Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank all the witnesses for their valuable contributions to this discussion.
The broad perspective that's been suggested to us and some of the things we should be concerned about in this national conservation plan are conserving, of course, connecting, ecosystems, wildlife corridors, restoring habitat, and also connecting people to the habitat, which is increasingly a concern with urbanization and with more and more people disconnected.
Mr. Farrant, with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, you made a comment about anglers and hunters being connected to wildlife. I want to say that we recognize that. You're on the front lines. You are in fact engaged in environment. You're some of the Canadians who actually do get out and engage in our wilderness areas. And we do appreciate the feedback there. Actually, observation is the foundation of science. So those front-line observations are very valued.
Given the shortage of time, I'm going to have to address some questions the other way. I have to go to the national chief, because the area I represent, about 9,000 square kilometres, and the national chief's traditional territory have significant overlap.
Chief Atleo, I want to go briefly to the Nuu-chah-nulth and to our own area.
Out in Barkley Sound I have seen sites, traditional harvesting sites, dating back in some estimates almost 10,000 years, where some of your ancestors were harvesting fish in areas...and fish habitat there, where they channeled them into areas and then closed if off to be able to harvest.
You have been managing wildlife on the coast and your peoples have done this as well for many years. One of the terms we've heard occasionally here from your culture in the Nuu-chah-nulth language is I think a very valuable concept, if I'm pronouncing it right: Hishuk ish tsawalk. You might want to correct my pronunciation. It literally means “everything is one”, that we're part of nature and nature is part of us, if I understand that correctly.
Could you expand a little bit on the traditional activities of your people in our area?