Longhouse build at Francis Point park halted over land ownership

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The Sechelt Indian Band has halted construction on what it describes as a community longhouse after learning the structure was being built on land that is privately owned, not – as the band had mistakenly believed – on Crown land.

But the band plans to build more longhouses at other locations, citing a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision related to aboriginal title and the Sechelt band's long-standing concerns about what they see as unjustified infringements on their claimed territory. The band, which has been self-governed since 1986, is currently in treaty negotiations with the province of B.C.

"Naturally, the William case does play a big role," Sechelt Chief Calvin Craigan said in a recent interview, referring to a case formally known as Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia that is often referred to by the name of its lead plaintiff, Tsilhqot'in chief Roger William.

"Traditionally, we have always been building longhouses in our territory – so we are just re-establishing that bit of our culture," Mr. Craigan said. "We are out there educating the public in terms of the traditional way of life."

In the William case, the Supreme Court of Canada in June unanimously declared the Tsilhqot'in have aboriginal title to about 1,700 square kilometres of land southwest of Williams Lake. The decision is widely seen as giving First Nations more say in land-use decisions, especially in B.C., where few treaties have been signed and most of the province is subject to broad and sometimes overlapping land claims.

For the Sechelt Indian Band – whose traditional territory spans the Sechelt Peninsula on the Sunshine Coast – the Tsilhqot'in decision provided both inspiration and a rationale for new longhouses. The first went up in September, at Garden Bay Marine Provincial Park on Pender Harbour.

Construction on a second began in October at Francis Point Provincial Park, another waterfront park in the Pender Harbour area. The structures are about six metres long and are built on a platform and are for community and cultural use.

But construction stopped within days after the band learned that Francis Point park, although under provincial management, is owned by the Nature Trust of B.C. That group acquired the site in 2001 after a fundraising campaign raised about $4.4-million to buy the 72.8-hectare property.

The neighbouring 9.2-hectare Francis Point Ecological Reserve is also privately owned, by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Both sites are on a 99-year renewable lease to B.C. Parks, which manages the sites.

The construction activity raised concerns among those who had helped raise funds to create the park, including Howard White, president of the Francis Point Marine Park Society.

"If you look at the management plan, you will see the whole idea is to keep human impact to a minimum," Mr. White said. "We went to a lot of trouble to acquire this park to keep it pristine – we don't even allow park benches."

A 2008 B.C. Parks management plan says the protected areas "offer opportunities to protect relatively undisturbed examples of Sunshine Coast coastline" as well as several rare-listed plants.

Once the Sechelt Band learned of concerns, it put construction on hold, Mr. Craigan said.

"There are some private interests there – once we realized that, we said, 'let's put a halt to it for now and try to consult with people,'" Mr. Craigan said.

"And since their intention was to preserve and protect the entire area, we see those terms similar to ours."

The province, for its part, says it has "initiated discussions" with the Sechelt about a potentially increased role in parks management within their territory, "including options for having a longhouse structure at [Francis Point Provincial Park]."

The Sechelt Indian Band, meanwhile, is considering locations for future longhouses, including one in the Gibsons area.