Page 62 - Alderville First Nation

Land Claims
WORDS TO KNOW
unceded land: territory which
has not been formally granted
through the signing of a treaty,
but is occupied under an
informal agreement with the
federal government
60 Alderville First Nation
ogemawahj_community_book3.indd 60
What is a land claim? A land claim is a claim made by a First
Nations community that the Crown (the federal government)
has not lived up to its promises with respect to a community’s
legal rights to own a parcel of land. Land claims also refer to
settlements that are being negotiated over unceded land.
The issue of who “owns” the land is a sensitive one. According
to our beliefs, no one can own the land. Therefore, we could not
have surrendered something that was not ours to begin with.
However, in modern day circumstances, our people are crowded
onto a small portion of our traditional territory, Alderville First
Nation. This does not provide us with the land we need to
become a community that can take care of ourselves.
To grow and prosper as a First Nation, our traditional lands
must be returned to us, or compensation received for them. The
agreements signed by the Crown must be honoured as we have
tried to honour them on our side.
The Alderville litigation was filed by the seven Williams Treaties
First Nations in 1992 and went to trial in 2012. The Alderville
litigation deals with a longstanding dispute about the making,
terms, interpretation, and implementation of the 1923 Williams
Treaties. Terms of the negotiated settlement include:
• Financial compensation of $1.11 billion ($666 million by
Canada and $444 million by Ontario).
• An entitlement for each First Nation to add up to 11 000
acres of land to their reserve land base, subject to Canada’s
Additions to Reserve/Reserve Creation policy. The First
Nations are responsible for acquiring these lands.
• Recognition of the First Nations’ continuing treaty harvesting
rights, and a commitment to continue to work together to
implement these rights.
• A commitment by Canada and Ontario to provide an oral
and written statement of apology to the Williams Treaties
First Nations.
2019-02-28 10:57 AM