Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in the Siksika First Nation, east of Calgary, to sign a historic land reclamation agreement, which the federal government says is one of the largest such agreements in Canada.
Siksika chief Ouray Crowfoot said that while the deal will not make up for past mistakes, it will make a difference in people’s lives and offer opportunities they did not have before.
TARGET | Chief Crowfoot says it’s important for a partnership with the federal government to benefit both parties:
The head of Siksika welcomes the collaboration with the federal government
Trudeau and Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, attended the signing ceremony on Thursday in the Siksika First Nation with Crowfoot, the band council and community members.
“We are meeting today to correct a mistake of the past,” Trudeau said during the ceremony.
“We are together to give each other a chance to start rebuilding trust between us, from nation to nation.”
TARGET | Trudeau says it’s “humiliating” to see First Nations partner with the federal government despite a complicated history of mistrust:
Trudeau visits the Siksika First Nation in Alberta
The federal government says the settlement dates back more than a century when Canada broke its promise of the Blackfoot Treaty and took almost half of the Siksika nation’s reserve lands, including some of the their agricultural lands, to sell them to the people who settled in the area.
The agreement provides $ 1.3 billion in compensation to Siksika Nation for resolving outstanding land claims, which include some 46,500 hectares of the Siksika Reserve and certain mineral rights acquired by Canada.
“I see ourselves becoming a prosperous nation”
Crowfoot said the deal doesn’t make up for past mistakes, but it will make a difference in people’s lives.
“Canada must stop using the word reconciliation. You will never be reconciled, you will never be whole,” he said.
Crowfoot, on the left, and Trudeau, on the right, sign the settlement documents. (Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press)
“This $ 1.3 billion land claim is a lot of money, it will never do everything it was before. But we have to move forward. What $ 1.3 billion? [billion] What we can do is offer opportunities, opportunities that we did not have before.
“I see the tide changing for Siksika … I see us becoming a prosperous nation.”
The Siksika website says each First Nation member will receive $ 20,000 in July as part of the deal.
Trudeau, right, meets with elders after the signing ceremony at the Siksika First Nation. “We are meeting today to correct a mistake of the past,” Trudeau said during the ceremony. “We are together to give each other a chance to start rebuilding trust between us, from nation to nation.” (Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press) An elderly man dances after a historic ceremony to sign a land claim agreement. (Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press)