Special report by Thom Henley - National save South Moresby caravan coordinator
For ten historic days in March 1986, an overwhelming spirit of celebration and understanding linked thousands of Canadians who rallied along the route of a National Train Caravan. Native, church, conservation, and student groups joined forces over a human rights and conservation issue: the preservation of South Moresby.
The Save South Moresby Caravan did much more than span the 7,500 kilometre length of the world's second largest country. It awakened a new national consciousness of wilderness values and native rights.
From Saint John's, Newfoundland to Vancouver, British Columbia people poured out their feelings. Indian Nations united in dance and song, Native spiritual leaders prayed, school bands played, bagpipes wailed, cheers rose up at whistle stop rallies all across the country, and in Vancouver more than two thousand people jammed the CN Rail Station in an overwhelming welcome for the Caravan travellers. An old man in the crowd commented, "I haven't seen anything like this since Victory in Europe day."
What began as a local grassroots movement on the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1974 is now a national issue. The B.C. government, who for more than a decade have allowed logging and mineral claim staking to continue in South Moresby while four different government planning teams studied its fate, can no longer pretend they are dealing with merely a local concern. With the nationally televised arrests of 72 Haidas for blocking a logging road on Lyell Island in November of 1985, South Moresby became a household word.
In Newfoundland, the province with the highest unemployment rate in Canada, more than a hundred people came out to help launch the Caravan. The Saint John's conservation groups remarked that the Caravan helped to elevate their own causes which had suffered serious setback during the highly-charged confrontation over the sealing industry. The new spirit of understanding was perhaps best exemplified when representatives from the Canadian Sealers Association, attending the South Moresby slide show in Saint John's, bought support buttons. In Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, a pulp mill town, that same spirit prevailed as millworkers and forestry students attended the Caravan events, pledging their support.
Throughout the ten day journey of the Caravan, Native Peoples and conservation groups rallied together. Seventeen Micmac Indians rode the train from their reserve on Cape Breton Island to Halifax, where a welcoming party of more than a hundred people gathered to the thunderous drumming and chanting of the Micmac Spiritual Council. The 28 foot wide eagle, a nylon fabric puppet made especially for the Caravan, soared around the Halifax train station as it did all across Canada.
Acadians rallied in support as the train passed through Moncton, New Brunswick on March 8th, their concern transcending both geographical and cultural barriers. Prince Edward Island, though not on the Caravan route, sent representatives to Moncton to meet the train. Sue Stevenston, who lives on a small farm outside of Charlottetown, came aboard with a Micmac basket filled with gifts for the Haida elders: Prince Edward Island potatoes, home-made jams and preserves, baked apples and Newfoundland salt cod. It was in the spirit of cross-cultural sharing that people in every province filled the basket with local specialties, such as maple syrup from Quebec, apples from Ontario and honey from Manitoba. The Haidas found their tradition of Potlatch and sharing on Haada Gwaii had suddenly transcended time and place.
One of the most moving experiences during the Caravan occured in the middle of the night at Fredericton Junction, New Brunswick. Most of the Caravan travellers were sound asleep when the train stopped, but the loud commotion outside the window awoke them. Thirty-five enthusiastic supporters stood knee-deep in snow in a blizzard madly waving banners and pressing signed petitions up to the window. The train conductor said the wind chill outside was forty below zero and the train was an hour behind schedule.
It was this spirit of dedication and celebration in spite of all adversity that characterized the Caravan. People from all walks of life were involved: an elderly woman in Montreal came rushing through the departure lounge of the station and pressed a one thousand dollar cheque in the hand of a Caravan Organizer with the words, "Thank-you, this gives me hope." An old Indian man in Kingston, Ontario passed a crumpled hundred dollar bill up to the train window as it was pulling out of the station. A rancher and his wife from Northern Alberta, who had never before been involved in conservation or political issue, felt compelled to ride the train because in their words, "If we don't do this for our grandchildren we'll never be able to face them and their questions."
The Caravan touched the complete cross-section of Canadian society and consequently influenced politicians. Liberal Environment critic, Charles Caccia, rode the train from Ottawa to Toronto, graciously walking up and down the aisle sharing his cheese, crackers and fruit with all fellow travellers. Pierre Trudeau sent a telegram to the Caravan wishing it success and adding his endorsement to South Moresby's preservation. Federal Environment Minister, Tom McMillan, expressed strong support. McMillan told an enthusiastic Ottawa rally that the Save South Moresby Caravan was following a proud national tradition of using the rails to bring people together over important national issues. Wearing a VIA Rail engineer's cap with a Save South Moresby button attached, the Minister called for the preservation of all South Moresby including Lyell Island, and promised to take the first jet to Victoria the minute the B.C. Government indicated a sincere desire to resolve this issue.
Indian Affairs Minister David Crombie joined the Caravan in Toronto at the historic rally held in Saint Paul's Anglican Church. He spoke to a crowd of more than 1,700 who filled the nation's largest church. Reverend Peter Hamel of Project North was overwhelmed by the turn-out. The highlight of the evening was the arrival of four Haida elders, three of whom face possible two year prison terms for defiant yet non-violent action in blocking a Lyell Island logging road in South Moresby. When they entered the church, the entire congregation rose to their feet in respect; it was a moving moment, accused criminals in British Columbia welcomed as heroes in Toronto.
Pierre Berton also spoke at the church, calling the clear-cutting of South Moresby "an act of vandalism, a national disgrace." Miles Richardson, president of the Haida Nation, addressed the supporters from the same pulpit where Bishop Tutu and Pope John Paul once spoke. He did so with a firm belief that native rights must be elevated to such a position right across Canada. When the Church collection plate was passed, those assembled contributed 7,000 dollars.
That same night at the Diamond Club, a popular Toronto nightclub, the Nylons and Canadian Aces sold out a benefit concert for the Haidas. All facilities, food and entertainment were generously donated.
Many other well-known musicians including Bruce Cockburn, Bim, Connie Kaldor, Long John Baldy, Doug and the Slugs, and Pete Seeger, have contributed their time, talent and the proceeds from benefit concerts.
Not only did musicians get in the act, but artists as well. David Phillips orchestrated a national traveling art exhibit and auction to assist the cause. Several pieces created in the Diamond Club during the Toronto event brought in over eight hundred dollars at an impromptu auction held that night. Internationally acclaimed artist Robert Bateman, who has donated many prints in support of the cause, was on hand in Vancouver to welcome the Caravan.
As the train rolled westward from Toronto it picked up steam and hundreds of Caravan travellers along the way. More than 500 people rallied in Winnipeg. Regina residents held an all night vigil to greet the train during its 3:10 a.m. whistle stop. Hundreds marched through the streets of downtown Edmonton and filled the station with their banners and specially designed t-shirts. British Columbians cheered the Caravan on with sparklers as the train raced through the night, and people filled the streets for blocks as the final parade marched through downtown Vancouver to Canada Place Pavilion.
If there was any doubt about the shared concerns of church groups, Indians and environmentalists over the South Moresby issue, the Caravan dispelled them. The Anglican Church, the United Church, the Quakers and Mennonites came out in strong support of the Haida position. The Assembly of First Nations was well represented in Ottawa. The Ojibway Nation thundered on their drums in the Toronto station and staged an all-Indian support rally in Sudbury, Ontario. The Dene, Cree and other tribes joined forces in Manitoba and Alberta with over 300 inter-tribal representatives hosting a two hour pow-wow in Winnipeg. The Salish and Nuu-chah-nuth dancers welcomed the Caravan in Vancouver. National Native Coordinator Pat Stevenson, a Cree from Northern Alberta, did an outstanding job of spreading news of the Caravan to the various tribes on very short notice.
Sheehe, conservation director of the Canadian Nature Federation, was instrumental in uniting widely diverse environmental groups. The entire Ottawa staff of the Federation as well as hundreds of affiliate member groups across Canada put in long hours of volunteer time organizing and billeting.
But those who certainly gave the most were the Haida elders who joined the Caravan in Toronto and cheerfully participated in the long overland train journey to Vancouver. Whenever the train stopped they were ready in their button blankets, proudly displaying their crests for all to see. When Haida elder Ethel Jones spoke of her willingness to face a two year prison term, not because she had anything to gain from it, but for "my grandchildren and your grandchildren," she brought applauding crowds to their feet. When 81 year-old Chief Watson Price referred to the other elders as "his partners in crime" it was in jest, but the implication brought tears to some eyes.
These senior citizens who quietly and with dignity took a stand to protect South Moresby touched the hearts of many and instilled them with the courage to act. If they carried a message to the B.C. goverment, beyond the Caravan's success and celebration, it was this new national resolve. Everywhere people made it clear that they stand beside the Haida on this issue and, if need be, they will practise civil disobedience on a national scale to see South Moresby preserved.
That feeling of united purpose was nowhere as strong as the Caravan's final arrival in Vancouver. Haida drummer Guujaaw had been singing all night, from Edmonton into Vancouver. Over two hundred Caravan travellers had learned the Haida "coming into the house" song, an ancient potlatch arrival song that was sung on Lyell Island during the November arrests. As the train pulled into the station, March 15, the voices of the two hundred Caravaners joined perfectly with the welcoming party of Haida at the station. They too, by coincidence, were drumming and singing the same song.
An eagle was sighted circling over the station long before the Caravan symbol had unfurled its nylon wings. An old Indian man in the crowd was overheard saying, "What is happening here today should have happened centuries ago, when the first European settlers arrived on these shores."
It would be difficult and more than a little presumptuous to assume that the Save South Moresby Caravan ushered in a new era of understanding between all the various disparate groups concerned with wilderness preservation and Native rights in Canada. But we did find much common ground, a willingness to communicate and a sense of celebration to bridge cultural and geographic barriers. Somehow Haida words seem appropriate in conveying appreciation to all those who came together and made that understanding, communication, and sense of celebration: "How'aa Haada Laas,"-thank you good people.
