Lytton First Nation, along with their Nlaka’pamux brothers and sisters and environmental allies, fought long and hard for 25 years to save and preserve the Stein Valley. It was worth it, as we discovered during our visit to the area.
A small 2-car ferry run by Lytton First Nation takes visitors and tribal members across the Fraser to the Stein Heritage Park, a roadless, wilderness area of 107,000 hectares (417 square miles). We hiked along the Stein River, which runs through the area, and only saw two other hikers and one coyote. Thankfully the grizzlies and black bears that are also resident were busy doing other things.
The hike was unbelievably gorgeous as is the entire area. We felt its spiritual aura, especially passing the Asking Rock. This spot of great historical and spiritual significance for the Nlaka’pamux, who stop and say a short prayer before continuing their journey. The entire Stein watershed has for millennia been and still is today a major spiritual and traditional area for the Nlaka’pamux. There are spirit caves, burial sites, tree carvings, medicinal plants, food sources, archeological sites, groves of culturally modified cedar trees, one of the largest Aboriginal pictograph sites in Canada. A wealth of Nlaka’pamux traditional knowledge, in the forms of Creation stories, oral histories, and ethnobotany, are a testament to the intangible attributes that embody the significance of the landscape. The valley still resonates with hhA.hha. (sacred powers).
Given all this it is no surprise then that the Nlaka’pamux mobilized to prevent logging here beginning in the 1970s and continuing for 25 years. This struggle was built upon their long standing efforts to get Canadian recognition of their land claims to the area. As it has always been for the Nlaka’pamux, the demand for sovereignty was linked to a willingness to share the land with any who respected their values. A leader in this struggle was Chief Ruby Dunstan, a residential school survivor and first female Chief of Lytton First Nation. Environmental groups played a significant role and collaborated with the First Nations in sponsoring a “Voices for the Wilderness” festival held in the Stein in 1985. On the Labour Day long weekend in 1985, more than 500 people hiked into the upper Stein watershed and stayed for 3 days of feasting, singing, story-telling, speech-making, circle and pipe ceremonies and strategy sessions. Additional festivals were held over the next four years, culminating in 1989, when many thousands attended. In 1995, with a new NDP (socialist) government in power, negotiations quickened and the Stein was saved with an agreement to jointly manage it as a wilderness area accessible to hikers and backpackers.
 |
| 1985 Voices of the Wilderness Festival |
 |
| Hiking map at trail head of the Stein River Heritage Park |
 |
| Stein River |
 |
| The entry to the park and a view from one of the peaks |
 |
| The Asking Rock |
 |
| Fraser River First Nations Car Ferry |
 |
| Chief Ruby Dunstan |
Comments
Post a Comment