Between 4,700 to 5,000 years ago the Tsawwassen lived together in a central longhouse on the banks of what we now call the Fraser River. Made from red and yellow cedars, the house was divided into sections for each family. When the Tsawwassen visited seasonal grounds in summer, travelling by cedar canoe, they would build temporary homes with poles and woven cedar mats.

PHOTO: TFN

Tsawwassen craftsmanship was distinctive, they used to create decorative house posts, carved masks, spindle whorls and decorated tools.

Fishing is central to the Coast Salish way of life - the ancestors of modern Tsawwassen were skilled at harvesting sturgeon, crabs, oysters and shellfish. Salmon carried particular importance - they were considered to be supernatural beings that came yearly to offer the Tsawwassen their flesh. The salmon were cooked and the bones were ceremoniously returned to the water, a tradition that is still followed today.

Farming and hunting were also of particular importance. Ducks, sea lions, elk and black bears were not only dietary staples, but the source of materials used to make tools, clothing and artwork. These items became part of a barter and trade system. Tsawwassen craftsmanship was distinctive, they used to create decorative house posts, carved masks, spindle whorls and decorated tools.

Today, history and legends help to keep Tsawwassen connected to their roots. The elders have recounted the first ancestor who came to Tsawwassen lands - setting foot on the English Bluff, just south of where the reserve is today.

“The first man was on top of Mount Cheam. He was looking for land to settle on. He saw an island and left towards it. This Island of Tsawwassen. Where the first man landed up on the hill. At the place that is called selp. He came down to the bottom of the hill and built his house.” — Retold by Kim Baird, Courtesy of the Tsawwassen First Nation

Other legends speak of Transformers, like Khaals, a mythical leader who changed into animals, people or objects and traveled between their villages to teach life lessons.

Sqmaθiya a greedy old woman, was turned into stone by a Transformer: The old woman, it seems, was not willing to share her clams with other people. One day, when Xaals and his brother arrived in Tsawwassen (the land was then an island), he asked her what she was up to and she replied that she was preparing clams for herself. He quickly answered that she should live in a clam bed forever and turned her into stone. — Retold by Barbara Joe, Courtesy of the Tsawwassen First Nation

According to my understanding, there is very few fertile land in the world. The population is increasing, but the fertile land is decreasing day by day. Canada occupies 7% of the world's land but we have limited fertile land. Tsawwassen land is one of the most fertile lands in BC. If we use such a fertile land for other purposes than farming, there will be negative impact in ecosystem. Infrastructure like an airport, port, housing, roads, railway etc should be constructed on a non-fertile land. We have to think sustainable development. So Tsawwassen Treaty is concern only for business purposes - it only tried to make money by constructing a port instead of farming.

The treaty was driven by the Gateway - the provincial plan to expand the port and connect it with new and wider highways. This ignores the collapse of the US dollar, the steep decline in cross Pacific container traffic, the availability of new routres such as the North West passage and the widened Panama Canal and the key role played by the railways in moving transcontinental freight. All these issues are dealt at length in my blog - stephenrees.wordpress.com and on the Livable Region web site
livableregion.ca.

This is typical of the short term thinking that bedevils our political system. We need to take a strategic view of how our world is changing - and how to cope with that. Unfortunately, the appeals to justice in the TFN process have been ignored by the grab for the quick buck. A sad day for Canada and the Tsawwassen, who both deserve much better leaders with real vision

The TFN treaty was done without proper consideration of the Semiahmoo First Nation treaty, the protection of our Agricultural Land Reserve, or the Environment. This is not about giving TFN its due... its about expanding DeltaPort at the expense of our farmland, the Fraser River estuary, and our air quality in a area that shouldn't have been considered for a port in the first place. Tsawwassen First Nations accepted individual cash payouts from the government for signing the treaty and now we will all have to live with the blight of container sprawl on some of the best farmland and most important wildlife habitat in the world.