The
Musqueam Indian Band resides primarily on the Musqueam Indian Reserve, by the
mouth of the Fraser River, just south of Marine Drive. A specific property near
this area, but not located on the reserve, is known as the Marpole Midden. It
is known to archaeologists all over Vancouver as an important heritage site.
However,
this past January, Lan-Pro Holdings was given a permit to examine the land for
further development, and discovered during their investigation (conducted by
Stantec), intact burial remains. This discovery generated a lot of conversation
and controversy about entitlement and preservation from the Musqueam Band.
The
permits were issued, in spite of archaeological knowledge about the historical
importance of the site, because of obvious previous disturbance of the land in
question. There was also known development on the site since after it was
uinhabited by First Nations. Brennan Clarke, from the Ministry of Forests,
Lands, and Natural Resource Operations explains, “This site has seen
significant disturbance over the years – the majority has been heavily
disturbed. This site was settled in 1880s and has been redeveloped several
times: in 1889, 1892 ,and 1995.”
The
attempted development generated enough frustration to warrant a protest, which occurred
on Mar. 12. Approximately 40 people showed up at the site to prevent further
damage or displacement of the remains. There are many bureaucratic issues
surrounding the land, however.
“The
federal government doesn’t have jurisdiction over those lands,” says Aaron
Wilson, a spokesperson for the protestors. “Neither does the city … because the
B.C. government has power over property under the Land Title Act, and so they
also have power over those sorts of archaeological sites.”
The
Land Title Act registry keeps official legal record as well as private property
ownership details. Originally, the plan was to remove the remains of the site
so as to continue the archaeological investigation. However, the Musqueam representation
desires the site to be left as is and to work alongside the city and provincial
governments to reach a compromise.
TABLE
TALKS
All
parties – the provincial government, the developers, the City of Vancouver, and
Musqueam representatives – have met together now for several meetings, and
parties have appeared willing to reach consensus via the talks. So far, they
have had success reaching compromises on stop work orders for the construction
site; in addition, the Musqueam protesters have agreed to not protest at the
site anymore.
“The
meetings [have been] successful in the sense that all the parties agreed to
pause the digging on the site and look at possible solutions that would protect
the site, while at the same time recognizing the investments of the owners and
property builders … What that lead to was the agreement between Musqueam
[representatives] and the developers to look at options and possible solutions
in the next three weeks,” says Wilson.
At
the core of the protest was the issuing of the permits that allowed development
to be considered from the beginning. The body of government that administers
the B.C. Heritage Act is also the body that administered the permits to possibly
develop the land.
“What
happens is the archaeology branch administers the B.C. Heritage Conservation
Act, so what that act does is it, by default, protects a site like the village
site. What the archaeology branch can do is they can issue permits for archaeological
investigation and alteration … So what they did, is they issued these permits to
the developer to hire archaeologists to go in and investigate the site, but in
the process of investigating, they came across this intact burial,” he adds.
It’s
not just the issuing of the permits, however, that has members of the Musqueam
band protesting the site’s development. It’s the action towards the remains
themselves.
He
explains, “What sparked us community members to go down there and to try and
protect the burial was that we heard that these archaeologists were going to go
in and essentially remove the burial. Because they were saying, 'We need to
carry on with our investigation into this site because there needs to be an
investigation prior to development.’ So, we wanted to make sure that in the
course of this investigation that those remains weren’t affected in any way. To
us it’s a clear, clear no-brainer. It’s a historical site, recognized by the
federal government since the 1930s.”
HERITAGE
CONSERVATION
In
2003, on South Pender Island, an ancient Coast Salish village and burial ground
were destroyed by Poet’s Cove Resort owners and developers. In 2005, the
developer was charged for violating the 1996 Heritage Conservation Act. This
was the first time that the provincial government had ever attempted to enforce
the Act, and the trial is still ongoing.
The
site on the Marpole Midden has been protected for 80 years, but more
importantly, has been occupied by First Nations people for approximately 4,000
years. It has only been in the last century that the earth around the site has
been altered and disturbed numerous times, though no remains were uncovered.
Though the site is known archaeologically, the permits given out originally
(those separate from those of the Ministry) came from the city, a body of
governance not responsible for archaeological upkeep or representation.
“During
their archaeological investigation [they] came across intact burials. For us,
that reinforced our position that there is a lot there worth protecting,”
explains Wilson.
SO
MANY PERMITS
Although
the issue isn’t theirs alone, Wendy Stewart from the City of Vancouver’s
Corporate Communications office shed some light on the city’s role in the
issue.
“The
city has a role to play, but the issues aren’t ours … that is, we give out
permits for work to take place, but the issue on the site is the concerns around
the burial ground and that is an issue for the provincial government. We issue permits
within our regulations within the city of the Vancouver charter. The province
of B.C., through the ministry of forests and resources … they have oversight of
the legislation around the archaeological pieces.”
She
confirmed that permits are given out without foreknowledge of archaeological
territory, as this falls later onto provincial jurisdiction: “The permits that
we issue here in the city say that they have to comply with all regulations, so
if someone’s digging something and they find an archaeological kind of thing,
then they have to follow provincial laws. We don’t have say over archaeology in
Vancouver.”
A
site development permit, as defined by the Archaeology Department’s website is:
“a permit required to undertake development activities within the boundaries of
a recorded archaeological site.”
The
Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations is the department
of the government in charge of issuing these permits for land alteration, which
are different than the permits distributed by the city.
A
press release from the Ministry of Forests, Land, and Natural Resources stated
that “the province issued two permits for the project on Marpole Midden, both
on Dec. 19, 2011. [The first was] a site alteration permit to Lan-Pro Holdings and
Stantec, the archaeology consultant, and [the second was] a heritage
investigation permit to Stantec. The city issued a development permit prior to
the province issuing its permits.”
According
to the Ministry’s press release, this past January was not the only time the Musqueam
band had been considered in the planning: “In December 2008, the Province sent the
draft management plan to the Musqueam Indian Band for comment, but did not
receive any response from the Musqueam until the current permit application was
referred to them.”
HOW
TO PROCEED
Concerning
the previous damage to the land, Brennan Clarke, a public affairs officer for
the Ministry, was confident on the Ministry’s stance. “This proposed site
management plan would preserve half the site in perpetuity while still allowing
for reasonable development of the site,” he says.
The
Ministry has also expressed that there is no reason to fear the damaging of the
historical site: “The Archaeology Branch is satisfied that the proposed site
management plan balances the condition of the site (heavily disturbed) with the
interests of the private land owner. The Province is [also] following the
appropriate archaeological methodologies to preserve remains at the site.”
Wilson
as well is hopeful and determined. He suggests that more than just Musqueam
community members get involved as well. He points out that people could write
letters to Minister Steve Thompson, who is the cabinet minister of the Forest,
Land, and Natural Resources Department, which runs the archaeology branch that administers
the B.C. Conservation Act.
“It’s
my hope that they’re actually trying to help at this point,” he says. “I think
that what happened in this situation was wrong and it’s my hope that if the
negotiations go forward and everyone works together … the parties can find a
solution that benefits everyone. Then we can look forward instead of looking
backwards.”
//Katherine Alpen, writer
//Graphics by Katie So
//Graphics by Katie So
|
