Stories of Bute Inlet

I'm happy to pass along this note from Lannie Keller regarding the proposed Bute Inlet fast-track power project. This, though it's the largest hydropower project in Canada, is just one of many proposals for the area. It makes me wonder what some of the deeper reasons were/are for the 90% fund-cutting to BC's small-press publications, since I recall that BC Bookworld ran a thoroughly researched and damning article on the BC Liberals union with private power companies in a plan to export the benefits to the U.S. The issues and concerns are many and complex, but the call here is of a specific nature:

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Our Bute: Collecting the Stories

Has Bute Inlet given you stories to tell? Do you know someone who would like to share memories about living or working in the inlet, or about an adventure up Bute? Can you provide ecological knowledge?

Home of Xwemalhkwu people – and of salmon, grizzlies and countless other creatures, Bute’s immense mountains, rivers and ocean contain memory-treasure: tales of journeys, quests, and challenge... and surely there are ghosts?

We are assembling the stories of Bute – the natural, the cultural, the ancient and modern. Our impetus is the Canadian Environmental Assessment which is seeking “local and traditional knowledge” about the area. We need to give them what we know about the spirit and the real power of Bute Inlet!

Tell what you know or tell what you want to be remembered – because Bute may change forever, but our stories can endure. And just maybe, our telling will help the CEA decide that Bute Inlet is not the place for Plutonic and GE to build the largest private power project in Canada. http://www.buteinlet.net/

Send your stories to Friends of Bute Inlet.
Email: buteinlet@gmail.com
Post Mail: Box 570, Heriot Bay BC, V0P 1W0.

If you have questions or for help with writing your story, please email or call us at 250-285-2846. If you have any photos of Bute Inlet we would love to include them in the documentation. Contact us for help with digital scans or copying.



Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is the understanding about an area or species that comes from the observations and life-experiences of people on-the-ground.

The insights that emerge from accumulated human knowledge paint a picture that can add to scientific information -- or contradict it. Our Bute Inlet stories and observations will improve the environmental assessment, and should influence resource management decisions.

Please encourage your friends and acquaintences who may be able to share information. Bute Inlet’s TEK will be published online at http://www.buteinlet.net/