Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There was one issue that included a portion of land right in the heart of our territory. I'll ask Mr. Reiter to explain this.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, I have one last comment. I would like to say that since I've been chief—and I've been chief for 34 years—we have either formed good relationships with our neighbours or they already existed. For example, the people in the regional district, the Hope RCMP, and most recently,

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Everybody is excited about this. These are very exciting times for the Yale First Nation. I believe they can see opportunities for the future. We're talking about economic development projects and joint ventures, with the hope of providing employment to some people who have a har

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't speak my native language at all. Throughout my life I've concentrated on getting a good handle on the English language, so I'm sorry, but I don't know my language.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  All the Yale treaty settlement land will be private property post the effective date, with the exception of the Frozen Lakes area, which will be open to the public for recreational purposes. The land, being private property, will be similar, I guess, to that of anybody else, of a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, we've always protected our land. We have continued occupancy for our land. There are stories that have been passed down from generation to generation on how we protected our land. Some are very vicious stories, where we would have a battle—this is pre-contact—with other fi

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, that's only right and proper; it's the right thing to do. That is a custom of sorts.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. The reason at least in part would be that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans gave members of the Stó:lo and other native communities a licence to fish anywhere between the Port Mann Bridge and Sawmill Creek. That's a large area. But they have the opportunity to fish wher

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are 154 Yale people. We have adopted a few through this process, but it's running pretty close to half and half. Some live in Vancouver, Toronto, and down in Seattle. I'd have to say it's about half at this time.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Let me start with a brief outline of the five-mile fishery as the Stó:lo call it. It's not five miles long. It's considerably shorter, but it happens to be near a creek that we call Five Mile Creek. We haven't decided what sort of a permit system we would use. If the people who d

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Well, I'm glad you brought up the issue of this cemetery. Just this past week, I and some people from my community conducted a ceremony at this graveyard or cemetery in the canyon. The Stó:lo elder wanted to do this before fishing season started. That's just an example of how we'

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We've written letters to the Stó:lo groups and invited them to take part in a working group that would include both Stó:lo and Yale people who would be knowledgeable about the fishery and knowledgeable about the outlying area, the land. We're willing to work with them and come up