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16/08/2007
ICC Panel Finds that Canada Should Negotiate Part of Blood Tribe / Kainaiwa's Big Claim
Ottawa (August 16, 2007) – An Indian Claims Commission (ICC) panel has found that Canada did not breach its fiduciary obligation to the Blood Tribe / Kainaiwa when it created the Blood reserve that did not include all of the “Big Claim” lands, or through the surrender of the Blood Tribe’s stake in a shared reserve created along the Bow River.
However, the panel recommended that Canada accept the claim that the Blood Reserve was created in 1882, and that a surrender was required when it was reduced in size in 1883 with the move of its southern border. The panel’s third recommendation was that the date of first survey be accepted as 1882.
These findings were part of an inquiry report on the Blood Tribe’s Big Claim, released today. The panel that conducted the inquiry consisted of Commissioners Daniel J. Bellegarde (Chair) and Alan C. Holman.
“Knowledge of the events at the time the Crown signed Treaty 7 with the Blood Tribe was a significant part of this inquiry,” said Commissioner Bellegarde. “Hearing the oral history from the Blood Tribe Elders during the community sessions held by the Commission, was a crucial element towards understanding the meaning and intention of Red Crow and his people when the Treaty was signed. This testimony was then incorporated into submissions by Legal counsel representing both the Blood Tribe and the Crown. Based on this evidence, the panel found that parts of the claim were invalid, but other aspects of the claim should be accepted.”
As a result of Treaty 7, signed in September 1877, a joint reserve along the Bow River was set aside for the Blood Tribe, the Sarcee and the Blackfoot. Following the conclusion of Treaty 7, Red Crow, Chief of the Blood Tribe, broke camp and returned to the Tribe’s home base in southern Alberta. The Blood Tribe never moved to the joint reserve at Bow River. Eventually, a reserve was set aside for the Blood Tribe within their traditional territory. This reserve included a part, but not all, of the Big Claim lands. An Order in Council was passed by Canada in 1880 which specified a surrender of the Blood Tribe’s portion of the joint reserve at Bow River.
The Blood Tribe alleges that it never intended to surrender all of the lands described as the Big Claim lands, which are described as the entire area in southern Alberta between the Kootenay (Waterton) and St Mary Rivers at the international boundary.
The Blood Tribe submitted its claim to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in July 1996, and made further submissions in March 2000 and November 2001
regarding the location of the southern boundary of the reserve and an outstanding treaty land entitlement. All parts of the claim were rejected by Canada in November 2003. The Blood Tribe formally requested that the ICC conduct an inquiry into its rejected claim in January 2003. For the purposes of the inquiry, the Big Claim specifically focussed on the area between the Kootenay (Waterton) and Belly Rivers, the location of the southern boundary of the reserve and an outstanding treaty land entitlement.
The panel found that while some of the statutory requirements set out in the Indian Act had not been met, the surrender of the Bow River lands was still valid because both the Blood Tribe and Canada agreed to an exchange of the Tribe’s interest in the joint reserve along the Bow River, for a reserve in the vicinity of Fort Kipp – near the Tribe’s homelands.
As for the reserve that was set aside for the Blood Tribe, the panel concluded that it was established by the 1882 survey. A second survey, which took place in 1883, moved the southern boundary north, resulting in a smaller reserve. Because the reserve had been established in 1882, the panel concluded that a surrender was required when the southern boundary was moved. As a surrender for this land was never taken from the Blood Tribe, Canada breached its fiduciary obligation. In addition, since the panel concluded that the reserve was established in 1882, it also finds that the date of first survey for treaty land entitlement purposes is 1882.
The ICC was established in 1991. Its mandate is: to inquire, at the request of a First Nation, into specific claims that have been rejected by the federal government, or accepted claims where the First Nation disputes the compensation criteria being considered; and to provide mediation services on consent of the parties at any stage of the claims process.
To download the report - PDF