Kahtou 0004
February 2001

WESTBANK - Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band expressed his frustration and anger over the refusal by the owners of Spotted Lake to meet face to face with the Chiefs of the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA). "On December 11th, I and the other Chiefs gathered at an office in Kelowna selected by Christine Smith expecting to meet with Christine, her son Roy Smith and her daughter Darlene MacMillan, the owners of Spotted Lake. Instead they decided to not show up and left us to meet with their two lawyers."

"I was astonished at the Smith lawyers¹ ignorance of the law as it pertains to these sorts of specific land claims issues," stated Chief Dan Wilson of the Okanagan Indian Band, who has a law degree from the University of British Columbia. "Ironically our non-productive meeting with those lawyers happened on the third anniversary of the Supreme Court¹s Delgamuuk¹w decision," Chief Wilson noted.

Adding insult to injury, the lawyers for the Smiths rebuffed an offer by the Okanagan Nation Alliance to pay $500,000 for the property that encompasses Spotted Lake. "The offer we made was twice as high as the $250,000 estimated value of the property," said Chief Moses Louie of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band. "We nearly fell out of our chairs when we were told that Christine Smith wants $1.2 million for the property."

"It is obvious that Christine Smith intends to hold us to ransom over land that should never have been taken from our Nation," stated Chief Stewart Phillip of the Penticton Indian Band. "they know that Spotted Lake is priceless to us and they want to make us and the Canadian taxpayer pay through the nose to reclaim that which should never have been taken away form us."

"Well the question I put to Christine Smith is, Œwhat value will your land have on the open real estate market when we have a camp of Okanagan protecting our sacred lake?" Chief Phillip added. "We are still willing to meet with Christine Smith in order to try and reach a fair and peaceful settlement of this issue," Chief Clarence Louie concluded.