Last week, TLC Executive Director, Cathy Armstrong, was interviewed on the CBC Unreserved radio program by host, Rosanna Deerchild. In this episode, Cathy and TLC SISȻENEM partners Eric Pelkey (W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council) and Dr. Tara Martin (University of British-Columbia) speak to the ongoing process of transferring SISȻENEM back to the W̱SÁNEĆ First Nation. The recording is now available on the CBC Unreserved
website.
Got land you want to give back? That may be harder than you think. Even when a group or individual is ready and willing to give land back to First Nations, there is no system in place to make this happen easily. Still, those who believe in land back are making it happen. SISȻENEM, formerly Halibut Island, is a small island in the Salish Sea. When it went up for sale, Tara Martin, professor in conservation science in the department of Forest and Conservation sciences at UBC, wanted to return the island to the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation. She says that their guardianship is how this ecological gem would flourish. She found a funder, purchased the land, had it held in trust, and now that the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation has created its own land trust, it officially can have the land transferred over. If you got land – and want to return or gift it to a local First Nation or Indigenous group, how do you go about it? Lorraine Land, a lawyer who specializes in Indigenous rights and environmental law, knows the barriers in Canadian law that complicate the land back process. She outlines the existing ways land can be given back. Cathy Armstrong is the executive director of the Land Conservancy of BC. After the purchase of the island they held it in trust. Cathy says land back must be part of reconciliation. Eric Pelkey is the community engagement coordinator of the W̱SÁNEĆ leadership council and the hereditary chief of Tsawout. He says the island is rich in traditional plants like camas and the presence of an ancient burial ground prove the W̱SÁNEĆ once lived there.
SISȻENEM (Halibut Island)
About
SISȻENEM (Halibut Island) is a 9.67-acre island off the east coast of Sidney Island, BC. Acquired by TLC in early 2021, it will be the first piece of land in Canada to be transferred back to a First Nations community through a land trust as an act of reconciliation. Read more…
