Band members upset by delay
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Nahanni Butte (Dec 01/00) - Members of the Nahanni Butte Dene Band are worried about jobs.
"We're looking for work. Right now there is no employment here," said George Betsaka last Wednesday.
"You guys (Deh Cho First Nations executive) get paid every two weeks, we don't. You don't give a shit if that mine is open or not. What are you doing for us?" said Betsaka, adding he hasn't seen a cent so far from protecting the land.
Fellow band member Morris Vital had expressed the same sentiments earlier in the day.
He said park expansion should be limited, otherwise "it would close off development and everyone would go on welfare."
Raymond Vital, another band member, said the young people need jobs.
DCFN Grand Chief Michael Nadli, responding to concerns, outlined three priorities for the next year: ensuring self-government negotiations remain on track, cultivating economic development initiatives and building community capacities.
"Our elders have indicated to us that we have to be very careful, we have to have a balance," said Nadli, who realizes the urgent need for jobs in some communities.
Some companies are attempting to establish development with individual First Nations in the region, but that approach is divisive, he said.
He said another problem is the Canadian Mining Regulation's "free entry system," which freely permits staking and exploration, an infringement of aboriginal rights.
Nadli said all 10 Deh Cho communities should work together to define acceptable economic development. He described the idea of simply extracting resources and selling them in the south as "very naive."
"Doing things the right way takes time," he said.
