-A2 Castlegar News August 7, 1991 Natives continued from front page If they were cavemen, he joked, their technology was not primitive. “The Salish people who built the underground houses were way ahead,” he said. “Only now we start to appreciate the value of underground housing.” And there are still Indians around, he said, pointing out that a group of Sinixt-Arrow Lakes Indians returned in 1989 to an ancient ancestral burial ground at Vallican. Choquette maintains that the Kootenay came to this area thousands of years earlier. “They were here when a good was also not so primitive as peo- Noting that modern culture is hanging now at a rate faster ple think, he y “Probably the most exciting time to live in this region was in the 1890s when this area was b he noted, painti a than ever before in human tory, Choquette ventured a pre- diction of its probable disap- if noth is done: picture of lively mining commu- nities in the Slocan Valley and busy traffic on the Arrow lakes, with steamships sailing just out- side Castlegar, where the pre- sent Syringa Park is located. “We're only now at the same level of population,” he said. Modern archeology, Cho- quette said, has come to turn its attention to_preservation of his- torical sitéeewhich is seen as a “We will find that the: going to be a big gap in history, and it’s not going to be the dis- tant past but the more immedi- ate one.” ‘ Choquette closed his slide show on local archeology by say- ing it was an example of a devel- oping regional eco-museum. “This heritage is too impor- tant for only a few people to know about,” he said, urging his di to take their heritage “heritage part of the Salish king ter- ritory was still under ice.” But history is as important for an archeologist as prehisto- Pach Heritage preservation, he said, is “of economic value b of its ial of pro- ry, said Ch di the former as the ‘time since “con- tact” (between the native Indi- ans and the European coloniz- ers). And the history of the area moting tourism,” Choquette said, pointing out tourism's importance at a time when the natural resource base on which local economies were built is fast disappearing. concerns to their elected politi- cians. The Kootenay region with its varied archeology could become and important archeological centre in the province, he said, if only more funding were made jilable by Victoria. “There's a real need for a major natural museum in the region,” he said. CasNews photo by Barbara Tandory Wayne Choquette shows what archeology has dug up about local Indians during a slide show Sunday. a ‘ August 7, 1991 Castlegar News A; semana Arare native pictograph known as The Shaman located in a natural cave near Thrums. Pictographs continued from front page In the native tradition, young people went into isolation to seek spirit guidance, often in inaccessible sites, like the one in Thrums, or in places of spiri- tual significance to the tribe. According to this view, the who appear to be joined togeth- er like the Gemini Twins. “This would imply that two persons went on a vision quest togeth- er,” he suggested. The real case, however, may be of a family taking a spirit quest together. Beside the two fi rock Pp some- thing seen in a dream vision by the novice undergoing spiritual initiation, But Choquette believes it’s impossible to know for sure. “It’s somebody’s symbols and impossible for us to tell what the story was,” he said. A well-known Castlegar folklorist familiar with the Thrums pictographs is also in favor of a spiritual interpreta- tion. “You can assume that places were selected for the spirit quest,” noted Dr. Mark Mealing, a longtime anthropolggy instructor at Selkirk College. Mealing offers a unique insight into one of the Thrums panels, featuring two human figures with starburst halos ig that they’re male and female is suggested by their rel- ative sizes—appears a fainter, smaller figure, presumably is the couple’s child. The motif of an individual with arms outstretched to the heavens and horns or a halo is fairly common in indian art, Mealing believes. “They figure most prominently in the spirit quest.” Hidden from view, the Thrums pictographs have been protected by nature’s own secre- cy so far. Aside from local resi- dents who until recently didn’t realize their value, they remain undiscovered. _* Three years-ayo, Dr. Bill Sloan of Selkirk College had the pictograph panels registered officially with the Heritage Branch in Victoria. Sloan, a his- tory teacher at the college and a member of the provincial Her- itage Trust board, testifies that the rock markings are “authen- tic and ancient.” He also thinks they are “exceedingly valuable,” which is one reason why the exact loca- tion has never been made pub- lic. (Another reason is that access to the pictograph site _ leads through private property.) Sloan’s view of the meaning of the pictographs coincides with the. archeologist Cho- quette’s, namely that it was a place where the travelling Indi- ans stopped to give offerings to their gods. Choquette estimates the pic- tographs could be 2,000 years old and that they were probably left by the Kootenay since “they’re right in their territory,” although he points out the shared motif with the Interior Salishan Lakes art. The archeologist said there are about 50 known pictographs throughout the region. Students find culture gap not that By CasNews Staff Two Castlegar teenagers have discovered that bridging the gap between Japanese and Canadian cultures isn’t as hard as people might think. In fact, once you get past the language barrier and get used to the nuances that make up the Japanese way of life, people are, well, just people, “We're all human. There’s no real barriers,” said Lorraine Paszty, 17, who just returned from a three-week visit to Japan with 26ther secondary school students from the West and East Kootenays, “What barriers there were, you could find a way around them. “The language wasn’t impor- tant — communication was.” The students were part of the U-Trek Pacific Rim Student Exchange 1991, sponsored by governments in both countries. Japanese students participat- ing in the exchange arrive in Castlegar on Saturday. In an interview with the Castlegar News, Paszty and fel- low traveller Amy Rodgers said they learned a lot about them- selves as well as Japan from Lorraine Paszty and her Japanese host mother, Ikuko Itoh. the visit. * “If you want people to under- stand you, you have to be patient and you can’t always take things for granted,” said Rodgers, who celebrated her 17th birthday while in Japan. “You have to just try and be helpful.” Paszty agreed. “I learned how to be very patient and understanding,” she said. “I learned that some- times you just have to slow down and take things in. They (the Japanese) lead such @ busy life and it was just nice to sit por and watch somebody else’s life.” Their trip also dispelled some myths about Japan and its people, they said. “Going to a country like Japan, you have to go there with an open mind and we didn’t really know what to expect,” said Paszty, who stayed with a Japanese family. in Hakuba, about 200 kilome- tres northwest of Tokyo. “Like we were told everybody’s short and stuff like that. And it’s not true. “A lot of the things we were told aren’t true.” She said experiencing life with a Japanese family also provided insights not ‘labl to everyday tourists. “I found that . . . their lifestyle isn’t a lot different than yours or mine.” However, some of the meals took a little getting used to, they said. “Eel. We had to. eat eel. Lorraine Paszty (left) and Amy WwW ide Ugh,” said Rodgers, who stayed with a family in Osaka. “I real- ly liked some of the food though.” Paszty was a little more adventurous. “I got to experience a lot of Japanese cooking. The food — sometimes you think, ‘Oh my goodness, I have to eat that?” But she said she adopted a simple philosophy: “If they can eat it, we can eat found it,” Paszty said. “There was very little I didn’t like.” The students said they were also amazed at the crowds of people in Japanese cities. “The thing that I found mind-boggling is that in one city there’s the lation of than program, students had to write a 1,500-word essay explaining why they should go to Japan and how they would benefit from the trip, and make a five- minute speech before a group of people composed of last year’s Canada,” Paszty said, Added Rodgers: “My city had more than 13 million people. I was so surprised.” To qualify for the exchange and parents. The exchange is open to all students in Grade 11. “To have been selected for this, I feel quite honor.” anoy away r om. fallen wires Ice storms, high winds or fallen tree limbs can bring hydro lines down. And even a fallen wire that seems dead can be dangerous. wires, warn others not to and report the fallen wires to your local hydro or the police as soon as possible. = If a line falls a across your Oe Whelll eS ; vehicle, stay inside ‘NIV XX until a hydro PEN e crew removes the line. If there’s a live power line touching« your Car, putting even one foot on the ground can be a fatal move to make. — £}. West Fo KOOTENAY Call 1-800-332-1292 CARDS ACCEPTED CELGAR t JCHERS 1004 Columbia + Ph. 365-8155 ax MOM xx HOW NIFTY TURNING 50! Love, Dawn, Dan Pat, Rob and the Boys FOI ok A Federal Business Develop- ment Bank atative will be paying your com: We’re out to meet you! arrange an appointment munity a visit in the next few Ways. Call today und 77 | \| AT CASTLEGAR ON AUGUST 14TH, Telephone 1-800-667-7579 COMMITTED TO YOUR SUCCESS: and training). 1991 Q@) seer eee. reese commen LEGION BRANCH 170 Monday to Thursday -ip.m.- 11 p.m. FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 12 Noon to 1 a.m. _. (Except Band Nights & Speciei Occasions) 365-7017 gro, aly XO gi? vs Youngsters from the Hobbit Hill Children's Centre sit outside the Kootenay Columbia Child Care Society's new buliding which Is being renovated as part of the society's expansion. Fundraising events are planned for Aug. 16 and 17. CasNews photo STREET TALK IT’S $225,000 DOWN, $100,000 TO GO for the Kootenay Columbia Child Care Soci- ety. That’s how much money the society needs to complete the expansion of its facilities in Castlegar, administrator Katrine Conroy floor shaw at the Hi Arrow at 9 p.m., Conroy said. Money raised from the cover charge will go to the KCCCS, On Aug. 17, participating pubs-and restau- rants will donate part of their proceeds to the POLICE NEWS Woman A Castlegar nfan who suf- fered a broken hand, bruised ribs and minor cuts to his fore- head told the Castlegar RCMP he was attacked and assaulted. The RCMP said it is investi- gating a report from a 20-year- old man who says he was assaulted behind the Valley ‘ideo store on Columbia Ave. ‘he RCMP didn’t release the name‘of the victim or date of the incident but did say that no arrests have been made so far. A motorcyclist was injured Friday in Glade when he lost control of the vehicle, the RCMP said today. > Kelly Gleboff, 24, was north- bound on Glade Road on Friday afternoon when he crashed. Gleboff was taken to Castle- gar Hospital but later trans- ferred to the Trail Regional Hos- pital with .undetermined injuries. 4 The RCMP said Gleboff incurred “much mere serious injuries” because he wasn’t wearing a helmet. A Castlegar man paid an impromptu visit to city hall Sunday morning after losing control of his vehicle, careening off a power pole then finally coming to rest after hitting a flag pole in front of the city offices, the RCMP said. The man’s 1990 Subaru burst into flames after the accident but the fire was quickly extin- guished by the Castlegar fire department, which has a station next to City Hall. Paul Barry Watson, 25, and a 20-year-old male occupant in the car, which was heading north at the time of the accident, were treated for minor injuries. eee The RCMP are warning peo- ple to lock their car doors after a series of thefts of items from motor vehicles Sunday in the Blueberry Creek area. Tape cassettes and other small items were stolen from the unlocked vehicles, said the RCMP, who are still investigat- ing the crime. awarded $27,000 VICTORIA (CP) — The B.C. Human .Rights Council has ordered Hidden Creek Timber to pay a former female employee more than $27,000 for refusing to give her equal job opportuni- ties with male workers. But the Salmo sawmill has been placed in receivership, so it’s not clear whether Vicky Kennedy will be able to collect. Kennedy, who worked at var- ious jobs at the mill, testified at a hearing that foreman Tony Brand told her: “I’ve’had my fill up to here with women working in jobs that they’ve got no right doing . . . Women cannot run machinery. I'll lose too much production.” Soon after the dis- cussion, she was laid off. The council ordered the com- pany to pay Kennedy $2,000 “as some compensation for injury to feelings of a self-respect caused by the contravention,” plus $25,366 for a year’s lost wages TLEGAR CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 1975-6th Ave. 365-6313 LOAN-OUT CAMERA The Castlegar News has two simple-to-operate loan-out cameras (complete with film) which it is pl d to allow groups to use for taking pictures for 1987 PONTIAC FIREFLY 63 mpg. Flame red, 5- speed, manual transmission. Only 68,500 km. Very clean economy car. said. To reach the goal, the society is embarking on two days of fundraising Aug. 16 and 17 with the help of local pubs and restaurants — and Labatt’s. The brewing company is sending its popular advertising star for Kokanee beer, Sasq, to heduled to do a deductibl Castlegar Aug. 16 when he’s society’s expansion project. Watch for ads in the CasNews for more details of the fundraiser. The society also plans a “buy-a-brick” fundraising campaign to raise money for the expensign. Dondtions to the child care society are tax Conroy said. LORDY, LORDY, LOOK WHO'S 40! a Love, Wife and Kids NOTICE Castlegar Veterinary Hospital Dr. Williams will be on vacation from Saturday, Aug. 3 to Monday, Aug. 19 Boarding Services ONLY will be available Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. , Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. For All Your Insurance Needs + TRAVEL + TENANT * COMMERCIAL * REC VEHICLE + ICBC * AUTO PLAN * LIFE + PRIVATE AUTO + We Provide a Flexible Finance Plan (Subject to Qualifications) + WITH TWO OFFICES TO SERVE YOU CASTLEGAR SAVINGS INSURANCE AGENCIES LTD. CASTLEGAR (C5) SLOCAN PARK 601-18th Street Highway 6 365-3368 226-7216 * HOME NEW! TO CASTLEGAR me. 365-2476 Summertime Partytime... CHICKENTIME ANYTIME! use by the Castlegar News Arrangements for the use of these cameras should be made through our News Department at 365-3517. Se Castlégar News “A Tradition of Community Journalism Since 1947" STEVE WHITTLETON sles Representative (OAM) VERIGIN Oo Oa ameter 2849 Fourth a Res. “Castiegar, 8. vin 294 365-71 aeons