No teeth, no action, charge First Nations

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First Nations are growing impatient with the Indian Claims Commission and its lack of authority and scope in regards to deciding land claim issues.

"Right now the government is the judge, the jury and the whole thing. They've got all the power," said Grand Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. "That is not proper. That is not right. So we've got to look at revamping to have an independent claims tribunal with some authority and power. Right now they are just a recommendatory body and the government decides in what manner to use their finished reports."

James Prentice, ICC co-chair, said the powers of an independent claims body are subject to negotiation between Canada and the Assembly of First Nations.

"Generally speaking, the difficulty that this commission has is that it doesn't have the authority to make binding decisions," said Prentice. "It can only make recommendations and the commission was set up on that basis."

The Walpole Island First Nation concluded working with the ICC last May on their specific land claim of Boblo Island. The First Nation is pleased with the final report but is still waiting for a response from the government.

"The commission reviewed and verified our research and validated our interest in Boblo Island, which has never been extinguished," said Dr. Dean Jacobs, director of research for Walpole Island First Nation. "We were pleased with the process. The issue now is they [the government] are saying 'don't call us, we will call you,' and we haven't heard from anyone yet."

Once the ICC releases a finished report to the government, the commission no longer retains any authority in regard to how or if the report is considered, explained Prentice.

"The government, as a courtesy, advises the commission of their position, but then that is the end of it," said Prentice. "We agree it has no teeth and we have been one of the loudest voices in saying that that needs to change. But I wouldn't agree that it serves no purpose, because we have many, many First Nations that come to the commission."

The commission has finished more than 50 inquiry reports for First Nations since its work began in 1991. The ICC's 1998-1999 annual report accounted for three settlements and 21 accepted reports, out of the inquiry reports it presented to the government. Cases relating to fiduciary duty, treaty land entitlement, and prairie land surrender are the main areas in which it operates.

"Those are really the three predominant areas that our work comes from; so in two of the three areas, I think the commission has been very successful," said Prentice. "The government disagrees with the fiduciary duty issue."

"In Saskatchewan alone we have over 500 specific claims," countered Bellegarde. "There is a backlog to our claims here that are not being dealt with adequately. A more appropriate independent, arms-length, mechanism has to be established to be put in place across Canada and they have got to get behind that."

The ICC has most recently disappointed members of Carry The Kettle First Nation. Since 1997 the First Nation has been working closely with the ICC, researching the band's claim that the Cypress Hills area was the selected land that the First Nation and the Crown agreed upon in the signing of Treaty 4 in 1877.

When the Assiniboine people agreed to sign the treaty, they were given the chance to select the land on which to reside. They selected their traditional land of the Cypress Hills. The Crown was in agreement with the selection and a "meeting of the minds" between the two parties was, in the Assinboine people's viewpoint, established.

"The land was surveyed as the agreed selection. A farm instructor was sent to teach the Assiniboine people agriculture, and they were given treaty payment as residing in that selected area," said Elsie Koochicum, treaty land settlement/specific claims co-ordinator of the First Nation.

In 1880, the overnment forcibly relocate the Assiniboine by cutting their food rations. They feared the people would join the Louis Riel rebellion that was going on nearby at the time.

"Big Bear and Sitting Bull were in the area as well. There were around 6,000 Indian people," said Koochicum. "So the government figured that there would be a major rebellion starting up and I believe they had only 55 mounted police in the area."

Although the Assiniboine made efforts between 1881 and 1882 to return to their traditional homeland where they faced starvation, they eventually had no choice but to relocate to the area in which the First Nation is located today.

The ICC concluded their inquiry by stating that the band does not have a reserve in the Cypress Hills and that under Canadian law a reserve is not a reserve unless both the First Nation and the government recognize it as such.

"We asked them to hold off on their report and not to send it, but to come and explain their decision to the community in person," said Koochikum. "It becomes frustrating because our Elders partook in the inquiry for the last three years and for them at the end just to walk away and not even see them, I don't think that is very respectful."

"The report reflects the best job that the commission can do in terms of its thinking, and its all kind of set out in the report," said Prentice. "I have heard that they are disappointed and I can understand that."

The commission has never traveled to a community and got into a dialogue about its report after the report has been issued, said Prentice. Interpreting the finished report or commenting upon it with others would not be appropriate for the commission to partake in, he explained.

"Our authority is to conduct an inquiry and make a recommendation and once a recommendation is released to the parties, we really don't have any authority."

Bellegarde is disappointed with the recent report that the ICC concluded for Carry The Kettle First Natio.

"Now with the ICC ruling that they dont have a claim, we will be assisting them (Carry The Kettle) to look at other options," said Bellegarde.

"Within the community, our Elders, they are the ones who are heart-broken," said chief of Carry The Kettle First Nation, Kurt Adams. "That is the way they feel because as far as we're concerned, we are trying to get justice done here. We're reaching out for justice but nothing was done."

Carry The Kettle has approached National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Matthew Coon Come, in the hopes that he will take their case to the international forum of the United Nations.