Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 16, 1996, Winnipeg, Manitoba Saturday free March 1996 a3 band inks agreement for flood redress by Bill Redekop staff reporter the signing of a Lea million Deal with Nel son House first nation leaves just two bands to be compensated for Northern Nelson about Kilometres North of win signed the historic compensation agreement we have two More to go and i Are Start ing to come together As said natural resources minister Darren Nelson House and four other Northern Indian bands Are part of the Northern flood signed in 1977 to compensate for the Praznik didst want to pre dict whether Norway House and Cross Lake will reach agreement within the York factory and split Lake have already split Lake received Mil lion in and York factory last year agreed to million and the compensation is for flooding that resulted from Manitoba Hydro Lake Winnipeg regulation and Churchill River diversion this is really a debt that goes Back to the late Early when we diverted the Churchill River to increase the Power general ing capacity of Manitoba Hydro on the said its righting a Lon term Nelson with a population of about will also receive hectares of new Reserve which will quadruple the Community existing land Jerry Primrose and band councillors were Busy with the ceremonies and be reached by Tele band will receive from million from and from Manitoba plus million in Hydro chiefs give Recap a warning our Home native land chiefs of 25 Northern Manitoba first nations have warned the Gen eral manager of the Recap paper company to move quickly towards a Resolution with angry natives if a stand off similar to those in Ontario and Quebec is to be in a March 14 an official with Manitoba Kee a Tinawi Oki Makinak Moo which represents the 25 reserves urged the forestry giant to suspend its disputed Road building operations in the Highrock Valley near chief Francis Flett also urged Recap manager Ron Staple to adjourn a Legal action it has launched against the Mathias Columb Cree nation which had been blocking a rail line in protest of logging planned for its treaty he pointed out that other disputes which began with confrontation and standoffs were All resolved through co i would urge Recap not to underestimate or minimize both the depth of resolve and the profound frustration Felt by the Mccun and indeed All Moo first nations with respect to preventing the fur ther alienation of treaty lands and traditional Flett it would be preferable to achieve a mutually agree Able Recap gained a court injunction against the Mathias Columb natives this week to desist blocking Access for a logging Road to be Recap and the a pythias Columb Masjid Itie eting in an attempt negotiate a Thomson news service Ottawa Canadian native bands have Laid claim to parliament metropolitan Toronto is being claimed As aboriginal land by another group of other natives Are preparing to Lay claim to All of Nova and overlapping land claims by natives in British Columbia add up to More than 100 per cent of the provinces land vast tracts of Canada Are being claimed by total of about 550 claims at last compared to approximately 30 in the which settled most of its claims years while nobody seriously expects native bands to take control of parliament metro Toronto or entire compensation is being actively pursued by the painfully slow process of settling the claims some of them stretching Back More than a Hundred years does have the potential to reshape the Way Canada is particularly in the Bank of Montreal Vic president Ron Jamieson has estimated that aboriginal groups could own or control on third of the Canadian land mass and receive billion to billion by the end of the supporters of the current land claims process Point out that Canadas first nations Are merely trying to get compensation for land they never agreed to give up or for pre Vious agreements that were broken by Cana Dian but critics of the process fear that governments current approach could Lead to hundreds of separate native fiefdoms Dot Ted across the each run by native bands under their own concept of self gov these critics say canadians dont specific claims settled across claims cumulative to 19951996 cumulative to Date concluded activity to Date settlement 142 7 agreement rejected 72 3 litigation 40 0 26 0 referral file closed 67 75 40 26 subtotal 367 claims cumulative to in process to under review 242 under negotiation subtotal specific claims Are those dealing with compensation Lor lands Art first nations interests wrongly taken or wrongly administered by the realize that areas of he country and luge sums of Rooney Are being conveyed o people who represent Only to per cent of Khe Canadian the average Canadian Doe sit have the foggiest idea about settled Newfoundland 0 0 Nova Scotia 24 1 new Brunswick 4 Prince Edward Island 1 0 Quebec 58 1 Ontario 138 12 Manitoba 33 8 Saskatchewan 38 8 Alberta 61 7 British Columbia 152 51 4 of going said Melvin a constitutional lawyer who has just published our Home or native which is critical of the land claims the Vic president of a Bank boastfully says that by the year a third of the land mass of Canada can be controlled by native and i find that very disturb Smith does the average Canadian know this is going on Smith argues that governments have expanded native rights to include any thing they can manage to negotiate in a set governments be entering into these massive Cornucopia of Bene fits to include every possible activity you name it not to men Tion Smith Smiths concerns Are echoed by critics of the recent tentative agreement with the Bisgaa in Northern British which gives the first million in limited self government Powers and title to Square Kilometres of the Nass but for the longstanding grievances Over unsettled claims or broken agree ments have simmered too said Roland land claims coordinator of the Assembly of first these Are just matters that first nations want to resolve so that we can get on with our lives and know our land base so that we can implement he but we cant implement self government without knowing your land base and know ing your jurisdictional others say the opponents Are trying to derail the land claims process by emphasizing the size of the such As the often repeated idea that overlapping native claims add up to 110 per cent of the entire land of British a lot of people have seized on that and they have used it As a scare said Toronto lawyer Bill who has rep resented native bands in their its not that anyone expects 110 per cent of is going to be needed to Settle the in the amount of land will be very Henderson in the existing land claims negotiated Over the last about 15 per cent of the original claim went to the the Bisgaa have settled for about eight per cent of their original claim of Square and even the notion that the Bisgaa gained land has been called into Ovide chief of the Assembly of first said the Bisgaa have not been Given any it is the Bisgaa that Are agreeing to share their lands with the rest of he told reporters quoting from Bisgaa Leader Joseph Gosnell the first nations own this Stock and did natives agree to cede or share land continued from a1 the they allowed settlers to use the but Only up to six inches deep either the length of the Heel of the hand up along an extended thumb As in the thumbs up or the depth to which a plow Shear would Cut into the Earth in order that they might grow the parchments text bestowed much the tribes do hereby surrender and yield up to the government of the Dominion of for her majesty the and her successors All their titles and privileges to the lands within the following Lim Silver medals the chiefs immediately received a present of a a Queens Silver four headmen councillors received and a while every other woman and child received for those the Queens emissaries gave out Calico and strouds blankets made specifically for Trade with North american most canadians Are aware of some such As Freedom from taxation and a Medicine Chest Universal health which have been applied generally across Canada to All native other benefits include an annual payment of to to councillors and for everyone certain trifling presents of clothing every third year to the chiefs and White Bird says this has come in the form of a Cheque every three years and is meant to buy a treaty uniform tunic and pants that Are adorned with ribbon around the neck and Down the arms and he puts the Money towards a a Supply of ammunition and twine every year to the value of White Bird says every after his band celebrates its treaty a courier from Indian affairs arrives at his office and delivers a Small Box of ammunition for shotguns and thorny Issue Many researchers and historians have looked at the thorny Issue of whether the aboriginal signatories knew exactly what the treaties they depends on it depends on Why and which chiefs were says one Federal who has a Long history of working on treaty land particularly in the South Ern Prairies where Buffalo was scarce and the land was quickly being settled by knew they were ceding the territory when they signed for Reserve he they desired peaceful having seen the Annahi native people South of the 49th in the where a symbiotic relationship of Trade and barter was probably believed they were sharing the land in Exchange for the treaty he these people were not the unsuspecting dupes canadians Are led to believe says univer sity of Manitoba historian Jean Indian leaders took this difficult situation in most made the Best Deal they could for their there is no doubt in my mind that at least some Indian leaders at the treaties were Well aware that this was a land Sale on an enormous Friesen writes in a 1986 they used this land to gain eco nomic As in treaties Between she they May not have wanted the treaty they got they May not have been Able to influence the com missioners As extensively As they desired but within the political and diplomatic framework they were presented they compared and with some Success played upon the commissioners desire to win their Friendship and peaceful acceptance of White intrusion into their it is Friesen that aboriginal leaders saw the treaties As contracts of Mutual under which the Crown pledged to protect their it is also Clear the aboriginal people did not give away the such As fish and she White Bird says that was under stood by settlers and Manitoban As recently As the the elders in my Community didst have the same problem As my first nations people Many years when we went to a Farmer and we asked for the right to Hunt on his the Farmer ordinarily told those animals Are yours and you can go in to Hunt most Farmers just say that the fault of the education system that Doest Tell the whole but also of government policy that has wrongly restricted aboriginal Access to fish and he some court decisions have ruled that treaties must be interpreted in current land negotiations to reflect the aboriginal leaders understanding of the others have and Oral by which White Bird and other chiefs know the his is often not Given much weight by government have had better regard for the spoken to explain the role of elders in Oral White Bird describes one legend that Speaks of the inherent right to it is the Story of the two canoes in a his Saulteaux people in one and europeans in the theres two canoes going Side by he during the process of each carries their own set of never at any particular time do they that Means we never gave up our right to White Bird clearance furniture accessories up to off Corey design 329 Cumberland 9421630 9 to 10 to 4 Gimli fish 10 Salmon steaks also available Gold Eye halibut King crab Pickerel scallops and More 596 Dufferin 5893474 4 lobster tails 5 shrimp Maii auction announces massive unreserved moving storage Sale for am Campbell Van lines March 2190 notre Dame am under the warehouseman Lien act we will be Selling a huge selection of stoves fridges 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