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FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION
in Ontario will receive about $154 million in compensation now that the Fort William First Nation Boundary Claim has been settled. It’s been a dispute that has taken 160 years to resolve. It dates back to the Robinson Superior Treaty of 1850 with the nation insisting that the land surveyed in 1853 did not reflect the location or size of the reserve as defined in the treaty. Dollars will be used for economic development, housing, education, and held in trust for future generations. But there is also a land component. Fort William will get 4,655 hectares of Crown land and this land will become part of the reserve. The settlement was announced on Nov. 19.
John Duncan, Minister of Indian Affairs, said it is the biggest specific land claim that has been settled. It demonstrates Canada’s commitment to deal with outstanding claims, he added. A draft agreement has also been reached in the Fort William First Nation Neebing Surrender Specific Claim, which involves $22 million in compensation. This claim deals with 6,400 acres of land and also dates back to the 1850s. No additional lands are being sought. The community still must ratify for agreement.
IT’S BELIEVED THAT THE HUMAN REMAINS
unearthed in Dawson City, Yukon recently are those of two First Nations brothers, Dawson and Jim Nantuck. Both had been executed for murder during the Gold Rush era, said an archeologist working on the case. The Nantuck brothers, from the Carcross Tagish First Nation, were hanged in 1899 for killing a prospector. They are the only Aboriginal people known to have been executed during that time and place in Canada’s history. The remains were found in two of four coffins uncovered during excavation for a new sewage treatment plant. Bones have been analyzed and DNA reveals two of the remains are First Nations, and another belongs to a man of European ancestry. The story of the Nantuck brothers is a controversial one. While they were sentenced to death for murder, one Yukon historian says the pair may have been avenging the deaths of two of their people who were poisoned with arsenic powder in their food. Two other brothers were convicted in what was Yukon’s first murder trial, but they died from tuberculosis while awaiting execution in jail. It was never known where the executed brothers were buried. Eleven men were hanged during that time for murder, but their burial sites were never marked or charted. It is believed the recently discovered remains of the Nantuck brothers will be returned to their community for re-internment.
FIRST NATIONS GOVERNMENTS
whose territories cover the Great Bear Rainforest, the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, and the Nanwakolas Council have received the inaugural Land Award from the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia. The Great Bear Rainforest First Nations have been leaders of an initiative that has seen two million hectares of land protected, initial changes made to logging practices to increase conservation, and have made first steps in restoring community well-being. The initiative is in collaboration with the province, three environmental groups and five forestry businesses.
Robert Kennedy Jr., who was the keynote speaker at the awards gala on Nov. 18 in Vancouver, said, “At a time when the world is focused on events that tear us apart, it is encouraging to see all those with an interest in the future of precious places such as B.C.’s beautiful coast come together and inspire millions of others that protecting ecological integrity is possible and beneficial not just for nature, but for people.”
The award recognizes “initiatives which demonstrate leadership, innovation, and collaboration related to the sustainable use and conservation of land in British Columbia,” and highlights “dynamic, forward thinking people and organizations—leaders in creating sustainable communities and making B.C. a better place to live.” The First Nations were nominated by ForestEthics, Greenpeace and Sierra Club BC, the three environmental organizations that have worked for over a decade with First Nations, the provincial government and the logging industry to realize their vision for the Great Bear Rainforest. The goals of the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements are to maintain and restore healthy ecosystems and healthy communities. Further far-reaching socio-economic initiatives and revisions of logging regulations for increased conservation will be implemented within the next four years.
THE FEDERATION OF SASKATCHEWAN INDIAN NATIONS
will receive $1 million from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to “inform and educate” First Nations about nuclear waste storage. Two nations in northern Saskatchewan have said they are interested in becoming the site for a storage facility, a project that could be worth $24 billion. Construction of such a facility could begin in eight to 10 years. The organization wants a “willing host community,” reports The StarPhoenix newspaper. The money is to flow over three years and be used to hold information sessions where the organization provides the information and the FSIN distributes it.
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