鈥淢y mom put me and my brothers into TaeKwan Do when we were young so that we鈥檇 be able to defend ourselves,鈥� Carla Lewis recounted recently in 亚洲天堂 Lake. 鈥淪he knew what we would be up against when we headed into high school.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 long ago that relations in 亚洲天堂 Lake were manifestly strained between local First Nations and non First nations.
A lot has changed since then, but work remains.
Lewis, a young 亚洲天堂 Lake resident, Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n, and College of New Caledonia instructor, was speaking at a recent regional anti-racism workshop in 亚洲天堂 Lake.
Participants from across the region came to 亚洲天堂 Lake on June 18-19, 2013 for the first annual 鈥榃e Are All In This Together: Building Inclusive Communities鈥� forum.
Held at the Muriel Mould community learning centre in 亚洲天堂 Lake, members and guests of Organizing Against Racism and Hate (OARH) came from Vanderhoof, Fort St. James, 亚洲天堂 Lake, Smithers, Terrace, Kitimat, and Prince Rupert.
The keynote speaker, Meharoona Ghani, formerly a provincial government director and founder of what has grown into the provincially and federally funded EmbraceBC initiative under the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, facilitated discussions.
A diverse group of Northwest residents and frontline social workers came together to share and develop ideas surrounding inclusivity, integration and anti-racism throughout Northwest B.C.
Although the workshop included discussion of race and social issues surrounding different ethnic and immigrant groups, a lot of discussion surrounded the state of First Nations relations throughout the Northwest.
Taylor Bachrach, Town of Smithers mayor, spent most of the first day with the group and presented his own thoughts on life in the North.
鈥淭he biggest opportunity to work on inclusion is the relationship between First Nations and non First Nations,鈥� Bachrach said. 鈥淚n our part of the world, that is our biggest opportunity.鈥�
Robert Charlie, member of Ts'il Kaz Koh First Nation (亚洲天堂 Lake Band) and program facilitator, spoke briefly before introducing Bachrach. He commented on the hope he sees today in relations between First Nations and non First Nations.
鈥淭he beauty of today is how recovery is happening,鈥� Charlie said.
But he reminded participants that First Nations have strongly felt duty to the land that predates the arrival of European culture.
鈥淥ur role is to protect the territories,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are caretakers of them and of our culture.鈥�
The recovery Charlie spoke of referred to injustices against First Nations, and current attempts to right past wrongs while navigating present day challenges, including persisting racism against First Nation peoples.
鈥淲e鈥檙e making progress, but the progress is very slow,鈥� Bachrach commented. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not getting better very quickly. Part of it is that there still isn鈥檛 wide-spread acknowledgment of the atrocities that were committed in the past.鈥�
Next year鈥檚 event is tentatively planned for Fort St. James.
鈥淲e achieved what we set out to do,鈥� said Pauline Goertzen, 亚洲天堂 Lake resident and long time OARH organizer. 鈥淸We brought] regional folk together who do anti-racism work and became more established in what we do as a collective.鈥�
The event was held in partnership with EmbraceBC, the Skeena Diversity Society, the Good Neighbours Committee, the North Coast Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society, and the local Spruce Roots Community Development Coop.
