Peigans get $1,025 each in settlement

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Every man, woman, and child in the Peigan band will receive $1,025 on June 1 as compensation by the federal government over a land claim dating back to 1909.

Band councillor Stanley Knowlton says the Peigan nation approved the distribution on April 21 when 558 members voted in favor of the $5.2 million out of court settlement. Only 22 negative votes were cast.

The band was 2,600 registered members.

It was not until the fourth referendum that the Peigans accepted the federal offer.

Knowlton said half of the $5.2 million will be distributed to the people. The other half will be deposited in a trust fund for a period up to 25 years to be used towards the purchase of land outside the reserve. An additional $970,000 was also part of the settlement, and is already allocated for band programs such as housing and public works.

Knowlton says the Peigan nation currently has a deficit over $1 million and may use some of the $970,000 to reduce the deficit.

"The deficit has occurred for the last ten years. It's nothing new," he said.

"The department of Indian Affairs will no longer carry any deficit by Indian bands. We are looking at the $970,000 as one alternative to cover our debts," he said. But he stressed that the Peigan chief and council will discuss the issue further next week.

The $1,025 payments to individuals will not affect their welfare payments providing the money is spent on approved purchases of non-luxury items, such as appliances.

The individual $1,025 settlement payments to Peigan band members won't be all gravy.

About 70 to 80% of the 2,600 Peigans, currently on welfare, will be cut off until they provide receipts of their purchases.

"We had a meeting with Boyd Harris, Department of Indian Affairs director of social development, and he told us there'll be no problem as long as welfare recipients provide receipts of their capital expenditures," Knowlton said.

He explained that welfare recipients are allowed to purchase major necessities but not luxury items without affecting their welfare eligibility.

"I know it's not fair, but that's the policy that our welfare department must follow," says Knowlton. He said band members reinstated under Bill C-31, the conversational legislation passed last year, reinstating Indian women who lost their treaty status through marriage to a non-status man, will not be paid immediately.

"They get their money as soon as they provide documents required to process their applications," said Knowlton. He stressed that there was no problem for women who lost their treaty status to get their distribution as well, provided their reinstatement documents are in order.

Knowlton, however, said he was not personally satisfied with the settlement. "I think we could have gotten a better deal," he said.

He said the previous council negotiated the deal.

"The deal has been made. It was just a matter of determining whether the electorate wanted to accept the out of court settlement," he added.

Although it took four referendums, Knowlton said the electorate was in full support of the out of court settlement.

"That's what they wanted," he stated.

The land claim dispute dates back to 1909 when the Department of Indian Affairs illegally ceded more than 10,000 acres of Peigan land to the federal government. Tribal Elders had long pointed out there was no referendums at the time to determine whether the people were willing to cede their land.

Peigan band councillor Alberta Yellowhorn Sr. researched the Elders claim for more than 22 years. Finally in 1979, under the leadership of then Peigan chief Nelson Small Legs Sr., the Peigans blockaded the head gates access on the Old Man River. The Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District was using the Peigan land for water access for more than 700 farmers and seven communities.

The Peigan nation demanded compensation for th eland and a yearly rental for every acre of land. Two years later, the Peigan nation, L.N.I.D., and the provincial goernment reached an agreement. The federal government committed $5.2 million and an additional $970,000 to pay for legal cost. Yellowhorn was compensated for his years of research on the 1909 land claim.

Yellowhorn, in Edmonton on business, was unavailable for comment.

However, a Peigan member who has actively lobbied against accepting the out of court settlement claimed the Peigans were pushed to accept the government's offer.

Percy Smith, one of a group of Peigans arrested during the 1979 blockade, denounced the federal government's offer as "a bribe."

"The law firm Walsh and Young (a Calgary law firm which represented the Peigan nation) dangled money in front of the Peigans for the last six years," he charged.

"The federal government's bribery was based on false premises that led the Peigans to believe that we would lose our land claim case if we went to court. We were forced to accept the settlement."

Smith charged the Peigan chief and council with lack of leadership and enough "guts," to fight for more money.

"It's disgusting. The $5.2 million was the first and only offer made by the federal government to us. The leadership was just not there to put up a fight."

He said the distribution arrangement makes the federal government the real winner.

"In reality, we are supplementing the social welfare program," he insisted, referring to Peigan welfare recipients who have to provide receipts of their purchases before they can continue receiving assistance.

"How many Indians both keeping receipts?" asked Smith.

"By accepting the out of court settlement, we are literally giving our land away," he declared.

Another band member, Celeste Strikes With A Gun, also felt the land claim issues should have been pursued in federal court, rather than accepting the settlement.

Strikes With A Gun called the $1,025 payments to individuals "peanuts".

"Most Peigans see the our of court settlement offer as a per capita distribution. They fail to see the real issue," she sad.

But both Smith and Strikes With A Gun conceded that poverty exerted great pressure on the people to accept the out of court settlement.

"We're so poor," explained Smith. "We just have our land claims to depend on for financial gain."

Knowlton said the individual payments will be made June 1 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Peigan community hall.