Tl’azt’en Nation

Tl’azt’en Nation Statement

Mercury-laden mining waste spills into Pinchi lake, provincial chief mine inspector downplays its significance; Tl’azt’en First Nation issues a moratorium on new mining activity in their traditional territory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tl’azt’en Traditional Territory, Tache, B.C. (February 21, 2005) – We feel it’s a disgrace that a tailings pond can spill its mercury-laden waste into a lake and somehow this is “not expected to hurt the water quality," as the province’s chief inspector of mines, Fred Hermann, said in a news report out of Prince George last week.

How could this be?

Mr. Fred Hermann, the province's chief mine inspector, indicated that the dam break, which occurred on or about November 30 of last year, saw anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 cubic metres of rock, dirt and waste water spill into the lake. This amount is equivalent to about two Olympic-sized swimming pools. According to Mr. Hermann, the material was "benign" and "inert" when compared to what existed there before. If so, this is truly tragic, yet very telling, as it indicates that there are at least two stories here.

One is the dam failure itself, which to our knowledge is the second time. The other is the historic treatment of this lake by Teck Cominco, where over time untold amounts of mercury-related toxins were released into it.

This 5500 hectare lake is located about 50 kilometers from Tache, the Tl’azt’en First Nation’s main village. It supports a variety of fish, mostly lake trout, whitefish, and rainbow trout.

For countless centuries the fish and the surrounding wildlife have sustained our people’s excellent health and well-being, including our relatives in Nak’azdli. But after the mercury mine opened in the 1940's, and again in 1970's, appalling things began happening to our people's health. We now know this is because of past mining activities, which have tainted the fish with mercury. To better understand this, I invite you and anyone else to our village to listen to our story of how this beautiful lake was ruined by mining. And this was before the recent spill. Now what can we expect because of it? We still have many questions that the government and the company haven’t provided answers to.

We want this lake back to its former health and productivity. As it is, even popular sport fishing publications warn people not to eat the fish because they are contaminated with mercury. We feel it is only appropriate to be directly involved in all activities that will rehabilitate this lake. Therefore, we will be seeking out meaningful consultation and accommodation from the company and government on this issue. Meanwhile, to date, both have not been forthcoming with information, except for reports that were completed without our involvement.

Until these issues are properly dealt with, the Tl’azt’en Nation has issued a moratorium on new mining activities in our territory. This position is consistent with other first nations across the province, contending that the B.C. mining industry has much to account for before making further incursions into their territories.

For more information, contact Chief Thomas Alexis, Tl'azt'en Nation, at 250-648-3212.

Backgrounder

Tl’azt’en Nation – “people by the edge of the bay” – is a First Nation situated in north -central British Columbia. We know ourselves as Dakelh (“we travel by water”) but when Europeans first arrived here, they called us ‘Carrier Indians.’ Our language, Dakelh, is part of what is called the Athapaskan language group.

Prior to contact, our traditional territory covered a vast area along Stuart Lake running up the Tache River almost to Takla Lake to the north. The Keyoh (land) was managed by family units and the family head controlled the hunting, fishing and gathering in his Keyoh. It was not until the late 1800’s that Tl’azt’enne began to gather in central communities in response to the fur-trade and the dictates of the Roman Catholic Church.

The present population of Tl’azt’en Nation is around 1300. Approximately 800 people live in one of the communities of Tache, Binche, Dzitl’ainli, or K’uzche. Tache, the largest of the communities, is situated 65 km north of Fort St. James at the mouth of the Tache River on Stuart Lake. Binche is twenty-five km from Fort St. James and is at the mouth of the Binche river, which drains Binche Lake (Pinchi Lake) into Stuart Lake. Dzitl'ainli is on Leo Creek road along side Trembleur Lake. K’uzche is on the Tache River.

The main administrative offices are in Tache, as are the elementary school, daycare, Head Start, health and RCMP offices.

It is our goal to have our culture and language integrated into all aspects of our education from daycare to high school. Over the years we have trained our people to work in our daycare, Head Start and our community-based elementary school. We are presently working to preserve and digitize and promote our language, stories and cultural practices so that they will form our curriculum. Our elders are helping us in our effort to reinstate and perpetuate our language and culture before it is all lost.

Our people still live off the land. We hunt moose, deer, bear, caribou, mountain goats, and small fur bearing animals. We set nets for salmon, whitefish, trout, kokanee, spring salmon, and lingcod. We still go to our camp grounds in the summer time and gather food for winter storage.

See: www.tlc.baremetal.com

posted February 22, 2005

Pinchi Dam Break Another Sign of Mining Irresponsibility

Dakelh Territory – The history of mercury mining is a troubled one in the Tl’azt’en and Nak’azdli Nations’ territories and the recent dam break at Pinchi Lake is further indication of the impacts that mining has on First Nations communities, says Carrier Sekani Tribal Council Tribal Chief Harry Pierre.

“The mercury mine in our territory has had very severe impacts on the health of our people and the environment in which we live,” said Pierre. “If the mining industry is serious about doing business here, then they must do a better job of limiting their impacts and cleaning up the mess after the mining is done.”

Pinchi Lake Mercury Mine has been targeted in the past by the Carrier and Sekani peoples for their pollution of the lake that is a source of food
and water for the surrounding villages. People from the Tl’azt’en Nation have extremely high levels of cancer among young people and premature deaths, which have been a call to action for many years.

“Pinchi Village used to be one of our peoples’ biggest villages, now it is one of the smallest. The mining company and the government continue to
claim that the impacts of the mercury mine are minimal, but our people know first-hand that this is not true,” said Pierre.

According to the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection data, Pinchi Lake has one of the highest levels of mercury concentration in lake trout in British Columbia. This is known to be a risk to human health.

“My family has relied on the char, trout and whitefish from this lake for hundreds of years, and this company with the government’s approval has poisoned our food source,” said Pierre. “Before there was welfare in our communities my mother-in-law raised 24 children on Pinchi Lake, now we cannot rely on our own territories to feed us anymore.”

Contact: Tribal Chief Harry Pierre, 250-562-6279.