First Nation to use blockades if needed to protect ancient B.C. burial site

Joe Alphonse, tribal chairman of the Tsilhqot’in Nation, is pictured at Farwell Canyon, B.C., in a 2014 file photo. The First Nation is remembering a warrior chief who was wrongfully hanged 151 years ago and say they won’t allow another injustice to be done to their ancestor. (JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

by CAMILLE BAINS, The Canadian Press, July 18, 2016

Members of a British Columbia First Nation are remembering a warrior chief who was wrongfully hanged 151 years ago and say they won’t allow another injustice to be done to their ancestor.

The First Nation says a service was held Monday at the site of a high school in New Westminster, B.C., which was built atop a former cemetery where the remains of Tsilhqot’in war Chief Ahan may have been buried after he was executed on July 18, 1865.

Purchase of islet saves B.C. First Nations burial site

Paddler approaches Grace Islet with mansion being built during a protest in August 2014. Photo: Rabble.ca, Gary McNutt.

B.C. gov’t and partners acquire property from private owner who was building a home atop graves

By Sarah Petrusco, The Province, January 15, 2015

The B.C. government announced Thursday it will buy the controversial Grace Islet property, where a luxury home was being built over a First Nations burial ground.

The purchase is in a partnership with First Nations and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

“It can sometimes be challenging to balance the need to protect archeological sites while respecting private property rights. I want to thank all parties for agreeing to work together on a solution,” B.C. Forests Minister Steve Thomson said in a press release.

Protesters disrupt construction over First Nations burial ground on islet off Saltspring Island

Saltspring Island residents together with First Nations elders took to the water Tuesday to demand a halt to the construction of a luxury home on Grace Islet, in Ganges Harbour.

 ‘You would never do this to your ancestors,’ chief tells workers

By Sarah Petrescu, Victoria Times Colonist August 27, 2014

The sharp roar of saws and a generator coming from a construction site on Grace Islet Tuesday morning was too much for Tseycum Chief Vern Jacks.

After paddling in the Cowichan Tribes big canoe over to the small island in Ganges Harbour on Saltspring Island, where a luxury home is being built over a First Nations burial ground, he stood on the shore and yelled to the workers: “You would never do this to your ancestors. Think about your kids, your family.”

Fury grows over house at islet burial site near Saltspring Island

RCMP officers warn protesters near Grace Islet on Friday.

by Sarah Petrescu, Times Colonist, August 1, 2014

Saltspring Islanders have stepped up their efforts to halt the building of a luxury home over a First Nations burial ground on Grace Islet.

About 30 boaters blockaded the main dock on the islet and prevented workers from getting to the job site on Friday morning, prompting a warning from the RCMP.

“The community really came together,” said Joe Akerman, a Saltspring resident involved in the protests. “We’ll continue every effort to stop this construction.”

Earlier in the week, protesters stopped a shipment of supplies from being delivered at the dock by standing in the drop-off spot and then marched through town.