Backgrounder

During the early 1860s, U.S. government policy led many Dakota First Nations to cross the border and settle in Canada. In 1862, a Dakota band under Chief Hdamani moved north from Minnesota and occupied a site on the northwest slope of Turtle Mountain, 100 kilometres southwest of Brandon, Manitoba.

A decade later, the Canadian government began to sign treaties with the First Nations who lived in the Canadian North-West. The Dakota were considered "American Indians" and, at first, they were not participants in the treaty process. However, in 1875 the Canadian government surveyed two reserves for Dakota bands at Oak River and Birdtail Creek.

Chief Hdamani and his followers wished to remain at Turtle Mountain. In 1886, the government relented to Hdamani's demands and surveyed a reserve at Turtle Mountain, although it was not confirmed by Order in Council until 1913, four years after the land had been surrendered.

Officials at the Department of Indian Affairs felt that the location of the reserve was too close to the United States border and too far from the supervision of the Indian Agent to make it a stable reserve. Over the next 20 years, the Department encouraged Turtle Mountain band members to relocate to other reserves. By 1909, the Department had determined that only three families remained at Turtle Mountain, and it persuaded these band members to have a surrender vote.

The vote to surrender the entire reserve was put before five eligible voters in August 1909, and resulted in a 3 to 2 count in favour of the surrender. Eventually, the remaining members of the Turtle Mountain band relocated to other Canadian First Nations or returned to the United States.

In April 1993, the Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation (formerly known as the Oak Lake Sioux First Nation) alleged that Turtle Mountain IR 60 had been improperly surrendered in 1909, and that, in the years proceeding the surrender, the federal government had taken a systematic approach to depopulating the reserve, so that it could be surrendered.

In January 1995, Canada rejected the claim saying it had no outstanding obligation under the Specific Claims Policy. In May 2000, the First Nation asked the ICC to undertake an inquiry into the 1909 Turtle Mountain surrender. The Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation (formerly known as the Oak River First Nation), which also contained descendants of the Turtle Mountain band, asked to be a part of the ICC inquiry and was accepted as a participant by Canada and the Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation in February 2001.

The claim alleged that the surrender of the Turtle Mountain reserve was invalid as one of the signatories of the surrender, Bogaga, was no longer a member of the reserve at the time of the surrender. Due to the small population of the reserve at the time - only five members were eligible to vote in the surrender - the validity of Bogaga's vote was an important factor.

The Commission found that there was sufficient evidence that Bogaga had lived and kept property on the reserve in the time leading up to the surrender vote and for a short time after the vote was taken, which made him a valid participant in the surrender vote.

The claim also alleged that the federal government had purposely been negligent and ignored the members of the Turtle Mountain reserve so that the band members would relocate and the land could be surrendered. The Commission found that although the band had experienced hardship and troubles due to their distance from the Indian Agent in charge of their welfare this did not constitute a "systematic depopulation" program on the part of the federal government.