Wild roses scent the air along the road to the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) administration office, the perfume driven by the moist salt breezes off the Strait of Georgia.
To the left is a narrow strip of salt marsh; to the right, site preparations heralding the first phase of a residential community that will house up to 4,000 people – more than five times the population today. Beyond it, work is proceeding on the first tranche of a 300-acre port-oriented industrial development. Ivanhoe Cambridge and the Property Development Group also have plans for two developments that will create the province's second-largest retail centre with 1.75 million square feet of shops, catering to residents and ferry travellers.This is the face of the future for the Tsawwassen First Nation, a development wave that – in the words of newly elected TFN chief Bryce Williams – will support a cultural renaissance.
UMA Engineering Ltd. drafted a land-use plan in 2008 for the 1,789 acres that passed to TFN control in 2009 when its historic treaty with the province took effect. It identified 225 acres of tidal marsh, among other sites, for cultural uses.
Williams brings a more ambitious cultural agenda, however.
"One of my dreams and goals is to get a lot more people involved in the culture to sing and dance and carve," Williams said. "Anything I can do to help in that regard is going to be very helpful to strengthen and grow our cultural practices around here."
A youth representative advising those negotiating the 2004 agreement in principle that led to the treaty settlement, Williams was elected to Tsawwassen executive council in 2009 at age 20. Two ballots led to his election as chief in April 2013, a position that comes with an annual, legislated salary of $73,000.
Williams credits former chief Kim Baird as well as Tsawwassen staff in ensuring a smooth transition to self-government, a strength he believes can benefit youth.
"There's a lot of support from staff, and a lot of good support from executive council," he said. "We're a small, tight-knit community, and a lot of people have the same idea of what they want to see in the future for the community to better the youth and the next generations to come."
The major projects the community is undertaking with developers might promise jobs and a legacy for band members, but the unprecedented scale of the development isn't above criticism.
For example, during an interview with CKNW talk show host Bill Good last year, Delta councillor Ian Paton noted that the aboriginal word "tsawwassen" means "land facing the sea" but quipped: "By the time they're finished there, nobody's going to be getting a chance to look at the sea from Highway 17 because you'll be looking at the side of big-box stores and container storage."
Williams has a different perspective, however.
"[Development] will provide more revenue and more monies to be able to help provide those services and provide those workshops and teachings and things like that. I think it will open more doors than shutting any doors."
He's counting on new residents of the Tsawwassen lands to support that vision.
"We're open to teaching them and educating them about our culture and ways of life, and protocols around everyday life and life around the longhouse," he said. "It'll be helpful to build that knowledge out there in the community; to educate them on who we are and where we come from."
Williams comes from a family whose roots run deep in both culture and politics.
Carvers were many on his mother's side of the family, which resides in Haida Gwaii. His father was born a Tsawwassen First Nation member, the son of former Tsawwassen chief Russell Williams. His father also did some carving, but Williams places himself in the tradition of Haida masters such as Christian White, under whom he studied for two years in Old Masset.
"I didn't really grasp my culture when I was around here," he said. "There's still a lot of winter ceremonial dances and things in the longhouse, but I just never really embraced it."
That changed in 2006, when the Vancouver Art Gallery hosted Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art. Williams was in his final year of high school, and the show opened his eyes to what the future might hold.
"A lot of my family members and ancestors had pieces in there and just really moved me in a way that made me want to become one of those artists or carvers – to be able to work up to that calibre," he said.
Returning to Tsawwassen after his two-year apprenticeship under White, Williams received a YVR Art Foundation Scholarship, sponsored by the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts, which allowed him to carve a miniature canoe displayed at YVR for a year. The TFN has also awarded him a commission for two welcome figures at the entrance to its lands.
Williams hasn't sold many pieces, but he believes being a carver has given him understanding and respect – "respect for people, and to respect the work you're doing" – that he brings to his role as chief.
Respect has been a hallmark of the Tsawwassen band's relationships with adjacent communities. The reserve at the core of the TFN's land was established in 1871, but Tsawwassen members attended schools and worked in neighbouring Delta, which also provided basic infrastructure under a dozen separate agreements. Those agreements will need to evolve now that the TFN enjoys self-government and functions as a municipal entity within Metro Vancouver. Sewer capacity, for instance, needs to be addressed; transit services, as in every other municipality, are an issue.
Delta mayor Lois Jackson marvels at the challenges Williams faces as the 450-member first nation implements its land use plan and undertakes several large-scale development partnerships.
"I just can't imagine how you do that with such a [small] number of people from your own community to be there," said Jackson, a former chair of Metro Vancouver. "It's tough enough when we've got 100,000 people here in Delta that we can draw on for experience."
Williams admits that he depends on extensive staff support, but adds that he feels called to his role.
"I don't think I'm better than anybody else in any way. I think everything happens for a reason, and I just think this is the path that I'm on. I think I'm going to be proving a lot of people wrong in the next three years, and showing them I can be a great leader and uplift my community."
