Professional Businesses
and Services

Business of the Month

ECOTEMP CONTROLS & SERVICE

aul Strelive of Ecotemp Controls & Service has been servicing air
F onditionitg and heating systems in Castlegar residences and

businesses for more than five years

Experienced, licensed and bonded, EcoTemp provides excellent sales and
service to existing oil, gas and electric heating
installations to new home construction or energy Conservation to an already

installed appliance.

As the registered area distributor and installer of TOUR &
ANDERSSON building automation systems (HVAC DDC controls),

EcoTemp can provide the services you need

Call Paul Strelive at EcoTtemp

FOR ALL YOUR

AIR CONDITIONING AND HEATING NEEDS

399-4207

appliances as well as

ng Wands

Construction & MAIwrenance Services
ASSISTANCE FOR THE DO-IT YOURSELFER

If you would like to advertise in the
Professional Businesses and Services
Call Cathy « Nicole ¢ Fred © 365-5266

Heating venting & a/c automated controls

on 604-365-5157...

Furnace Parts & Service
Oil « Gas © Electric

We Adjust To All Seasons

* Plumbing * Heating * Air Conditioning
Gas Fitting + Sheet Metal « Refrigeration

ARROW LAKES (in-town convenience)
2305 6th Ave.
Castlegar, B.C. VIN 2W1

Superior Gutters
365-8181

FREE ESTIMATES

-Coofing

‘Ar Conditioning & Mechanical Systems Lid
613- 13th St - Units 1 & 2+ 965-2485,

RMP MRO

FREE ESTIMATES * CALL DAVE 365-3545 —""
Crimney CLEANING

43 Years In Business

ae

SPECIALTIES - SUNDECKS, ROOFS
Outiasts any other material

Variety of colours » Free estimates

Proven Product since 1963 365-7573

sEE ESTIMATES
Guaranteed Work
JAMES SWANSON & SONS

367-7680

Firesafe Prevention Services
Serving the
West Kootenay area

1-800-208-2088

SILVERCREST
PLUMBING

365-3044

¢ Large variety. of units
° Easy access
¢ Competitive rates

5 minutes from downtown Castlegar

365-653

We Clean Tt Atl
Carpet ¢ Upholstery
Ceilings
Walls ¢ Blinds

SUPERIOR SERVICE SINCE 1981

THE
PLUMBING ie
AND

DOCTOR iy" | /

« Complete plumbing service
resid ial & i

nd CONSTRUCT,

RENOVATIONS (4

vel Lrtnt
bia Avenue
Tel. 365-6385 FAX# 365-FAXS
— PHOTOCOPYING —
— FAXING (Send & Receive) —

HOUSING
ADOMONS

Residential/Commercial

CONTRACTI
CALL BOB

Because there are no unimportant parts.”
WHATEVER YOUR NEEDS...
- Automotive
- Boat
- Body shop or industrial

Low Prices!
We deliver!
Great Quality!

ROSES

% BIRTHS
WEDDINGS

ROMANCE

» Natural gas & propane
installation & service

* Sewer & drain cleaning
SERVICING CASTLEGAR & AREA

Puone: 399-4762

CARPET CLEANERS & SERVICES

For the cleanest clean you've ever seen!
FREE estimates 365-6969

FUNERALS
JUST BECAUSE

FLOWER AFFAIRS
1502 - G Columbia Ave., Castlegar © 365-3056

UAP/NAPA AUTO PARTS

707 - 13th St., Castlegar, B.C. V1N 2K6

965-7248

r =
|e BOULDER PATCH pateg
TRUCKING LTD.
| Excavating Materials Available
| * Septic Tank Installations * Drain Rock
+ Water Lines * Crush
* Road Building * Pit Run, Ete
* Site Preparation * Sand & Topsoil
* Hauling, Etc. * Landscaping
Jim Postnikoft RR#2, Site #10, C-24
Ph, 399-4745 Castlegar, BC VIN 3L4
Mobile 365-8220-BEEP-288

¢ SERVING THE WEST KOOTENAY AREA

¢ COMPETITIVE PRICES
¢ FIRST IN SERVICE

BOUNDARY TRUSS
Engineered Trusses - Glulame = Silent Floor Systeme - Pallets
P.O. Box 219,
Grand Forks, B.C Fa:
[WOH THO d

Tel: (604) 442-5507
(604) 442-5030
Toll Free: 1-800-414-8787

= DAK Contracting Led

PLUMBING & HOT WATER HEATING # RENOVATIONS

CASTLEGAR
Ph: 365-7769 © Fax: 365-2998

HEAD OFFICE
2245 - 6th Avenue
Castlegar, B.C. VIN 2W1

Injuries Stop Here.

Adjust Your
‘<a Head Rest and
Buckle Up.

Sense

WIN Ow.

IVERS

Controls and Refrigeration Ltd.

* Heating * Air Conditioning ¢ Commercial Refrigeration
© Preventative Maintenance ¢ Building HVAC Automation
* 24 Hour Emergency Service
* DESIGN * INSTALLATION * SERVICE

365-4999

WE DO STUCCO!

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL
ver 20 years experience
ty workmanship ® Senior rates

FREE ESTIMATES
CALL LLOYD - 365-1117 |,

QWILLIAMS

Moving & Sloraye

UNITED
UNITED
‘UNITED

Van Lines

; 2237 - 6th Avenue
— BF Castiegar

Local, Long Distance & international Moving Container or Van Service

Free Estimates ° Call Collect (604) 365-3328

Surgenor & Rogers
CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANTS
VIN 3H4

1444 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, B.C

BUS:604-365-7208
FAX:604-365-3098

RESIDENT PARTNER?

NEIL E. SURGENORC.G.A

Dr. Jerry Gallo is pleased to announce that his office is now opened at

1458 Columbia Ave., Castlegar ¢ 365-0064
(in the rear of Dr Allen's Optometry Office)
Open: Tuesdays & Thursdays
9:00 - 5:00 pm

Chiropractic Care 1s covered under Medical Service Plan and no referrals

tre necessary for any W.C.B. or LC.B.C. claims either, so.drop in!

New Chiropractic Office In Castlegar

A

R

on Pongracz
was nine
when he
moved with
his family
from Prince

Rupert, with a significant
native population, to
Castlegar where there
were few natives. Don told
his father he didn’t like it
here — there were no
Indians. His father took
him into Trail where Paul
Seymour, a Mohawk, was
riding in a parade. “You
see there are natives here,”
and took him home.

More than 30 years later,
Don Pongracz, Eugene,
Tom and Leonard Seymour,
Laurin Hackman and other
local natives would be the
initiators of The Lower
Columbia River All First
Nations Council. A group
formed to support off-
reserve natives in the
Lower Columbia area. The
group's purposes are to
work toward the educa-
ton
and well being of all First
Nations

cultural awareness

people in the
lower Columbia River area
The group. which became
a society on May 31, 1995,
currently has a member-
ship of over 150 people.
“When I grew up here
there weren't very many
natives. Now there are a
lot of native families living
throughout the area. It
seems as though the per-
ception still exists that
there are no natives here,”
said Don Pongracz, presi-
dent of the LCRAFNC. “Our
group was formed because
off reserve natives, and
persons of first nation
ancestry, most times have
little contact with their
own reserves and little
knowledge of policies that
affect them, or laws con-
cerning their rights.”
Cultural heritage is
important to most first
nations persons. Govern-
ment policies of residential
schools and the adopting
out of native children’ has
had devastating effects on
many natives. Lil Adshead
is one person who lost her
cultural heritage and status
through the government's
policies of adopting out
“When I was four years
old I was taken. What hurts
me the most is I'll never
know my mom and dad
They both died, 1968 and
1967. so I never got to
know them.” Adshead is an
alcoholic, a fact she has
admitted to herself, She has
now been alcohol free. tor
two years. “l was hiding
Want-
ing to know but fearing it. I

my pain in alcohol

hated men. I hated women
Most of all I hated me.”
Adshead was raised by

|

two white families. She is
grateful for the help and
assistance she received but
being raised away from
her culture created a nega-
tive image of her culture,
and ultimately, herself. “At

fe ee i

Wednesday, September 27, 1995

native crafts; dreamcatch-
ers, dreamcatcher earrings,
chokers,; and native
afghans. An artisan for
more than 20 years, she is
hoping to have her own
shop featuring native arti-

|

Page B1

¢ lonanouse

native people.”

Pongracz also chose his
art as a way of getting in
touch with his culture. As
a child he spent time in
Massett and watched as
they made the traditional

the Tsimsyan elders there.
Today he operates his own
native carving business out
of his home in Castlegar.
“It's my culture. It
makes me feel good. It
expresses all the legends

Handmade drum made by Mark Andrews. Drums are usually made of elk hide, and a ceremonial smudging with
burnt sweet grass occurs before the drum is first used. The drum is the heartbeat of the people.

a young age I didn’t want
to know about my own
people because of what
people said about them.”
Her fear of learning about
herself left when she final-
ly quit drinking.

“I'm lucky I have my
feet in both worlds. I have
the whiter-way and now
I'm learning about my
own.” Adshead believes in
the power of positive
energy. Round Lake, a
native treatment centre
near Vernon and Arm-
strong, along with her
own desire to change,
helped her overcome her
drinking problems.

Adshead is currently in
the process of attempting
to regain her status. “They
didn’t have the right to
take it from me but they
did. If you didn't live on
the reservation you didn’t
have it. If you lived in
white homes*you didn’t
have it.” Government poli-
cies have created a lot of
hurt but Adshead’s recon-
nection with her native
heritage is helping.

“If | keep on the path
I'm going now things will
be okay.” She sees beauty
in the small pleasures of
life and the greed is gone
We're here for a reason
Life is like a puzzle and it’s
not going to be
until the last: piece
in — that’s my life

finished

is put

Adshead, takes pleasure
in the manufacture of her

Native carver, Don Pongracz, stands beside his
Sleeping Raven Grizzly Bear totem pole which was
commissioned by a private collector.

sans Its oa cherished
dream but if it doesn't
happen she'll still be okay
“Eve spent the last two
years being sober and not
being afraid to walk down

the same road as other

bent Knives and adzes A
refrigeration and steam
engineer he spent tour
years on the Port Simpson
Reserve, working al thc
Pacific Northwest Native

Co-op, and learned trom

I've heard, and I remem-
ber. What native society is,
is your cultural roots and
ceremonies.” Artis a sig-
nificant part of all native
North American cultures
and to Pongracz it is very
important to share his art
and to teach. “When I
share my art it gives us
common ground.”

Mark Preston, Tenna’
Tsa’ Teh (Master of the
Copper), is of
Tlingit/Irish ancestry and
moved to the Nelson area
three years ago. “I saw a
postcard and I sent my
family. Three months
later I joined them.” The
scenery drew him to the
area but it is the people
and the land who have
kept him here.

With the cooperation of
David Krieger, owner of the
Rice Bowl in Nelson, Pre-
ston is planning a “Spirit of
the Longhouse Gallery.” Pre-
ston’s gallery will host story-
telling, ceremonies, native
art work, and guest speak-
ers. Eventually he hopes to
feature the work of indige-
nous people from around
the world. “Its primary pur
pose really is to introduce
the cultural and spiritual
Ways of first nations people

Preston who is an artist
and jeweller learned his
symbols and craft through
research in libraries and
muscums. He was put into
foster care at the age of

five or six. “What brought

me back to my culture was
the memory of living with
my Uncle Taylor McGundy
and Aunt and being out on
a trap line at Carmacks.”

“Residential schools
harmed not only the peo-
ple that were forced into
them but the generation
that followed.” Pongracz’s
mother was sent at the age
of five to a residential
school at Alert Bay.
“Because of it we didn’t
get to speak our language.
My mom was scared to
send us to school, or to
say a lot of things to
school boards. If some-
thing was wrong she told
us to be quiet.” Two of his
mother’s sisters died in the
residential school.

Pongracz’s father was
Hungarian, and the first
thing his mother did after
marrying his father was to
remove her sisters from
the residential school and
bring them to live with
her. “One thing it did do is
it helped to. bring Mom's
family to stay with us a lot
It was haven for
natives at my parent's
house in Prince Rupert.”

Laurin Hackman-George
arrived in Castlegar in
1947 with his mother and
stepfather. Maintaining
contact with his own
reserve was difficult. It is
one of the reasons he has
donated his time and ener-
gy to the group.

“We need regional rep-
resentation for this area
because there is none. We
have no band office to
contact.” Hackman-George
sees that “there should be
something for native kids
in this area. Values for
them.” He says it is impor-
tant to establish better con-
tacts for off reserve native
people and establish con-
tact with the Indian way.

“We're not out here for
land claims. We're not start-
ing any blockades. What we
are is a support group for all
off-reserve native people.
What we care about is pre-
serving, rebuilding and con-
tinuing our cultures. That is
our most important goal,”
said Pongracz.

The LCRAFNC is com-
posed of many nations
Haida-Gwaii, Oneida,
Mohawk, Ojibwa, Cree
and many more. Currently
their meetings are held the
first Thursday of every
month at the CPR Train
Station Museum in Castle-

safe

gar. The group is open to
all natives, status, non-sta-
tus, Metis. and to all those
of First Nations ancestry
Those wanting more infor
mation can call 365-6633

Story & Photos By
Alexa Pongracz