Page 61 - Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation
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Land Claims
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. WORDS TO KNOW
unceded land: territory that
The issue of who “owns” the land is a sensitive one. According has not been formally granted
to our beliefs, no one can own the land. Therefore, we could not through the signing of a treaty
but is occupied under an
have surrendered something that was not ours to begin with.
informal agreement with the
However, in modern day circumstances, our people are crowded federal government
onto a small portion of our traditional territory, Mississaugas
of Scugog Island 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.
According to our beliefs,
no one
can own the land.
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