Dear Cortes Island,

With reconciliation in mind, it saddens me to share that some have been protesting the road-building project at Anvil Lake by the Cortes Forestry General Partnership. This unique partnership began with Klahoose extending an invitation to the non-Indigenous residents of Cortes Island to engage in sustainable forestry. Previously, Klahoose used its portion of the profits to support cultural revitalization – a successful experiment of economic reconciliation.

Today we met with protestors and simply put, the interactions were racist. A protestor questioned how I am native based on my skin colour. Indigenous people come in all skin tones, and we celebrate our differences, not attack them. Being called ‘one of those white natives’, while being pressed to justify Indigeneity was insulting and demeaning. Others made statements that Klahoose have no roots on Cortes. We were accused of not caring for watersheds, the land, or our people. Caretaking for the land is the foundation of our culture and our people, and we have done so on Cortes since time immemorial. These comments were nothing more than common racist tropes to paint First Nations as greedy and irresponsible.

Klahoose has tried to exercise our inherent rights as Indigenous people for the benefit of our community. This blockade, racist comments, as well as threatening emails, reinforce that reconciliation is a concept, but not a practice. It is a stark contrast to the progressive and inclusive community we all strive towards. For a long time, it seemed that reconciliation was crucial to the Cortes community, and people were practicing being allies in reconciliation, but the activities of these few portray that we are regrettably not as far along in repairing relationships as we thought.

We are not asking anyone to single-handedly correct problems of the past, but we do ask that you leave a path open for us to solve the problems that impact our people today. Having economic development and subsequently, self-determination, supports our people and our healing from colonization and genocide.

Aiding, or participating in the blockades does not display reconciliation or respect to our people.

So, we welcome everyone to join us on the path of reconciliation to create a better future for everyone.

Steven Brown,

Chief, Klahoose First Nation