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Is it really “orphaned land?”

Editor: Re: Last week's paper dated March 30, 2016 "Regional District Considers Expansion"

Editor:

Re: Last week's paper dated March 30, 2016 "Regional District Considers Expansion"

After reading the article one phrase struck me as strange and difficult to understand; namely the observation that the land  between several regional districts is called "orphaned land.”  I looked up the word "orphaned" and I found it to mean "a motherless/fatherless child, deprived, abandoned and forsaken.  Is the land in question abandoned and forsaken or should we call it stolen land?

This piece of land in question is a big chunk of land and has been there for a long time, taken care of by the First Nation people for millennia and used to maintain their lifestyles and to preserve the values so necessary for continued use of future generations. That does not sound like an orphan!

I find it difficult to comprehend this  concept and perhaps you may be able to clear up some of my doubts about the status of this land in question. Maybe First Nations people in the regional district have views on the use of the term "orphaned land".

Thank you

Frank Lehmann

Burns Lake, BC