LETTER TO SHELL CONCERNING KLAPPAN

Dear Mr. Brown and Mr. Ford:

I inquire about Shell's current plan to develop the Klappan.

I recently returned to the area and heard about your meeting in KitamHaaxw (Hazelton), which as you know is on one of the 3 threatened Rivers.

I notice that Shell has forged relations with factions of the Tahltan and have heard others oppose your plans. I assure you I am concerned too but more interested in the larger picture of the future of the Planet. I have had a long career in the Aboriginal movement as part of the Delgamuukw Family, my natural father was Haaxw, second named Plaintiff in that case, and I have a radical theory of how all these things will eventually turn out.

May I suggest a course forward with potential of achieving everyone's objective without hostility and which will decrease the tension? As you must know Canada has apologized for wrongs done under the Indian Act policies, but I don't think many people are as sensitive to these issues as I am. If they were they would have remarked on some of the more subtle messages given out by the Prime Minister's actions and body language. I come back to that point after explaining what's at the heart of all this business about lost languages and culture.

I arrived at my concepts following a successful business career that caused my marriage to fail after which I formed a religious belief that alienated me from my family and community and placed me on the nether edge of society. After nearly 30 years of 'trials & tribulations' I am happy to say I understand the world and am ready to teach others what I learned. It all comes down to the Story we believe in and tell others and to the method of telling. What occurred when America was settled was a collision of stories; Christian beliefs crashed into Indigenous ideas of Nature and while the Bible prevailed for a while, lately the Western belief system has been sorely tested and challenged, allowing Native Indians to demand their share in the economy. Now that Oil reserves are decreasing your company is eager to tap the Klappan to see its potential. The question I pose to you however, is what's the real story behind it all?

As I see it your obligation is to those who own shares in Shell who expect a return on their investment, while the local population protects their ecology and makes some money as well. At one time Hereditary Chiefs played the role of management of corporations by offering portions of any profit realized through production of trade goods and food. This was done in proverbial Potlatch's which were virtual shareholder meetings with distributions of the gains of a season. The process got skewed under Colonial rule with the epidemics and other distortions of the ecology. When they did outlaw potlatch it was not the same Institution and process that existed prior to settlement. But now Judges are bringing the law to recognize land and resource rights that were central to the function of Potlatch. This is happening unnoticed by Chiefs distracted by centralized power structures and engrossed in making money just for attending meetings.

The problem I see, which your company has to take into account, is these claims are merely added costs which really don't benefit Indians. It's another penalty like the Residential School compensation. At the end nobody gains. The price of products is higher because two hands are in the till dividing the same profit. And it's the same with every project. There's always a general cost of funding separate administrations.

So what do I say will resolve it?

When Prime Minister Harper apologized they removed the Mace from the House Chamber! Why? To demonstrate Canada doesn't acknowledge that Indian claims of Title amount to full rights of ownership. By that they undercut the whole point of the apology. So the land question still exists and the price of doing business continues to contend with two claims on the land. The solution, when it comes, will only come when we all understand our story and all follow one law. If you understand what I explain you see that the Judges are demanding reconciliation of Land Title with the overall institutional structure of the State but the best the Governments come up with is the Treaty Process that only maintains and aggravates two communities in opposition.

Go back to the story: why was Potlatch outlawed? Because it was a successful process that enabled the owners of the land to profit.

So my answer to the problem is to restore Potlatch.

To do that requires two things: one is to know the whole story, the second is to have the power, or capital to Potlatch.

I have the story, your company, and the State, have capital. The Indian owners of the land, in their Hereditary Chiefs, lack both the story and the capital leqaving them eager to compromise. What must happen is we have to Potlatch, which means sponsoring the process, attracting participants and empower the process by the certainty of a resolution.The whole thing depends on the power of the common story and the promise that everyone will benefit.



To conclude this chapter then I'll explain what should have taken place in the House of Commons during the apology: provided this solution had been known and understood beforehand, instead of removing the Mace some symbol of Potlatch and of our Aboriginal Title and Ownership would have been carried in and placed alongside the Mace joining the two powers together; that would have brought more tears but tears of joy.

Please consider this a preliminary invitation to Potlatch.