ANTI-DRUG MARCH SERVES NOTICES ON A DOZEN DEALERS

Tla'Amin members, ranging from newborns to elders, express community's
intolerance toward trafficking

Tla'Amin (Sliammon) First Nation residents demonstrated that they will
not tolerate drug activity on the reserve, posting eviction notices on
the doors of 12 residences.

The precipitator for widespread community action against drug dealers
was the death of 20-year-old Emma Megan Wilson, who was fatally
injured on the reserve on Saturday, July 25.

About 80 band members, plus two Powell River RCMP officers,
participated in a procession that led around streets on the reserve,
advising the persons named in the notices that they either had 24
hours to enter drug treatment, or face eviction, denial of social
services and banishment from the first nation. The first house where a
notice was read and posted was the house where Wilson was killed.

A large and visible community activity such as this march has been in
discussion since Tla'Amin overwhelmingly passed a referendum in
January 2008 allowing for banishment for drug offenders. The community
hosted an anti-drug rally in May of this year and as part of the
follow-up, there was hope that some form of demonstration could be
held. Circumstances pushed the march to the head of the agenda at the
first nation.

Marchers gathered outside the Tla'Amin band office at 9 am on
Thursday, July 30 to be briefed about the reasons for the march and to
outline its route.

Clint Williams, Tla'Amin chief councillor, said drugs are a matter of
consternation to the people of the first nation. He added there were
readers' comments in the Province newspaper associated with the
paper's news coverage that was erroneous. "They were painting the
Tla'Amin people with this bad brush that we are all horrible people,
it seems like," Williams said. "This walk is a response to that to
show people we all do care and we are all concerned."

Williams acknowledged the RCMP for attending the event and said it
would be a strong presence to have them walking, but that the
strongest presence was all of the Tla'Amin people joined together.

"I'm proud to see all of the people here," he said.

Tla'Amin councillor and band elder Eugene Louie opened the
march.

"I raise my hands to everyone here, supporting our community," Louie
prayed. "We ask our Creator to instill in our hearts and minds of what
we are doing here today. We hope things can change in the future. This
is what we ask of our Creator today."

He then prayed in the Tla'Amin language.

Williams said some of the participants probably felt uncomfortable
assembling in a parking lot prior to the march and that shouldn't be
the case. "We are people trying to good here," he said. "If you are
people feeling uncomfortable, please don't. We are the people in this
community who should be feeling just fine. This is a peaceful event
and I want everyone to keep that in mind just in case anybody is in a
front yard or any place that ends up getting aggressive.

"We have a dozen letters we are going to be dropping off on
porches."

In spite of the heat wave, the procession went to houses where drug
activity has been identified. In each case, a speaker read a copy of
the notice, naming the persons involved and the options they had [the
full contents of the letter are posted below]. After being read, with
drums sounding in the streets, the notices were attached to each door.

In all but two of the cases, residents were either not home or did not
answer the door when the marchers arrived. At one residence, a young
man came to the door and admonished the crowd, saying its actions were
inconsiderate because there were children in the house. At another
house, a young woman met the crowd and advised that the woman who had
been identified in the notice had gone to jail and had been through
drug treatment, so she had paid her debt to society. Organizers of the
rally, however, said they suspected that a man who had not been jailed
or gone through treatment was living at the residence, and that the
notice applied to him as well.

During the march Sergeant Cam Muir, from the Powell River RCMP, said
the police were in attendance to keep the peace while this community
demonstration was taking place, but there was an additional reason for
his involvement. "We are here to support community expression that
drug trafficking and the associated crime that occurs cannot be
tolerated," Muir said. "Really, in the Sliammon community, it's in the
hands of a fairly small percentage of people. It should also be noted
that non-residents of the Sliammon community who come here for the
purpose of purchasing and trafficking in narcotics are also
contributing to the harm this issue is creating. It is not a problem
that solely rests and exists within the Sliammon First Nation, but the
entire region as a whole."

Muir said it's encouraging that the Sliammon community is taking
responsibility for the issues that rest within its borders and
addressing members of their community in a direct and frank manner.
"In my view, this march was an act of courage. It's not easy to accept
ownership, but that's what's happening here in the Sliammon community.
Leadership is accepting ownership of this problem and is taking action."

Verna Francis, Tla'Amin justice worker, said she was very pleased with
the community support for the march. She said she didn't expect so
many people to support this. "We have an anti-drug committee that
we've been working on and we've been trying to structure and formalize
this committee," she said. "Because this incident happened [on July
25] where a life has been taken as a result of the drugs and the drug
activity in our community, we decided to step into the action phase.
We are trying to save our children, especially, and address this issue
with the community, that we are taking back our community. We will no
longer tolerate the drug activities in our community.

"Enough Is Enough."

Francis said a number of Tla'Amin people have come forward and
expressed their concerns and issues regarding the drug dealers. "We
are focusing on the main dealers today," she said. "We have a big list
that we would like to address. We need to take action."

Francis said that at the community anti-drug forum Doris Paul, a
dynamic community activist from Squamish, attended and spoke to the
assembly. "Doris recommended that we take action," she said. "We could
wait forever to formalize our committee and structure it. Meanwhile
our community is falling apart. We can no longer wait.

"We have to take this action today. We will continue to take action.
This is just 12 of the people that were on our list. We have 20 more.
These were the main dealers we were dealing with today. These others
are hosting and enabling the drug activities to go on in the homes,
with the drug parties."

Francis said that Tla'Amin can't lose any more of its members. "People
are being affected. Children, families, children are being neglected
because of the drug activities. The children, especially, are the ones
we are trying to save."

The community was shocked that the marchers were able to read letters
in front of and post them on the offending houses, according to
Francis. "It was a powerful statement coming from our committee and
our community members," she said. "People keep expecting leadership to
take control and deal with things. Our people are so dependent on
leadership to do things but the community members have to be
accountable as well. That happened today and I'm so happy. I'm so
proud of our people that they have come forward and stood strong and
supported us."

After the march Williams said the event represented an entire
cross-section of the first nation. "We have representation all the way
from newborns to the elders and loads of different families involved
with the march," he said. "It's great to see. The community is
starting to come together and work together.

"This is the toughest challenge and I'm hoping today's march really
brings a positive spin to the community. The community has gone
through a very tough time with a number of deaths. Not all them are
tied to drugs, but everyone knows each other down here and most of the
people are related to one another. So when somebody passes it's a very
tough event for the whole community. It really hits all each time."

Not only are young people dying, but the first nation has lost a
number of its elders. Williams said since November, he has lost both
his grandmother and grandfather. "I'm doing a lot of this for them
because they personally couldn't stand it," he said. "That's one of
the things in the back of my mind is my grandparents."

Tla'Amin's leadership wants people who are opposed to the effects of
drugs in the community to feel comfortable on the first nation
properties because some people don't even like leaving their homes.
"They are worried they are going to be robbed when they leave," he
said. "That makes me think of Mabel Galligos, one of the elders we
just lost recently. She didn't want to leave her home. She didn't want
to lose any of her possessions."

Williams said he was very proud of the community members who
participated in the march because it took courage to express
opposition so publicly, and actually walk up to doors and tape notices
to them. "It's very intimidating," he said. "You can see that at some
of the houses. It's a little more personal. It's tougher for some
people to be in front of some of these houses. That's where the good
number of marchers helps. With the houses where people were not
comfortable, others were there to help, to put the hand on the
shoulder and say, 'Okay, we'll get through this.'"

Williams said the Tla'Amin people are very serious about the problem.
"The one thing that I would like to acknowledge is that all of the
Sliammon entities were represented and that has been a challenge
before," he said. "People are starting to want to work together so the
invisible boundaries people had are starting to disappear and I'm
really grateful to see a lot of different family representation."

Part of the march was also to pay a respect to Emma Wilson. "No matter
what events led up to her death, she is still a human being," Williams
said.