Signed, sealed and delivered

Page 10

The Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement was signed in Rae-Edzo, N.W.T. on Aug. 25, giving the 3,000 people that make up the Dogrib nation a wide range of controls over 39,000 square kilometres of land located about 100 kilometres north of Yellowknife.

On hand for the signing was Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Premier of the Northwest Territories Stephen Kakfwi and Joe Rabesca, Grand Chief of the Tlicho Nation, as well as hundreds of people who gathered in the school's gymnasium to witness the historic event.

The 244-page agreement outlines the parameters for the transfer of $152 million to the Tlicho over 15 years, and defines the limits of the group's authority over the land and the people who live there. Chretien said the agreement will serve as a model for other Indigenous people in Canada to implement self-government.