Backgrounder

The Anishinabe Ojibway occupied the Roseau River district of present-day Manitoba before the arrival of white settlers in the early 1800s. Due to the resultant pressure upon Anishinabe lands, Anishinabe Chiefs demanded a treaty. The Roseau River Anishanabe First Nation's predecessors signed Treaty 1 in 1871. Among the Treaty's provisions were the terms by which the various tribes, as signatories, were to have land apportioned and set aside for their exclusive use and enjoyment:

"Her Majesty the Queen, and her successors forever, hereby agrees and undertakes to lay aside and reserve for the sole and exclusive use of the Indians, the following tracts of land...so much land on the Roseau River as will furnish one hundred and sixty acres for each family of five, or in that proportion for larger or smaller families, beginning at the mouth of the river...it being understood however, that if, at the date of the execution of this treaty, there are any settlers within the bounds of any lands reserved by any band, Her Majesty reserves the right to deal with such settlers as She shall deem just, so as not to diminish the extent of land allotted to the Indians."

However, settlers continued to encroach on land that the First Nation understood to be their own. Numerous formal complaints regarding non-fulfilment of the Treaty, including promises to set aside a reserve along the banks of the Roseau River and to protect against depredation of resources were more or less unfulfilled.

The claim was never abandoned by the Roseau River First Nation, but it was not until 1977, when the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood ("the MIB") formed the Manitoba Treaty Land Entitlement Committee, that the First Nation had the help they needed to file their claim. On March 1, 1978, in concert with the MIB, Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation submitted their treaty land entitlement claim to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND).

Five more years elapsed before the government accepted the claim for negotiation. In a letter dated November 5, 1982, the Honourable John Munro, then Minister for DIAND, wrote to Chief Felix Antoine: "After reviewing the available facts and related evidence, I wish to advise you that the Roseau River Band has a valid treaty land entitlement claim..."

Negotiations over compensation went on for fourteen years, to no avail. Finally, when the parties recognized that they had come to a complete impasse, they asked the Indian Claims Commission to mediate. Within a few months, an Agreement in Principle was achieved and a settlement agreement was ratified by the First Nation.

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 where the First Nation disputes the compensation criteria being considered in negotiations; and to provide mediation services on consent of the parties at any stage of the claims process.