ISLANDS BULLETIN NO. 5 March 25, 2005 To all Islands people, ISLANDS SPIRIT RISING GWAII SGAANAWAAY SIIGAA IIJAA From the Lines Last night, Allen Wilson came down late in the evening to share news and stories from the line at the Yakoun. People from the QC line are also visiting the Yakoun Line to share stories and support their neighbours. We have visitors from a couple of organizations coming in this weekend to view the situation and to figure out what they can do to support us. We have been told that demonstrations of support are being organized in Vancouver, Toronto and Seattle. Other First Nations around the province have been in contact and are strategizing. Islands Spirit Rising, the web site, is getting a lot of action and we are receiving emails from all over the world, we are asking people to engage their networks to get the word out. One fellow, a lawyer from New York, said that he is representing a community in a similar situation. A group of people there are tackling similar issues about resource extraction in a way that is not working for their community. We are not alone in our action and people around the world are inspired by the stance we are taking. Robert Davidson has been visiting the lines, he was saying to us that this is not about winning, it is about who we are becoming. Here at home, we have a couple points of clarification The logs seized at Ferguson Bay were taken in the interest of all Islands people. The action was taken because of a breach of the Six-Point Agreement with Weyerhaeuser. We have had legal consultation on this matter and will keep you updated as the situation unfolds. There have been a few hang-ups at the line for people seeking access to the interior of the island. Please be patient as we work out these glitches. We want to thank everyone for their understanding while we work it out. The respect all of us show our neighbours and guests plays a large part in Islands Spirit Rising. Volunteers Call We are calling for a volunteer coordinator to organize food banks in our communities. Money is starting to come in to support this action, thank you. To strengthen our action we need people to join us at the line. We are setting up shifts of 4 hours each, come out and sign up. Call Nika’s, Danny to sign on 559-8133, leave a message if the machine comes on. Please contact Melinda Pick 559-8834 or melinda_pick@yahoo.com or cblake@haidagwaii.net to find out what you can do. Information is also available at www.haidanation.ca and click the link.