‘Trading House’ (gift shop), a ‘Great Hall’ (banquet hall), a theatre, restaurant, and business center.

AFN Endorses 2010 Winter Olympics
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is a national organization comprised of Indian Act band council chiefs and is funded by the Canadian government. At its July 2007 Annual General Meeting, held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the AFN signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Four Host First Nations. AFN ‘grand chief’ Phil Fontaine stated,
“The 2010 Olympics will provide a unique opportunity for First Nations and Canadians to work side-by-side, to share in the long-term social & economic legacy that these historic Games will provide.”

The memorandum formalized a working relationship between the two groups, with a commitment and partnership in 2010 related activities. A VANOC official was a signing witness.

Natives & Olympic Torch Relay
In January 2008, it was announced that the Olympic torch relay would prominently feature Indigenous peoples & culture:
“BC & Canadian First Nations, Metis & Inuit will play a major role in the 2010 Olympic torch relay. They’ll not only be torchbearers when the Olympic flame crosses the country in the buildup to February 2010, but their history and culture will help decide the torch-relay route.”
(”Aboriginal groups to lead Games torch relay,” by Damian Inwood, The Province, January 18, 2008)

According to the article, VANOC would hire a consultant to help with Aboriginal participation, including training of regional route coordinators to “ensure cultural awareness” in planning events, and making an “inventory of aboriginal artists… a virtual aboriginal map of Canada will be created including history, sports, economic development and tourism, art’s and culture…”
Olympic organizers & government clearly plan on not only exploiting Indigenous peoples & culture, but to also use the torch relay (and Olympics) as an opportunity for propaganda (i.e., showing the world how good Canada treats Indigenous people).

Government Funding & 2010
Besides the FHFN and Aboriginal business elite, co-optation has also involved a broad-range of (state-funded) Aboriginal groups in Vancouver. Some are directly involved in Olympic-related events, or at the very least remain silent on the human & social impacts of 2010. This includes political organizations (i.e., the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, United Native Nations), Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Center, youth associations (inc. Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Association, Urban Native Youth Association), service providers, etc.
The dependence on state-funding is a main contributing factor to the lack of opposition (and even consciousness) among these groups in regards to 2010. This is so even when some participate in ‘safe’ campaigns such as those against police violence, the missing & murdered women, closure of services for Natives, etc. This itself reveals the close interrelation between the state and corporations in promoting the Olympic industry. Consequently, the main Native resistance to 2010 has arisen from the grassroots Indigenous movement.

Indigenous Opposition and Resistance to 2010
In June 2002, grassroots representatives of the St’at’imc & Secwepemc made an official submission to the International Olympic Commission outlining the human rights abuses occurring in Canada and within their territories, in regards to the campaigns at Sutikalh & Skwelkwek’welt. They stated their opposition to the 2010 bid process and requested the IOC to not award the bid to Vancouver-Whistler:
“Although Canada prides itself as one of the countries with the highest living standards in the world according to the UN Human development index, when the same indicators were applied to aboriginal people by the federal department of Indian and Northern Affairs, we only ranked 47th. The same is true for Vancouver being declared the city with the best living standard in the world, our people are the poorest in town, many living on the East side under deplorable social and economic conditions. This is what happens when we as aboriginal people lose our link to the land, alcoholism and youth suicides are only indicators for underlying problems… As indigenous peoples we have to oppose the Vancouver-Whistler Olympic bid as long as regressive and destructive environmental practices & policies that undermine and do not recognize indigenous rights are in place.”
(Sutikalh and Skwelkwek’welt 2002 Submission to the IOC, June 30, 2002)

In March 2003, a Secwepemc elder & youth traveled to IOC headquarters in Switzerland and again made a formal presentation, requesting that Vancouver-Whistler not be awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics. Although the IOC has an official policy to not hold Olympics in countries where human rights abuses occur, those committed by the BC & Canadian governments were ignored.
In May 2006, two dozen protesters were arrested at Eagleridge Bluffs in N. Vancouver for blocking expansion of the Sea-to-Sky Highway. While most were middle-class non-Natives, the first to be arrested was 71-year old Pacheedaht (from the Nuu-Chah-Nulth) elder Harriet Nahanee, who married into the Squamish. She was a long-time activist and fighter for Indigenous sovereignty.
On January 23, 2007, Nahanee was sentenced to 14 days in jail, although her lawyer and supporters warned the judge, Brenda Brown, that she suffered from serious health problems. Other non-Natives convicted received fines and community service. Nahanee served her sentence at the Surrey Pre-Trial Center. Shortly after her release, she was admitted to Vancouver’s St. Paul Hospital, suffering from pneumonia. Rallies were held in support of Nahanee outside the hospital. She died on Feb. 24, 2007. Hundreds attended her funeral, where the demand for a public inquiry into her imprisonment began.
Questions that community activists seek to have answered in regards to Nahanee’s imprisonment and death are:
“Why was Aboriginal elder Harriet Nahanee sent to jail despite clear direction from the Supreme Court of Canada that imprisonment should be the last remedy for aboriginal persons?
“Why did Madame Justice Brown fail to take Mrs. Nahanee’s frail health into consideration?
“Why did Madame Justice Brown refuse to hear Mrs. Nahanee’s aboriginal sovereignty defense?
“Why was Mrs. Nahanee incarcerated at Surrey Pre-Trial Center, under such inappropriate conditions?”
(“Why did BC sentence Aboriginal elder to death?” Feb. 28, 2007 Press Release)

On Feb. 12, 2007, anti-Olympics protesters disrupted a hi-profile public VANOC ceremony in downtown Vancouver. As part of its 3-year countdown to 2010, VANOC, government and corporate officials unveiled a ‘Countdown Clock’ at the downtown Vancouver Art Gallery, provided by Omega (sponsor and official time-keeper for Olympic Games). The event was broadcast live by CTV (another corporate sponsor).
Just as the event began, a masked Native stormed the stage and grabbed the mic, shouting “Fuck 2010! Fuck your corporate circus!” before being arrested. A member of APC also jumped on stage, yelling “Homes not Games!” before he too was arrested. After this, scuffles broke out between protesters (numbering about 80) and police, who made an emergency call for assistance. In the end, over 60 police officers were deployed and 7 people arrested (3 Natives, four members of APC).
This was the first direct attack on a VANOC event and the 2010 Olympics, and it caught organizers and police off guard, both of whom stated their intentions to tighten up security for future events. Consequently, VANOC public events have been characterized by heavy policing involving riot police, crowd-control fencing, dog teams, and helicopters (costing hundreds of thousands of dollars).
On March 6, 2007, just as an IOC evaluation committee arrived to check on VANOC’s progress, the massive Olympic flag flying outside City Hall was stolen. The thieves broke the access panel to the flag pole, cut the cable, and tore the flag off. Three days later, as the IOC tour ended, members of the Native Warrior Society released a communiqué featuring a photograph of 3 masked persons standing in front of the Olympic flag, holding a photo of Harriet Nahanee and a Warrior flag. They claimed the action in honour of Harriet and in opposition to 2010.
In their communiqué dated March 7, 2007, the warriors stated:
“In the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 6, 2007, we removed the Olympic flag from its flag-pole at Vancouver City Hall. We pried open the access panel on the pole with a crowbar and, using a bolt-cutter, cut the metal cable/lanyard inside, causing the flag to fall to the ground.
“We claim this action in honour of Harriet Nahanee, our elder-warrior, who was given a death sentence for her courageous stand in defending Mother Earth.
“We stand in solidarity with all those fighting against the destruction caused by the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
“No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!
“Native Warrior Society.”

On March 12, another VANOC ‘Countdown 2010’ event was held: a flag illuminating ceremony at city hall. After acquiring a new Olympic flag, VANOC & city officials held their event amidst over 200 noisy protesters (far outnumbering those who came for the official event), who effectively disrupted the ‘ceremony’ by yelling and using noise-makers such as fog-horns. As part of their massive security operation, police also established a cordon around city hall and searched anyone entering the area. Many Natives also participated in this protest.
On March 29, 2007, although having no connection at all to the Native Warrior Society, the offices of the Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA) were raided by Vancouver police, after they allegedly received a ‘tip’ that the stolen Olympic flag would be found there. After an hour, police left empty-handed.
In October 2007, Natives from ‘BC’ attended the 515 Years of Indigenous Resistance gathering in Vicam, Sonora, Mexico, co-hosted by the Zapatistas and National Indigenous Congress. At this time, an Indigenous intercontinental anti-2010 movement was established, with official sanction from the gathering’s organizers.
In November 2007, members of the Secwepemc protested the arrival of the Austrian ski team for training at Sun Peaks, part of their ongoing preparations for 2010 competition.
In December 2007, Native Anti-2010 Resistance was established as a grassroots Indigenous group to organize Native opposition to the 2010 Winter Games. Along with No 2010 Network, the group organizes a rally on February 11, 2008 against an Olympic corporate luncheon in downtown Vancouver.

INDIGENOUS ANTI-2010 CONTACT INFO:

Sutikalh: sutikalh2003@telus.net
Skwelkwek’welt: jrbilly@mail.ocis.net (Secwepemc anti-Sun Peaks)
Warrior Publications: zig_zag48@hotmail.com
Indigenous Free School: indigenous.free.school@gmail.com
Warrior Spirit of Harriet Nahanee Blog: harrietspirit.blogspot.com
Tahltan Website: www.sacredheadwaters.com
No 2010 website: www.No2010.com

* Indian Act: an act first passed in 1876 imposing federal control over all Indigenous peoples, establishing the reserve system, band councils, and band membership (status). A separate set of laws, rules & regulations for Indigenous peoples (i.e., apartheid). A means to outlaw ceremonies and traditional forms of social organization, language and culture, as well as to impose Residential Schools, to prohibit political organizing (as in 1927, when the act was amended to outlaw rising funds for land claims). The purpose of the Indian act was to assimilate Indigenous peoples, and was always seen as a temporary legislation necessary only until assimilation was completed.