To the editor:
Imagine this: your family has had some land.
On this land, there are several exquisite lakes, ponds, streams and ecologically crucial wetlands, rolling meadows and verdant forests.
Your family harvests this land regularly, in all seasons, to provide for your extended family – some elders who can no longer support themselves. This land contains many sacred sites, which your family uses to give thanks to the Creator, to initiate children into adulthood and in which to spend time in awe of nature’s bounty.
Your family has been on that land for centuries. It contains your family’s ancient burial grounds. It is the land of the Tsilhqot’in.
Now, imagine a mining company, worth millions. They want your land. They will, if given it, destroy your land and contaminate the waterways that feed some of the largest salmon runs in the world.
They do not even respectfully ask your permission. They barely speak to you.
They just use greed and promises of jobs, not to mention the might of a major corporation to sway government to spend millions on not one, but two, environmental reviews in an attempt to get what they want – more millions for the mine.
There is always another side to the story. I wanted you to hear it.
Barbara May Hooper
Forest Grove
