Page 61 - Beausoleil First Nation

Land Claims
What is a land claim? A land claim is a claim made by a First
WORDS TO KNOW
Nations community that the Crown (the federal government)
unceded land: territory which
has not lived up to its promises with respect to a community’s has not been formally granted
legal rights to own a parcel of land. Land claims also refer to through the signing of a treaty
but is occupied under an
settlements that are being negotiated over unceded land.
informal agreement with the
federal government
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, Beausoleil 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
honoured them on our side.

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