The information below was adapted from the Sutikalh site.

On May 2, 2000, members of the St'at'imc nation and their allies established a permanent camp near Melvin Creek, located off Highway 99 between Mt. Currie/Pemberton and Lillooet, in the southern Interior region of BC.

Known as Sutikalh, the St'at'imc winter spirit of the area, the camp was set up to stop government and corporate plans to build a $500 million all-season ski and recreation resort in an untouched Alpine mountain area.

Part of the Cayoosh Moutain Range, the region is a transition zone from the coast to the Interior. It is habitat to Grizzly bears, cougar, bobcat, wolverine, deer, hawks, owls and many other small animals. It also contains one of the largest herds of Mountain Goats now remaining in North America.

The area has been occupied and used by the St'at'imc for as long as 10,000 years, following the retreat of the last glacial period which carved out the steep-sided valleys and jagged mountain tops.

Along with food gathering, the area was also used by shamans, who went to the mountains for purification, spiritual renewal and training. These traditions continue to be practised today at Sutikalh, where people come to gather foods, medicines, pure fresh water, and to participate in cultural and spiritual activities.

To this day the area remains unceded, unsurrendered St'at'imc territory, in which neither Canada nor BC have legal or moral authority to govern, claim territory or even carry out business.That both levels of government continue to impose their authority is a violation of Canada's own laws and its highest courts (i.e., the 1763 Royal Proclamation and, to a lesser extent, the 1997 Delgamuukw Supreme Court Decision.

HISTORY

For over 150 years, the St'at'imc – like other First Nations – have seen their way of life nearly destroyed, their ancestral territories claimed by European settlers and colonial authorities. Beginning in 1858 with the discovery of gold, tens of thousands of prospectors invaded the southern Interior. They brought diseases which decimated the St'at'imc and other Interior nations (as occurred on the coast); in some cases, villages saw 90% of their populations die. By the 1920s railway lines had been punched through, increasing European settlement and resource extraction (logging and mining). In the meantime, First Nations were forced onto small reserves and generations of Indigenous children placed in Residential Schools. In the 1950s and '60s, hydro-electric dams and power plants were established, destroying or reducing entire salmon runs in the Bridge and Seton Rivers. By the 1970s, clearcut logging and road building scarred many valleys and mountain- sides.

In 1990, the BC government began an expansion of Highway 99, upgrading a logging road that cut through the Melvin Creek watershed. In order to connect this road to Hwy. 99, the provincial government expropriated a portion of the Mt. Currie reserve, using a section of the Indian Act. This created a groundswell of opposition among the Lil'wat of Mt. Currie, who blockaded the Duffy Lake road. A large RCMP operation resulted in 63 arrests in the fall of 1990. Those arrested were held one month, refusing to give their names or co-operate. The next year, as highway construction proceeded, the government announced it was seeking proposals for a ski resort development in the Melvin Creek area – a project only possible with the forced expansion of Hwy. 99.

CAYOOSH SKI RESORT 

In 1991, in response to the government's proposal, Nancy Greene-Raine resort consultants Inc. (NGR), submitted plans for the Cayoosh Ski Resort, a $500-million all-season ski and recreation resort, with an upper and lower village, a 12 km access road to the upper village, 14 lifts, a conference centre, skiing, hiking, horseback riding, and as many as 12,000 daily visitors with accommodation for 14,000 (2,000 for staff).

NGR Inc. is owned by Nancy Greene, a former Olympic gold medallist, and her husband Al Raine. NGR has also been involved in a bitter struggle for the past 3 years with the Secwepemc nation over a $70 million expansion to the Sun Peaks ski resort, located 1 hours drive north of Kamloops.

Initially, the government's own Environment Ministry, Kamloops region, advised against any development in the Cayoosh and Melvin Creek watersheds, citing high wildlife values, especially Grizzly Bear and Mountain Goat habitat.

In 1993, NGR withdrew their proposal. Intervention by high-ranking government officials, however, renewed the Cayoosh proposal and created political pressure to force it through. in 1994, Employment minister Glen Clark met with Al Raine. Following this, Raine stated he was "very encouraged by the new attitude of cooperation." The following year, the BC cabinet overruled the Kamloops office's original decision, and in 1996 NGR applied fore project approval certification through the BC government's Environmental Assessment Office (EAO).

Over the years, reports and studies submitted to the EAO have failed to mention, or downplayed, both Grizzly and Mountain Goat habitat and negative environmental impact. Finally, on August 14, 2000, the EAO gave its approval for the Cayoosh ski resort. The EAO is considered the most 'difficult' phase for a project of this size and nature to pass. Now, all that remains is for NGR to receive a master development agreement as required under the Commercial Alpine Ski Policy (CASP).

The CASP is a responsibility of Land and Water, BC, Inc. (formerly BC Assets and Lands Corporation), a government agency created to sell, lease and 'develop' Crown lands. This final stage is a technicality and it is expected that by 2003-04, the final go-ahead will be given. As of Spring 2003, Sutikalh still remains and no construction or logging has occurred.

ST'AT'IMC MAKE THEIR STAND AT SUTIKALH

Just as the EAO process neared completion in 2000, the alarm was sounded. On May 2/00, the Sutikalh camp was established, and before the month ended it was decided to make it a permanent camp. From the beginning, Sutikalh has served as a rallying point for the St'at'imc. On June 11/00, over 120 people gathered at Sutikalh, including members from all 11 St'at'imc communities. The meeting overwhelmingly rejected the ski resort.

Throughout June and July, more permanent structures were built, including construction of an Estken (a traditional pit-house). From July 27 to August 4/00, some 40 children and youth attended the camp, gathering food and medicines and participating in cultural activities.

They also helped distribute 1500 pamphlets and collect hundreds of signatures on a petition opposed to the ski resort. On August 14/00, when the EAO gave its approval to NGR, the St'at'imc set up an information checkpoint at Sutikalh on Hwy. 99 for 17 hours.

In Vancouver, St'at'imc representatives and several Aboriginal political organizations, along with environmentalists, protested outside the Vancouver Stock Exchange (to deter potential investors).

This grassroots organizing helped put pressure on all 11 St'at'imc band councils to come out in opposition to the ski resort, event through some chiefs and councilors actually support development. On August 17/00, the Lillooet Tribal Council issued a letter to NGR, signed by all 11 chiefs, rejecting the ski resort.

On October 2/00, a referendum on the ski resort was held in Mt. Currie, the closest and largest St'at'imc community to the Melvin Creek area. Of 3324 votes cast, 276 voted No, with 46 voting Yes.

The St'at'imc have also received public support from various Aboriginal groups, including the Interior Alliance (band councils of the Southern Carrier, St'at'imc, Secwepemc, Nlaka'pamux and Okanagain), the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), the Native Youth Movement (NYM), and the Cheam First Nation.

Several environmental groups are also opposed to the Cayoosh ski resort, including the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC), the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC), Sierra Club and even former government biologists.

BIG $ FOR BC GOVERNMENT

Despite government and corporate claims that there will be no environmental impact, it is obvious to anyone that a $500 million ski resort, with accommodations for 14,000 people, will have a major impact on wildlife habitat and ecosysterms. According to a financial analysis and market assessment by the EAO, the BC government stands to gain the most with an estimated $1.1 billion in revenue upon project completion.

"[The] province of BC and its residents have the most to gain economically from a project of this nature compared to possible returns to the applicant (NGR) and associated investors. This point of view ignores any environmental impacts…"

Executive Summary – Review of the Market Assessment and Financial Analysis, EAO.

After 2 and 1/2 years, Sutikalh continues to represent the will of the St'at'imc to protect one of the last, untouched mountain areas in their ancestral territory. It is also a model for other First Nations seeking to reoccupy traditional land and/or stop further destruction of territory by government and corporations.

No Olympics on Stolen Land
Statement from Sutikalh Camp, St'at'imc Territory, Winter 2003

The 2010 Winter Olympics directly threatens unceded St'at'imc territory and Sutikalh camp. established in May 2000 to stop construction of a $530-million ski resort in the Melvin Creek area.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler is itself located on the territory of the Lil'wat, a community of the St'at'imc nation. To this day, most of BC remains unceded sovereign Indigenous territories by Canada's own laws (inc. the 1763 Royal Proclomation).

Although fraudulent treaties were made across Canada as British colonial forces expanded westward (the Numbered Treaties), this process was discontinued in BC (with the exception of the Douglas Treaties, primarily on Vancouver Island around Fort Victoria, Fort Nanaimo, and Fort Rupert, and a small portion of Treaty 8 in the north-east corner of the province). According to the 1763 Royal Proclomation, the British were to make treaties– surrenders of territory– before any trade or settlement could begin.Virtually all of BC remains unceded Indigenous territory. The Royal Proclomation was re-affirmed in the 1982 Constitution Act, and remains law to this day.

BC is therefore an illegal and fraudulent government, which has neither the moral nor legal authority to govern, never mind claim land or carry out business.

The 2010 Winter Olympics represents a unique challenge to Indigenous territory and environment because of its already apparent and potential effects on the region. These include the acceleration of the Sea-to-Sky highway expansion ($600-million), a project which will serve to open up the area to even more capital expansion and investment; and the allocation of $20-million to the Lil'wat and Squamish band councils, a move which has served to divide communities, to buy off some, and to pacify others.This region is already one of N. Americas fastest growing makrets for outdoor recreation and winter-sports tourism. That the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corp. has named the entire spectacle the 'Sea-to'Sky Games' only serves to further promote this "market." Any Winter Olympics will accelerate expansion of the winter-sports tourism industry and generate greater potential investment for NGR Inc., thereby posing a direct threat to Sutikalh and the mountain region it was established to protect.

Overall, 2010 will increase expansion of the entire ski resort industry. This means greater destruction of mountain eco-systems, forest, pure water, and the animals. Moreover, the construction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure to support this industry is paid for by government, that is, through further taxation of society as a whole (and in the interest of the corporations). The same is true for 2010. The Bid Corp. claims the Games will be self-financing. They say the $2-billion budget for 2010 is paid for through corporate sponsorship and tickets.

But this is only true if massive government funding is not counted. In preparation for 2010, officials tell us that a rapid-transit system must be built from Vancouver to the International Airport in Richmond ($2-billion); that the Sea-to-Sky Highway must be expanded ($600-million); that a new hockey arena at UBC must be built, along with a speed skating complex at SFU, and an athlete's village (altogether a cost of $620-million); and that Vancouver will need a new trade and convention centre ($405-million).With these and other projects government and corporations are trying to push through as "critical" needs for BC and 2010, the real costs of the Olympics will be $4-billion to $6-billion– most of it paid to corporations through government funding.

Despite a few jobs, the rest of society is further impoverished. The capitalists are the only ones to profit.

Leonard Peltier, an Anicinabe-Lakota jailed in the US for his involvement with the American Indian Movement, has observed,  "They will justify their actions in the name of 'development'… development? What the first peoples of the Americas need is 'recovery', not development. Recovery from the very same colonization, domination and genocide that multinational corporations want to perpetuate for their own gains today" (Statement against the FTAA, 2001).

As the world faces ongoing and escalating military conflicts, economic, political and environmental crises, the prospects for catastrophe increase daily. The world we leave for future generations will be decided in the choices and struggles we make today. Our oral history tells us that the land will always be the source of survival and life itself.

It is this future 2010 directly threatens; we call on all Indigenous peoples and citizens of BC to reject, refuse and resist 2010! We urge all citizens of Vancouver to vote No in the Feb. 22/03 plebiscite. We demand that the International Olympic Committee not award 2010 to Vancouver on July 3/03, due to the ongoing and illegal occupation of Indigenous territories, in violation of both Canadian and international law.

Reject 2010, Refuse Social Impoverishment, Resist Environmental Destruction! Defend Indigenous Territories!