Nicola Watershed Governance Project

Indigenous Laws Research

First Nations Fisheries Council of BC 2019 Annual General Assembly Memorandum of Understanding

March 2018 the five Nicola Chiefs agreed to work collaboratively with the Province of to co-lead a new approach to water stewardship throughout the Nicola watershed. This project is grounded in the commitment of these parties to implement the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. (UNDRIP) Nicola Watershed Nicola Valley

Two Nations: syilx and Nłeʔkepmx

Five Bands   Lower Nicola Indian Band   Shackan Indian Band  Upper Nicola Indian Band Watershed Governance Staff

Eva Tom, Indigenous Laws Research Liaison Jessica Dan, Indigenous Laws & Research Technician Crystal McMaster, Communications and Engagement Manager Nadia Joe, Nicola Forum Coordinator Alex Etchell, Project Associate Lee Failing, Facilitator and Strategic Advisor

The Nicola Chiefs have commissioned the University of Victoria’s Indigenous Laws Research Unit to begin research into Nłeʔkepmx and syilx laws as they relate to water. University of Victoria Indigenous Laws Research Unit Team

Dr. Val Napoleon, Director/Law Foundation Research Chair in Aboriginal Justice & Governance Dr. Rebecca Johnson, Associate Director Brooke Edmonds, ILRU Coordinator Jessica Asch, Research Director Simon Owen, Senior Researcher Lindsay Borrows, Tara Williamson, Researchers:

Contact Information: Telephone: 250-721-8914 Email: [email protected] Website: www.uvic.ca/ilru Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/indigenouslawresearchunit/ The Work Plan has five phase:

 1. Planning and Building the Research Relationship o Refine goals of the project, research questions and resources  2. Knowledge Gathering Indigenous o Analyze narrative resources and draft overview material. Laws  3. Knowledge Synthesis and Analysis o Produce draft law report for the Nicola Nations to Research review.  4. Report Validation and Publication o Produce a validated, accessible, and useful law report for the Nicola Bands  5. Implementation, Application and Critical Evaluation o Future work done by community o Application to Programing, Governance, Policy, Institution Building, Codes  Review and case brief syilx and Nłeʔkepmx stories relevant to the research questions Phase 2  Research and draft primers of syilx and Knowledge Nłeʔkepmx history, society, and theories of law and governance Gathering  Conduct a collaborative analyses of narrative resources  Draft preliminary analytical frameworks  Develop questions and approaches for community focus groups Q: What are the legal principles and processes within the Nłeʔkepmx and syilx legal traditions that inform relationships to Water?

o How do people engage with those with whom they are in relations of interdependence? Research Land, animals, water o How is water lawfully encountered? What are the Questions principles, process, and institutions that form this relationship?

Q: How do people (individuals, family, communities, societies) govern themselves in relation to water?

o How do people with the Nłeʔkepmx and syilx legal traditions respond to challenges and conflicts concerning water and watershed governance.  Documentation of Nicola Nations’ customs, traditions and practices that can inform both cultural stewardship practices and water management approaches more broadly.  ILRU, community-based researchers and the Nicola Nations, will produce a report on syilx and Nłeʔkepmx law regarding water and watershed governance. Research This law report will include a: Outcomes • Introduction • Analysis of stories • List of stories used • Glossary of significant legal terms • Concepts in nsyilxcən and nłeʔkepmxcin The final report will also be used to create teaching materials about Nłeʔkepmx and syilx law. We are seeking assistance from Knowledge Keepers Getting in our communities who: Started: Assessing  speak, or are learning to speak our languages.  know, practice, or are learning about ceremonies and protocols? Our  have personal or life experiences solving problems, resolving disputes, or managing conflicts? Strengths  spend time on the land, with the water, or in the bush, and observe and learn from nature.  know and tell old stories or oral histories about how people or animals solved problems, dealt with harm or danger, resolved disputes, mended relationships, or made peace?

We are also seeking:

 recorded interviews, transcripts, or other records that contain stories about how people or animals solved problems, dealt with harm or danger, resolved disputes, mended relationships, or made peace?  publicly available or published materials that, however imperfect, contain stories about how people or animals solved problems, dealt with harm or danger, resolved disputes, mended relationships, or made peace? Our stories are held by knowledge keepers, elders, children and Our families throughout the Nłeʔkepmx and syilx communities. Stories We are seeking stories that have:  Relationship with the water  water and watershed governance  Connected to a body of water or place  Creation stories

The stories can be found in our songs, dances, personal experiences, place names and on the land. Version 1 (Nkamtci'nEmux.)

“Coyote is Thirsty” as Coyote was walking along a trail on the side-hills above a river. The weather was very hot; recorded in James Teit. and there was no shade, nor were there trees, the slopes consisting of sand, clay, small Mythology of the rocks, and sagebrush. He felt very thirsty, and went down to the river to drink. He Thompson Indians ascended to the trail again, but soon got thirsty. Again he descended to the river and (Memoirs of the AMNH drank. He said, 'It is too hot. If I climb back to the trail again, I shall soon get thirsty. I better v. 12 p. 2, 1912). walk along the river." The walking was rough along the banks of the river, there being many boulders; and there were no trees there, either, to shade him. He drank often, but said, "The water does not do me any good. I cannot keep cool, and am always dry. It is too far to go to drink. I will walk in the river." Still he was not cool enough, and said, "I am too hot yet, and I have to bend too far to drink. I will walk where it is deeper." He walked out until he could lap the water without bending; then the current caught him at a point in the stream, and carried him away.

Version 2 (Nkamtci'nEmux and Tcawa'xamux.)

Coyote was travelling in very hot weather, and where there was no shade. Feeling very hot and thirsty, he called on the clouds to shade him. Not satisfied with them, he called in the rain. Not satisfied with the rain, he called on a creek to flow, and then on a river, which carried him off his feet, and took him to a distant country. [In still another version he asks for more and more rain, until the country is flooded and the torrent carries him away]  What is the main territorial or resource-use problem that the story focuses Case Brief: on? Coyote is o How should one respond to meeting needs in one’s environment? Thirsty  What facts matter? o Coyote is walking along and becomes very hot and thirsty. There is no shade nearby. o Coyote goes down to the river to drink, but does not feel that just drinking the water keeps him quenched or cool enough. (version 1) o Coyote calls on clouds, rain, and then a creek to appear to shade and cool him, yet he still feels too hot. (version 2)  What is decided, or how is the issue resolved? o Coyote decides to walk in the deeper part of the river so that he can drink without bending over. The current catches him and carries him away. (version 1) o Coyote, not satisfied by the comfort offered by clouds, rain, or the creek, decides to summon a river. The waters carry him away to a distant country. (version 2) Case Brief:  What is the reason(s) behind the response(s)? Is there an explanation in the story? Is the reason said or unsaid? Coyote is o Coyote was more interested in his own comfort than in meeting his Thirsty (legitimate) needs (unsaid)

o Coyote could have met his needs (water, shade) in ways that were less dangerous or damaging to himself or the environment (unsaid)

o “Not bending over”/ “not being satisfied” are symptoms of a wrongful way to relate to the gift and responsibility of water in this environment. When we let our desires for convenience or comfort dictate our decision-making, we will eventually be “carried away”.

 As a reader, what inferences do you make to determine the above reasons and explanations? How do you justify them?

o Water responds to our needs, but is powerful and cannot/should not be completely controlled.  Other Questions? What did you need to bracket? Story Analysis  1. Underlying Legal Theories and Institutions

o What structures and knowledge inform specific Preliminary interpretations and practices of lawfulness? Framework  2. Legal Processes (characteristics of legitimate decision- making) o Authoritative Decision Makers: who makes and manages legal decisions?

o HOW are decisions made? What are the considerations and pathways?  3. Legal Principles: Obligations and Expectations o Natural Relations (to water, its territories and activities, and non-human users)

o Human Relations (lawful access and use of water within and between societies)  4. Legal Principles: Responses and Resolutions o Consequences, Enforcement, Teaching  March 2018 – The MOU was signed Project  February 2018 – Eva and Crystal’s start date  May 2019 –University of Victoria’s Indigenous Law Research Unit (ILRU) to take the course, Law 388A: Timeline Indigenous Law: Research, Method, and Practice with Instructor Val Napoleon.  August 2018 – Jessica’s start date  September 20, 21, 22, 2019 – Methodology Workshop  Winter 2019/2020 Coyote Stories – Story Telling Sessions  October – March 2020 o Background research and narrative analysis o Story of the month with questions in the newsletters o Story sharing analysis once a week through Skype (central location and at the bands)  Spring/Summer 2020 – Focus Groups  Summer/Fall 2020 – Draft report, casebook and linguistic analysis for community validation  Summer of 2021 – Finalization and implementation Methodology Nłeʔkepmx and syilx Laws for Water and the Nicola Watershed Workshop  From September 20th to 22nd 2019 community members, leaders, and knowledge-keepers from the Upper Nicola, Lower Nicola, Coldwater, Shackan, and Nooaitch Nations attended a workshop facilitated by the Indigenous Law Research Unit and the Nicola Nations legal research team. Some provincial government representatives, working with the Government-to-Government Watershed co-governance initiative, joined as well.  The workshop offered participants “part of reconciliation is to change the practice of the Canadian hands-on practice with the ILRU’s government being the only decision-makers.” approach to working with Indigenous law. Participants also shared their own -participant at the Methodology workshop held at Merritt Civic Centre knowledge and ideas regarding how to September 20-22,2019 support efforts to uphold Nłeʔkepmx and syilx laws of water and watershed governance in the Nicola Valley. Limləmt - kʷukʷscémxʷ - thank you

Nicola Watershed Governance Project

Eva Tom—Indigenous Laws Research Liaison Email: [email protected] ext. 106 Jessica Dan—Indigenous Laws Research Technician Email: [email protected] ext. 133 Crystal McMaster - Communications and Engagement Email: [email protected] ext. 123

Scw’exmx Phone: (250) 378-4235 Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.scwexmxtribal.com/nwgp.html Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nicolawatershedgovernanceproject