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31/05/2007

Indian Claims Commission Concludes Inquiry into Saulteau First Nation Claims

Ottawa (May 31, 2007) – In a report issued today, the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) provides background on its completed inquiry into two claims by the Saulteau First Nation, located in northeastern BC, regarding an alleged shortfall of land and a claim for land in severalty.

The First Nation claimed that Canada breached its legal and fiduciary duties by failing to provide sufficient lands under the provisions of Treaty 8, and it claimed a shortfall of 4,898 acres existed for a number of band members who were late adherents, absentees, or landless transfers at the date of first survey. The First Nation also maintained that a claim by one of its members to land known as Deadman Creek should be recognized under the land in severalty provision of Treaty 8. This provision supplied 160 acres of land, located apart from the reserve, to individual members of a First Nation who did not wish to live on the main reserve.
 
In August 1997, the Treaty 8 Tribal Association submitted two specific claims to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development on behalf of the Saulteau First Nation, claiming that the Crown had breached its legal and fiduciary obligations. By August 2003, the claims had not yet been accepted or rejected by the Minister of Indian Affairs, and the First Nation asked the ICC to conduct an inquiry. The six years that had elapsed since the claims’ submission led the Commission to deem them constructively rejected, and it accepted the request to conduct an inquiry.

In 2004, the First Nation and Canada agreed to use the Commission’s mediation services, and, in 2006, the Saulteau First Nation requested the inquiry into their claims be concluded in anticipation of the acceptance of its treaty land entitlement claim by the Minister of Indian Affairs. In view of the First Nation’s request, the Commission panel declared the ICC’s inquiry closed in June 2006.

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 backgrounder

To download the report - PDF