Monday 21 March 2016

All Trails are Indigenous: Trails, Mountain biking & Reconciliation among the Simcpw Nation – the people of the North Thompson River

“All Trails are Indigenous.  Revealed by the footpaths of deer as they cross the land looking for food or shelter, the ancient trading paths of Indigenous cultures, or built by mountain bike enthusiasts with an eye for a great line or descent.  They are indigenous in that they are an expression of the form and pulse of the land.  Revealing and travelling along a trail connects us to a specific place; they are an expression of relationships between people and the land.”
Tom Eustache (Centre) and Leon Eustache (Front) Secwepemc Warriors and Riders
In the latest installment of the Riding Turtle Island series, a collaborative project between Tree Meter Productions and the Aboriginal Youth Mountain Program, we meet Tom Eustache and his nephew Leon Eustache.  Both men are avid mountain bikers and trail builders from the Simpcw First Nation, a Secwepemc community located in the North Thompson River Valley just north of Barriere and approximately 80km northeast of Kamloops.  
As a councilor for the Simpcw Nation, Tom strongly believes there is a need for more recreational opportunities for his people and for the youth in particular. In previous years the community built a network of hiking trails in the forests on a ridge above the band office, but they had fallen into disrepair and disuse.  Tom, who had raised his own children to become passionate riders, believed that riding could be a means for engaging the youth and inspiring his people to get outdoors, reconnect with nature and the land, and live healthy active lives. 
Over the next several years, the two men worked together to clear and rebuild the trails into a network of trails crisscrossing the ridge providing a diverse mix of fast and flowy trails that started getting the attention of people in and outside the community. 
In the summer of 2014 Martin Littlejohn, from the Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Association (MBTA), first visited the community on a tip from a colleague.  He was immediately impressed by what he found.  Taken on a ride by Tom and Leon, he could feel their passion and pride as they guided him out on the trails. “The trails were rough but fun.  They were teaching themselves to build and they clearly had the passion and the drive.” 

“Every day we’re not working or riding, we’re out building trail.” Tom stated with conviction. 
Martin knew he had found something special. 

Ask anyone about mountain biking in British Columbia and you’ll likely get an earful about loamy trails that cut through temperate rainforests like a ribbon of silk.  Beneath this there are deeper issues at play including a dark history of colonialism and cultural genocide.  With the recent completion of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission and a growing list of court victories, the First Nations of BC are asserting their Aboriginal Rights and Title and their role as the caretakers and stewards of the land. 
For the mountain bike community this means acknowledging that the trails we love, in many cases, have been built and used without the consent or involvement of the First Nations on whose territories we ride.  Many riders and trail builders are rising up and embracing this as an opportunity for building relationships and creating a legacy of mountain bike recreation development that can serve as a source of inspiration around the world. 
Partnering with the Aboriginal Youth Mountain Bike Program, the Simcpw Nation and the MBTA initiated the McBride to Barriere Mountain Bike Tourism & Recreation Project.  The goal of the project is to work with the communities throughout the region to develop a plan to support trails and recreation and to identify strategies for the Simpcw Nation to take on a leadership role in the mountain bike sector.  The goal is to develop a model for development that will serve as a source of inspiration and best practices throughout the province. 
This culminated in a two-day trail building workshop hosted by the Simpcw Nation and led by Mark Wood from the NSMBA North Shore Trail Builders Academy.  The workshop included people from throughout the region and from as far away as Valemount and Vancouver, as well as members from other First Nation communities including the Adams Lake and Nisconlith Bands. 
For Tom, the most important element of the project is the opportunity to develop new friendships and understanding.  You can hear the excitement in his voice and see the passion on his face as he talks about how the trail projects have brought people together “All of us working here, we all get together and we all have a common goal of building something.  You can hear the laughter in the trees.  We all have something in common.  I can go talk to anyone of those people that I probably didn’t know much about but we can sit and talk and that’s pretty neat.” 
For Leon, the trails and mountain biking is about understanding cultural and spiritual connections to the land. It’s the healing properties of nature that we try to promote all the time.  When I bring people out on the land I explain all the different plants out here so that they get an understanding of what we used to heal ourselves.  So there’s not just a mental part, but a physical part.” 
As the trails have grown, Tom has seen a growing number of people out and moving about.  “People are excited.  We’ve even got a new running club in the community.  People keep asking when we’re going to have another workshop, when we’re going to build more trails.”



Across Canada, people are grappling with what authentic and meaningful reconciliation looks like. Tom and Leon stand on the ridge watching as the trail reveals itself below them.  Laughter rises up from the group as everyone works together, throwing dirt, throwing dirt, cutting and digging, discussing routes and descents, swapping jokes and stories.  At the end of the day, Leon leads the group in a song, singing and drumming to bless the completion of the trail that traces the ancient footpaths of their ancestors.  With the beat of the drum still reverberating through the trees, Tom leads everyone on a group ride down through the trees, the path showing us the way forward.    

Saturday 19 March 2016

Unsettling & Unpacking: Resources & Support

One of the first steps each individual must take towards supporting Indigenous communities and authentic reconciliation is to educate ourselves.  I often have discussions around resources, readings and books.  I’ve compiled a short list of some of the key resources that I’ve found over the years that have been really helpful. 

Always on the look out for new sources and books!  Feel free to comment with more suggestions or recommendations.

Websites & Readings:

Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada: National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation 

Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada 

Calls to Action: the 94 recommendations of the Truth & Reconciliation for Canadians to take towards authentic reconciliation: 


Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples: Full report

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya – The situation of indigenous peoples in Canada (Advanced UneditedVersion)

8th Fire: Great series by CBC that draws from an Anishinaabe prophecy that declares now is the time for Aboriginal peoples and Settler Canadians to come together to build the 8th Fire of justice and harmony. http://www.cbc.ca/8thfire/

Working Effectively with Indigneous Peoples: great blog with lots of helpful articles and resources.  They also provide training and workshops.  www.ictinc.ca

Singletrack to Success Project: amazing mountain bike project by the Carcross Tagish First Nation in the Yukon Territory, Canada.  

Union of BC Indian Chiefs: Working towards the recognition, implementation, exercise of our inherent Indigenous Title and Treaty Rights.  Resources & information

Settler Info Project: Tdah-Kawk-nish yahts-tsool (We walk in truth).  An initiative to facilitate a paradigm shift and for Settlers by providing all the information Settlers need to fully understand, respect, value and love First Nations people in Canada.    www.settlersinfo.org

Native Land: Our home on native land.  A website with an interactive mapping platform to help North Americans learn more about their local history, the Aboriginal territories on which they live, local treaties and languages.  (native-land.ca)

Decolonization is Not a Metaphor: Eve Tuck and K. Wayne yang.  Great article on decolonization.  

Unsettling America: Decolonization in Theory& Practice: Unsettling America is an emerging decentralized network of autonomous groups and individuals dedicated to mental and territorial decolonization throughout Turtle Island and the “Americas”.  Excellent website for articles, news and resources.  https://unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com

Land & Reconciliation: Having the Right Conversations.  Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.  Electric City Magazine 

Awakening the Horse: Decolonization, ancestral recovery & indigenization.  Writings & Resources for people of European Heritage https://awakeningthehorse.wordpress.com

Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education &Society. Great website with tons of articles, book reviews and resources 

Notes on a bioregional decolonization.  Excellent blog with lots of thought provoking articles on decolonization. 

Books

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King

Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth worldview by Umeek (Eugene Richard Atleo)

Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada by Paulette Regan

Dances with Dependency: Out of Poverty Through Self-Reliance by Calvin Helin

Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life by James William Daschuk

The Comeback: How Aboriginals are Reclaiming Power and Influence by John Ralston Saul

Alliances: Re/envisioning Indigenous – non-Indigenous Relationships.  Edited by Lynne Davis

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.  History is a Weapon 

Kiss of the Fur Queen: A novel by Tompson Highway

Indian Horse: A novel by Richard Wagamese


The Back of the Turtle: A novel by Thomas King