Ontario First Nation settles 171-year-old claim

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The Chippewas of the Thames First Nation and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada have reached a settlement in a claim dating back to 1834.

The settlement-compensation for the misuse of funds from the sale of a package of land-provides the First Nation with a financial package totaling $15 million for the damages and losses it suffered as a result of the claim.

"The claim itself was not about land. It was about the misuse of funds from land sales," said Chief Kelly Riley in a press release.

"It's too bad that it had to take this long considering how hard our past councils worked, especially during inquiry processes in the 1870s and 1890s." .

"Having said that, I feel relieved that we've finally reached a settlement that everyone could agree on. In the end, it came down to negotiating a sum of money that was fair based on the facts of the case," he said.

The claims resulted from the misappropriation of funds by Colonel J. B. Clench, a superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1830 to 1854.

At the time, Clench was an Indian agent and responsible for the distribution of funds from land sales, said Jody Kechego, research director for Land Claims for the First Nation.

"A lot of the money that went to Clench from our land sale never left his pocket," said Kechego.

Clench misappropriated funds from the sale of the lands of other First Nations as well and actions against him became known as the Clench Defalcation Claim, which was the subject of investigation from 1847 to 1854.

There was some calculation of damages by the government, Kechego said, but the claim just went away as far as the government was concerned.

In 1906 the Chippewas of the Thames hired a lawyer by the name of A.J. Chisholm who worked out a settlement with the government that was based on the remaining money in the estate of Colonel Clench. But that settlement was not in the best interests of the First Nation.

Jody Kechego said Chisholm was motivated to settle for a lesser amount than was due to the Chippewas of the Thames out of self-interest, as he personally wanted to receive payment for his services in short order, adding that he should have continued the negotiation process even if that meant that he might not have reached a settlement during his career.

In 1974 the Chippewa of the Thames, under the guidance of lawyer and former chief Delbert Riley, challenged the amount of the 1906 settlement. The government immediately rejected the action, based on the fact that a payment had already been made to the First Nation.

"Even though it was a closed case with the government, it was still active with us because we thought there was still justice to be done," said Kechego.

In 1997, a mediator was brought in and an inquiry into the Clench Defalcation was begun. That provided the opportunity for negotiations to open again in 1999 and a settlement was finally reached in June 2005.

The settlement was voted on by Chippewas of the Thames First Nation members and was accepted.

As part of the settlement, band members received a disbursement of $1,500 each, said Kechego.

This settlement was made possible by money obtained from a separate settlement in 1994 for $4.8 million, he added. Money from that settlement is used for land claim research, and most of the money from the new settlement will be set-aside for future research as well.

"We have future claims in the system that are bigger than Clench," said Kechego.

"We felt comfortable negotiating over misuse of funds from a land sale, rather than a land claim itself."

Other claims in the future from the Chippewas on the Thames involve land, Kechego said. He doesn't feel that land claims should necessarily involve money for the loss of land. Compensation for land should involve land, he said, no matter how long the negotiations take.