Bringing Traditional Teachings to Leadership

The purpose of this article is to examine how our Kootegan Yix Meh Towlth (traditional governance) might contribute to the development and implementation of a culturally relevant Sliammon governance model.1 Our Uk woom he heow (ancestors) lived their everyday lives guided by a complex system of practices and beliefs based on our Ta-ow (traditional teachings) that sustained them for thousands of years. Our ancestors organized our society around sophisticated Ums nah motl (traditional laws) that governed all forms of social, economic, and political relations, including those relating to our use of the resources, both within our nation and with other First Nations. It is our belief that these fundamental concepts of our culture are still relevant in a modern society and that we have a moral obligation to include them in our everyday lives and in our plans for the future. This article is excerpted from a report I produced as part of the Sliammon Treaty Society Research Department, and its objective is to pull together what is known of Sliammon traditional governance in precontact times and to revitalize the traditions that are relevant to a modern setting. As Sliammon people we realize that not all of the traditional systems would work in today's society, nor should they. We have faced many cultural changes, and some aspects of our ancient culture like polygamy and slavery are in fact illegal in the modern system, while others like a class-hierarchical society are not practical nor helpful in today's world when we are trying to build a system based on equality and fairness. Some of those rights and privileges should remain in the longhouse system, not in political governance. We recognize, however, that some individuals may disagree with certain materials we have included and be [End Page 583] critical of our omission of others. Still, none of us can say with certainty precisely how our ancestors lived and what they thought. Since the Sliammon people's first recorded contact with Europeans in 1792, a host of external and internal factors have resulted in considerable transformations to the social, political, and economic structures of Sliammon society. No single dramatic event, apart from perhaps first contact itself, allows us to pinpoint a specific moment when Sliammon culture changed and was replaced by a different pattern. Yet the facts suggest that during the last two hundred years a variety of changes have led to a fundamental transformation in the relationship of Sliammon people to our traditional territory. This period of our history was characterized by our displacement from the lands and resources that had sustained our ancestors. Aboriginal activities were gradually curtailed as increasing numbers of newcomers developed alternative uses for Sliammon land and its resources. Throughout this period of industrial growth, Sliammon people adopted, adapted, and rejected aspects of a dominant culture that held a fundamentally different concept of land use and governance. Our colonizers had many methods to enforce and impose their new concepts on our people as a means of subjugation. It did not help matters that every one of them was supported by law enforcement at the time. Epidemic diseases that decimated our population, a residential school system, legislation that restricted the practice of our language and culture, and an enforced system of government have all contributed to our sometimes variant and multiple views of the past. Loss of lands and resources have further intensified the cumulative impact of these conflicting views and have led directly to a reduction in the Sliammon people's practice of traditional pursuits, as well as our ability to exercise these activities in the future. Places once visited for harvesting resources or for finding spiritual assistance are now the sites of housing developments, parks, and marinas or scarred by clear-cut logging. It has been a long journey for the Sliammon people, and we acknowledge that our Klahx klah xay (Elders) have passed on the knowledge from our He heow (ancestors) under great hardship and

Corporate governance · Economics · Environmental ethics · Management · Moral obligation · Obligation · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Education, Leadership, and Health Research · Evaluation of Teaching Practices · Law · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

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