Chehalis Indian Band Closes BC Forestry Campground at 20-Mile Bay

Attention: Assignment Editor, City Editor, Environment Editor, News Editor, Government/Political Affairs Editor

AGASSIZ, BC, PRESS RELEASE–(July 30, 2008) – On July 30th, 2008, the Chehalis Indian Band closed the provincial forestry campground at 20-Mile Bay on West Harrison Lake, under authority of Chehalis Indian Band Council Resolution.The 20-Mile Bay campground and surrounding area has been the subject of controversy, since 2003, when the Douglas First Nation were awarded a 5-year contract to manage the site.

What Chehalis find most disturbing about this situation is that the campground is situated directly on top of the Chehalis ancestral tribal village of St’epsum (‘narrow neck’, ‘a place to rest your head’).

The situation intensified in January of 2006, when Chehalis learned that the 20-Mile Bay campground and adjacent lands were identified as ‘Treaty Settlement Lands’ by the In-SHUCK-ch Council (made up of 3 Lower Lillooet Bands: Douglas, Skatin, and Samahquam First Nations). This surprise announcement was done without any prior consultation with the Chehalis Indian Band, and fully supported by the BC Treaty Commission.

The situation was further exacerbated in March of 2008, when the Ministry of Tourism, Sports & the Arts re-awarded the management contract for 20-Mile Bay to the Douglas First Nation, against the explicit wishes of the Chehalis Indian Band, and contrary to a previous commitment by the Ministry of Forest and Range made to Chehalis.

To emphasize their ancestral connection to 20-Mile Bay, the Chehalis Indian Band hosted a community gathering at St’epsum, on Friday, July 25th, 2008, with the following objectives:

1. To acknowledge the Chehalis ancestors ‘Kuya’ and ‘Xoyet-thet’, who originated at the village of St’epsum.
· These traditional names have been carried through the ages by Chehalis people, including recently deceased elders Johnny Leon and Peter Williams, respectively.

2. To erect a memorial marker commemorating Chehalis ancestors from St’epsum and buried on Long Island (Hikw Tl’tsas ‘Island of the dead’), including Kuya, Xoyet-thet, their ancestors, and more recently, Benedict and Angela Leon, brother and sister of the late Johnny Leon, who were buried here in the 1920’s.

3. To perform a traditional ceremonial burning and ground blessing ceremony to acknowledge our Chehalis connection with our ancestral village.

4. To erect Chehalis markers demarking the site as a Chehalis tribal village.

5. To have a naming ceremony, where ancestral names connected with St’epsum village were bestowed upon three Chehalis Band members.

Since 2002, the Chehalis Band has been concerned about how the site has been treated by the visiting public and managed as a wilderness campground. The Band has formally protested to the Ministry of Forests and Range and, more-recently, the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts. Chehalis have noted on numerous occasions to government that they have several family lines connected to this place and that several Chehalis ancestors from St’epsum village are buried nearby on Long Island.

In the past several years, and again recently, Chehalis sent staff, including a Parks maintenance crew, up to 20-Mile Bay and were shocked at the amount of garbage and abuse of the site.

Chehalis repeatedly proposed to government that Chehalis should assume management. This proposal has been repeatedly rejected. Therefore, the Chehalis Indian Band has been left with no option but to close the site to the public, until further notice. By these actions, the Chehalis Indian Band is reclaiming its sovereign jurisdiction over its ancestral tribal village.

Chief William Charlie
Cha-qua-wet

/For further information: Chief William Charlie: (604) 796-2116 or (604) 702-8520 (cell) — Councilor Boyd Peters (604) 796-2116 or (604) 703-6279 — AR&T Heritage Resources Advisor, Gordon Mohs (604) 796-2116/

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For more information, please contact

William Charlie, Chief, Chehalis Indian Band
Primary Phone: 604-702-8520
Secondary Phone: 604-796-2116