Item 2008.3.1.147.16 - Justa

• Sound recording

1 audiocassette (89 min.)

Item is a audio interview recorded by Bridget Moran with Justa Monk.

Audiocassette Summary

00’03” Moran asks Justa how the Department of Indian Affairs party went at Other Art Cafe.

01’20” Moran tells Justa she has a number of questions regarding his political career. They talk about the number of bands in the area.

05’ 11” Justa talks about the nomination process for becoming tribal chief at the annual Assembly. He talks about when he was nominated and how he believed that he was nominated based on his character. Moran asks about the culture surrounding the Assembly, including entertainment. Justa tells her he did not participate in any of the activities.

12’ 41” Justa talks about his mother loving potlatch.

14’ 35” Moran asks Justa about the personal qualities it takes to be tribal chief. He tells her he was nominated because the people knew and trusted him.

16’ 03” Moran asks Justa about the role he played in getting the Department of Indian Affairs shut down. He tells her about leading a mandate to close the Prince George office through lawyers and the support of his people.

25’ 18” Moran asks Justa about the development of a school board for the reservations. He wants the school curriculum to teach the language and the culture. He has negotiated with the federal and provincial governments to implement these plans.

29’ 13” Moran asks Justa about his role in land claims. Justa talks about negotiating with the government to get some of the land back to his people. He has played a big role, he says, because he knows the area, the language, and the people. He talks about the long, drawn out process of planning the land claims concerns. Justa has a mandate as tribal chief to address land claims. He says the important part of the process is educating the people, white and non-white.

45’ 49” Moran is talking about Alcan locating grave markers to compensate for the damage done from the original Kemano project.

47’ 47” Moran asks Justa the role he has played in the Kemano II Project. He tells her that he took a big role because he saw the way of life being destroyed, never mind the environmental damage. He says he hates the concept of the project. Justa talks at length about the politics surrounding the Kemano II Project.

1:07’ 55” Moran asks Justa about which politicians he has met in his time as tribal chief. She encourages him to drop names. He lists a number of provincial and federal politicians.

1:10’ 45” Moran asks Justa about the Oka situation and any role he played in helping to negotiate the situation. He talks about an emergency Assembly. He discusses supporting the situation and telling his own people that they should not protest with the people from Oka to maintain peaceful land claims negotiations. He says he had to keep things calm in his own territory while offering support.

1:13’ 30” Moran asks Justa about the referendum regarding self-government. They talk about which way they voted.

1:16’ 20” Moran asks Justa about the consecration of the graveyards that were flooded by Kemano. He talks about how emotional the ceremony was and how much it hurt to be treated like second-class citizens. One woman described it as being chased out like a pack of coyotes.

1:19’ 50” Moran asks Justa about running for tribal chief again because he has unfinished business with the Kemano II Project.

1:20’50” Moran talks about the chapters of the book with Justa. They discuss some of the stories Moran is writing within the book.

1:28’ 42” End of tape.