By Edith Moore

Treaty or no treaty? This has been the important question for my nation for a long time.
Halalt First Nation’s elders council recently made a trip to Tsawwassen First Nation to witness its legislature in session and I was fortunate enough to be on the trip.

We also had a meeting with Tsawwassen’s territory management officer Andrew Bak. He sat with us and explained how his nation made treaty work and briefly explained the obstacles they faced then and now. He answered our questions in a very practical way.

Halalt is in Stage 4 of its treaty process. Over the many years of our participation, it has been debated whether or not we will continue this process. I know I support treaty and was so relieved to sit and speak with our elders to learn that they still want treaty as well.

I believe the time we were able to spend at Tsawwassen gave us more power to move forward. So much can be learned from each other and this day was a perfect example of that.

Once again, I am so inspired by the way Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council helps bridge the gaps between our nations and gives us the ability to learn from each other.

Halalt elders Dan Norris, Joe Norris, Judy Wilson, John August and Collette Norris.

I sat with Halalt elder John August after our visit to ask what his impressions were from this day.

“I was impressed with how Tsawwassen dealt with the tough questions that have to be asked of any community facing treaty,” he said. “The questions were not answered by making a rash decision, but instead they committed to having as many meetings as was necessary to face the hard decisions. Also, they went home-to-home to get each person’s perspective and understanding.

“If Tsawwassen can do it, so can we. We just need to address all of our fears. We need to have leaders that we can trust will do what is right for our people.

Elder Joe Norris told me: “Let’s give our youth a shot at life. They deserve to have a shot.”

I celebrate working together as one – Naut’sa mawt. With my hands raised, thank you to the Tsawwassen First Nation for allowing us to learn from you.

Edith Moore is Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council’s communications liaison worker.