The names are the same, but the native land claims process could not have unfolded in two places
more differently.
While a simmering standoff characterizes the Six Nations’ claim on land slated for development in Caledonia, Ont., a Saskatchewan First Nation has bought farmland in the Rural Municipality of Caledonia since 1992 with little notice.
Indeed, calm has characterized a huge land transfer, involving more than a million acres, to First Nations across the province. While such a major undertaking couldn’t avoid occasional frictions, the process has generated less heat than some feared.
Read Also
Geopolitics can change trade routes
WHISTLER, B.C. — Today’s geopolitical tensions could have dire long-term consequences, says the director of international policy at the University…
Farmers and landowners were concerned when almost half the province’s 75 First Nations signed a deal with the federal government in 1992 to buy land they should have received when they signed treaties a century ago.
People wondered what would happen to agricultural land under new ownership. Would First Nations farm it, rent it out or let it sit? Would they be good neighbours?
Others saw it as an opportunity to take advantage of a willing seller-willing buyer situation and get out of farming.
Now, 14 years after the deal was signed, the purchases are nearly complete.
Trevor Sutter, spokesperson for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in Saskatchewan, said the historic treaty land entitlement framework agreement was to be a 12-year process, but it was
later extended by three years.
Treaty land entitlement claims recognize a shortfall in the land allocated to First Nations when they signed treaties, usually because of inaccurate population counts.
Originally, 25 bands signed the agreement. One had signed its own agreement before 1992 and three others signed later. In total, the bands must buy a minimum of 522,456 acres and a maximum of 1.93 million acres.
Reserves occupied about 1.6 million acres when the agreement was signed; doubling that acreage would mean that reserve land would account for about two percent of Saskatchewan’s area.
Still, some people had the notion that the bands would walk in and “buy up” the province, whether the existing owners liked
it or not.
The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations spent a lot of time meeting with rural residents to allay such fears, but it wasn’t always successful.
“It’s been a struggle,” said FSIN vice-chief Lawrence Joseph.
He said many of the problems were due to ignorance. People were worried about weed spread and land sitting idle and they didn’t always want to hear that First Nations had been shortchanged at their ancestors’ benefit.
“There’s no question racism was a part of it,” Joseph said.
Asked how First Nations handled that, he said: “We’re pretty
much conditioned to accept that.”
However, he observed that the millions of dollars the bands
spent benefited everyone involved.
Sutter said rural Saskatchewan in particular enjoyed the
benefit of having an extra buyer in the marketplace.
“Five hundred and sixteen million dollars being invested
in Saskatchewan hasn’t hurt.”
The majority of that money was spent in rural regions. The TLE agreement required that bands buy rural land before they could consider investing in urban property.
Trisha Delormier-Hill, executive director of lands and resources
with the provincial department of First Nations and Metis relations, said 21
of the 29 First Nations with agreements have bought the minimum number
of acres required by the agreement.
She has heard little in the way of disputes.
“Overall, I think things move quite smoothly,” she said.
Although land claims are a federal responsibility, the provinces are involved in the negotiations because they control crown land and resources.
There has been conflict over the selection of
agricultural crown land leased to ranchers in southwestern Saskatchewan.
Two claims for about 37,000 acres were
denied for environmental reasons, but the ranchers involved formed an association to protect their rights in the future.
Delormier-Hill acknowledged the ranchers’ concern, but said bands must address third-party interests when they select crown land.
First Nations are concerned about how long it can take for purchased land to become part of their reserves.
Delormier-Hill said that as of this past March, 665,365 acres had
been transferred to reserve status; 589,000 of those acres are in rural Saskatchewan and about half was crown land.
Sutter agreed that some bands are frustrated at the delay. Only about 60 percent of the purchases have been transferred, a process that can take two years or more.
The federal auditor general has pointed out that the process should be streamlined and the department is working on that.
“We want to make sure that when land is moved to reserve that everything is done right,” Sutter said.
Joseph sees it differently.
“They put up more roadblocks than necessary,”
he said.
The concerns of farmers and neighbours, meanwhile, have largely not materialized.
Dick Linton, reeve of the RM of Caledonia, began renting from Piapot First Nation after it bought land from his landlords. He said some land has gone unfarmed at times but most of it is rented to farmers or seeded to grass.
He rents a half-section from the band and another eight quarters from individual band members.
Piapot First Nation bought thousands of acres in several RMs as part of its TLE agreement as well as under a specific claim, which is made by bands to recover land that was promised but never received, or received but taken away.
Some individuals have moved from the main reserve onto that land, but are still renting it out.
“They’re trying hard to be part of the community,” Linton said. “We welcomed them into the area and I don’t think we made a mistake.”
He said there have been tax collection and fire protection issues, but that can happen with any landowner.
“They’ve been good people. They’ve tried to co-operate.”
Joseph said rural residents must realize that First Nations aren’t going away.
“We have proven ourselves to be good neighbours,” he said. “We have proven ourselves to be good stewards of the land.”
