Peepeekisis Cree Nation celebrates signing of historic land claim settlement

Land claim settlements WATCH: The Peepeekisis Cree Nation held a virtual ceremony to commemorate a land claim settlement with Ottawa. Hafsa Arif has more.

PEEPEEKISIS CREE NATION, SASK. — After more than 30 years in federal courts, the Government of Canada and the Peepeekisis Cree Nation gathered together in virtual ceremony to celebrate the signing of an historic land claim settlement.

The settlement agreement includes $150 million, offers the ability for Peepeekisis to acquire additional land and manage settlement funds, which will be put in a community trust.

Chief Francis Dieter of Peepeekisis Cree Nation said the settlement funds will go toward programs that will help elders and youth in the community, and will help tackle social issues that exist on reserve.

“We are hoping to have educational tools in place. When I mean social issues, I mean drug abuse [and] alcohol abuse. This [fund] will benefit our Nation and our members as a whole,” Dieter said.

The origin of the claim dates back to a period in Peepeekisis First Nations history when it was known as the File Hills Colony. Starting in 1945, band members began to challenge the fact that graduates from other reserves had been transferred land from original Peepeekisis Cree Nation members.

The virtual ceremony was joined by Carolyn Bennet, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, who acknowledged the negative impacts the country’s actions have had on Indigenous people.

“The File Hills Colony is a painful example of Canada’s interference in a way of life that existed for thousands of years,” Bennet said.

The former chief of Peepeekisis, Enoch Poitras, said he remembers when he pushed for the claim decades ago.

“The lawyers told me that we are going to go into a statute of limitation soon if we don’t do something. I called council and said this is where we are going to end up. I asked them ‘what do you want to do? Are we going to file the claim or sit for another 50 years?’ So they said file it,” he said.

Chief Dieter said although this is progress, there is more that is yet to be done. Negotiations for a national apology are in progress, with letters already send to the Federal Government.

The First Nation ratified the signing of the settlement in December 2020.