Feds agree to clean up Sarcee reserve

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A land-use dispute between the federal government and the Sarcee Indian band on the southern Alberta reserve near Calgary has ended.

Windspeaker has learned that the Department of National Defence and band officials have reached a tentative agreement to clean up parts of the reserve that have been used for

military exercises for over 70 years.

Band members blockaded reserve roads connected to the nearby DND base in June, drawing national media attention, and forced the department to the negotiating table.

A tentative agreement requiring the government to clean up the land, which houses, unexploded ammunition, has been agreed to, confirmed Sarcee chief Roy Whitney. The

agreement is expected to be finalized within four weeks.

The 70 year old dispute over land use and military cleanup could be reconciled in a couple of months, and Whitney believes it could mean the DND is finally recognizing Indian rights.

"We've agreed to what has been provided to us," said Whitney last week.

"They've agreed to do a 100 per cent clearance of the land for the safety of our future generations," said Whitney.

The band had also demanded that the DND live up to a 1985 land use agreement to pay for leased land.

According to Whitney, that land will be "decontaminated," and all payments will be made to the Sarcee, including back leasing costs, legal fees and costs for band equipment that

was used to clean up the area.

He could not give a total of costs expected from the agreement but said it would be "significant." Whitney said more than 1,500 hectres of land will be cleaned by the DND.

The agreement was the product of a special committee set up after the Sarcee Indians denied CFB troops access to their reserve and is expected to be signed by Defence Minister

Bill McKnight and Indian Affairs Minister Pierre Cadieux.

Whitney sees it as a positive step for other Indian bands whose rights have been infringed by the Canadian military.

He said band members have found unexploded and spent ammunition shells on more than a few occasions, and parents and elders were worried for the safety of the reserve

children.

The war of attrition between the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Sarcee Indians in Calgary appeals to be waning, said Whitney .

A "gravel wall" blockading a bridge to the CFB base was cleared of rock and gravel Sept. 25 after band officials agreed to the tentative deal.

More than 300 band members and spectators turned out July 1 to witness the reserve's heavy equipment operators dump tons of gravel across the bridge located on the southwest

sector of the Sarcee reserve, west of Glenmore Trail.

Whitney said the DND is realizing it must consult with Indian people if military operations are going to affect Native lifestyles and culture.

"This has worked out very well. I see it as a positive step for our people," he said.

"This new agreement is a transition we're going through of working on a relationship between the people of our nation and the defence department of Canada," he said.

He believes the Innu in Labrador, who are struggling in opposition to the development of a NATO airbase over their hunting grounds, will stand a better chance of being heard by the

DND if the relationship between the government and Native people is strengthened.

He said the signing of the cleanup agreement will coincide with a Sarcee powwow to be announced later.

Department of National Defence officials could not be reached for comment.