How much do First Nations still catch and eat fish? That appeared to be a key line of questioning at a National Energy Board hearing underway this week in Chilliwack regarding Kinder Morgan’s $5.4-billion oil pipeline expansion.
The forum is designed to gather oral evidence from Aboriginals on the Texas-based company’s proposed Trans Mountain expansion pipeline that would cross dozens of rivers considered sacred to B.C. First Nations.
“I’m just wondering… do you have an estimate in terms of what proportion of Kwantlen members’ diet comes from sources in the Fraser River?” Kinder Morgan lawyer Terri-Lee Oleniuk asked Kwantlen First Nation leaders on Friday.
Just prior to the company’s question on Aboriginal diet, Kwantlen band councillors spent three hours explaining how profoundly important salmon fishing on the Fraser River has been to their people for millennia.