Friends:
I realilzed that this went to one list but not the other...enjoy.
Chris
--
CHRIS CORRIGAN
108-1035 Pacific Street
Vancouver BC
V6E 4G7
Phone: 604.683.3080
Fax: 604.683.3036
--- Begin Message ---
Friends:
Opened the space again on Friday June 23, 2000 at a First
Nation in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. The theme was "How can
we assert our rights and title in our traditional territory now and in
the future?" The setting was a modern longhouse in the community that
itself was a living act of decolonization. One of the most powerful
leaders in the community's history, and the father of the current chief,
had built the longhouse in the 1950s during the era in which it was
illegal to practice the potlatch and the winter ceremonies in this part
of the world. And to add insult to injury he built the longhouse out of
lumber he salvaged from an old church.
This small First Nation has been in the news a lot lately over a road
blockade they erected to protest a land use plan that did not include
them. They have been involved in several other high profile
confrontations over the years over fishing rights and the harvesting of
gravel from the gravel bars that form in the Fraser River near their
reserve. This Open Space was sponsored by the First Nation's Aboriginal
Rights and
Title Committee, and was intended to be a community meeting.
Up to 70 people were expected, but a sudden number of major events kept
most people away. in the end 15 people showed up and 11 topics were
posted spread between two one hour time slots.
This OS really tested the third principle. It was called for 9:00am
(with an expectation that it would actually start around 9:30). I
opened the space at 12:00, after waiting for three hours for people to
assemble. It was strangely easy for me to wait three hours for 15
people to gather. Several people came, waited around and left again,
and I took my cue from the sponsor as to when I needed to start. So for
three hours I talked with folks, ate some of the fresh strawberries and
smoked salmon that had been laid out (not a bad combination) and
generally bided my time. Finally, 15 people were ready to go. The
oldest one was 93 and the youngest was 6 weeks old. Most of the group
were elders in their 60s or 70s. These were people who did not appear
ready to go out and assert Aboriginal title. Two were stone deaf, one
was critically diabetic, one was a baby who still had blurry vision, and
two had major respiratory ailments. Nevertheless, I knew the wisdom
that lurked within this small crowd, and I began my opening.
During my opening, three people fell asleep (not including the baby, who
stayed awake and listened quietly...), and one left for about 15
minutes. I found myself revelling in the absurdity of the moment,
having driven 150 kms at 7:00 in the morning to wait for four hours to
open the space for 15 people (11 of them conscious and present) who
appeared to be not so well equipped to physically undertake the task at
hand. But, of course, I continued undaunted and when i reached the end
of my opening there was silence. And a long pause. And I kept walking
the circle.
Then one man stood up and started talking about how the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans was locking him out from his traditional fishing
grounds. He spoke for a couple of minutes, during which the sponsor
grabbed a piece of flipchart paper and captured what he was saying in
the form of an agenda item. She posted it on the wall, the others got
the drift and we were off. 10 minutes later we had our 11 agenda items.
People milled about seemingly aimlessly for about half an hour after
that. I went to make a phone call thinking it was going to be awhile
before any of them got down to work, given the kind of day it had been
so far. When I returned 10 minutes later, they were still milling
about, but to my surprise, 4 report forms had been filled out. Then it
occurred to me that they WERE working -- they were moving around the
room at record speed. Almost nobody was sitting. It was a conference
composed almost entirely of bumblebees. This continued for another two
and a half hours, during which they consumed lunch and kept on working.
Several groups experienced more than 100% turnover! Topics ranged from
how to use resources like fish and gravel, to lobby and direct action
strategies to basic organizational challenges like where to get money
from and why so few people had turned out to the meeting.
A fifteen page book of proceedings was produced with some great
strategies and commitments.
The closing circle evolved into a kind of healing circle. First Nations
people are used to sitting in circles for healing and so the ritual
created the circumstances for action (see the discussion on ritual on
Openspace Home at The Meta Network [www.tmn.com/new] for more on this).
And most of the comments were about how important the process had been,
and how liberating, and how important it would be to do this with the
youth, and to make it a monthly event.
This was the second OS in this community, and we doubled our numbers
from the
last one. Hopefully the next one will build again. The whole bit about
growing appropriate structure came home to me with this one, watching
these Elders engaging in strategy around fishing etc. I am amazed at
how much of a buzz 15 people are able to make. One of the sponsor group
is currently working on a Masters in adult basic education and she now
wants to research OS in the context of community building.
In short, the process came home again, and even though I was very well
prepared to be surprised, I was caught off gurad again! I am learning
that it is impossible to facilitate an Open Space meeting and not have
my mind blown.
Incorrigibly yours,
Chris.
--
CHRIS CORRIGAN
108-1035 Pacific Street
Vancouver BC
V6E 4G7
Phone: 604.683.3080
Fax: 604.683.3036
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