Gitseguekla Hemp Project...			...A New Economy
			by Maggie Carew

In British Columbia, our resource-based economy appears to be in trouble. In days past, it seemed that supplies of trees, fish and precious ores were inexhaustible, but it's becoming clear that we cannot continue to deplete our resources at present rates. We need to find alternative sources of economic prosperity. In response to this problem, the Gitxsan Nation and the Village of Gitseguekla are in the process of researching and developing a new sustainable agriculture in the north, based on hemp.

Female (left) and male hemp plants all photos courtesy of Dave Ryan

Cultivation of hemp is not a new idea. The Chineses have been growing it for fibre for 5000 years. In Europe, it was the primary source of cheap cloth and paper for centuries. The first printed books , including the Gutenberg Bible, were printed on hemp paper, which has not yellowed or become brittle in six centuries. It was widely cultivated in Upper Canada in the 1800s, and in Kentucky in the 1940s as part of the war effort. In the days of the great sailing ships, ropes were made of hemp and sails from canvas (a word derived from 'cannabis'). Nowadays the hemp farmers of the European Union can't keep up with the demands of manufacturers, who use hemp not only for paper and cloth, but also for cattle feed and even building materials. It is illegal to grow hemp in the United States. In Canada it may be grown only under license, strictly monitored by Health Canada. The THC content of commercially grown hemp may not exceed 0.03%, which is nowhere near enough to create a 'high' effect.

Work crew all set to start

When the people of Gitseguekla applied for a license, they were required to pay for location on a global positioning system, to send samples of their product every year for laboratory testing, and to have a criminal record check done on every employee. They sought start-up funding fron the Northern Job Commission, DIA, and Forest Renewal B.C. They received initial support from the provincial Ministry of Agriculture and the National Research Council.