By Andru McCracken
Miranda Dick, Hereditary Matriarch of the Secwepemc Nation, is asking for transparency and accountability from the Tiny House Warriors.
Dick said the warriors – a pipeline protest group that has camped out near Blue River, BC for two years – committed to building 10 houses to “provide housing to Secwepemc families facing a housing crisis due to deliberate colonial impoverishment.”
“We are facing extreme poverty and homelessness in our nation and there are currently four community members who are currently unhoused on the Neskonlith Reserve,” said Dick, who co-wrote an open letter to the warriors along with Hereditary Chief, Henry Sauls.
Critically, they hope to find out how Secwepemc people can sign up for housing.
But there are other questions too.
They want to know how much has been fundraised since 2017, who the funders are, who has attended the camp, and the alliances and affiliations of the group.
“How much of this money has been spent on building the Tiny Homes intended for the unhoused community?” she asked.
Dick said community members have raised concerns about how much money has been raised, where the funds are going, and which companies and nongovernmental organizations are making donations.
In an interview on Friday, Dick said that while the Tiny House Warriors is an independent organization, they need to be accountable to the Secwepemc Nation in the same way a band council can be held accountable.
Dick is not a pipeline proponent, but the issue matters to her.
“I am still fighting against the pipeline for Trans Mountain,” she said.
“As a hereditary chief’s daughter I have every right to ask for transparency and accountability.”
She said the concern is that money is being collected on behalf of the Secwepemc people.
“I am still fighting against the pipeline for Trans Mountain,” she said.
“As winter approaches these tiny houses were to go to the homeless. How do they do that due process? how do they choose who gets into the homes? Is there a sign up sheet?”
Dick and Sauls gave the warriors until December 1, 2020 for the Warriors to respond.
The Tiny House Warriors were contacted for comment, but did not respond back by presstime.
