Nawash votes to accept Coldwater-Narrows land claim

By Kristen Smith, Midland Free Press July 17, 2012 

One of the largest land-claim settlement offers in Canadian history is inching closer to a resolution.

In a July 7 vote, the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation voted 93% in favour of accepting the Coldwater-Narrows land claim.

The land claim was filed in 1991 by the Chippewa Tri-Council, comprised of Georgina Island First Nation, Beausoleil First Nation and Rama First Nation. It was determined the Chippewas of Nawash also had an interest in the settlement in 2006 and it joined negotiations two years later.

The federal government tabled the settlement agreement in May 2011, and the four communities voted in April. The Chippewa Tri-Council communities all voted in favour of the agreement.

The Nawash First Nation community voted again last Saturday after low voter turnout invalidated the first vote.

“The membership has given leadership direction on how they want to proceed in regards to the Coldwater-Narrows settlement and we join with the Chippewa Tri-Council in celebrating this landmark victory,” Nawash Chief Scott Lee said in a statement.

Also in a statement, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister John Duncan said the four communities “have taken a decisive step toward a more prosperous future.”

He said the $307-million settlement agreement reconciles the past and present in a fair way.

“At the same time, it creates new opportunities for the future that will benefit these four First Nations and their neighbours in south-central Ontario,” said Duncan.

He said the next step is federal approval to sign the agreement.

Ministry spokesperson Geneviève Guibert said the agreement will be implemented once it is signed by the chiefs and councils of the four communities and by the minister. She said she didn’t know how long that would take. She noted it takes years to get to this point in an agreement.

Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton said the pieces are in place for the settlement of the claim to begin.

The land — more than 10,000 acres — was originally a portage route that stretched about 22.5 kilometres between Orillia, at the Atherley Narrows, to Matchedash Bay.

He said the way the land was taken in 1836 was “an affront to the communities of that time.”

“To add insult to injury,” the First Nations thought they were getting title to the lands when they were actually releasing the land to the British government, Stanton said, adding, “they were duped.”

Rama First Nation Chief Sharon Stinson Henry is pleased the claim is now getting to the formal signing of the settlement agreement.

“We (the four communities) have negotiated the best possible settlement we could achieve,” Stinson Henry said Monday.

A settlement agreement dictating how the claim will be divided among the communities, as well as individual First Nation trust agreements, were drafted before the April vote.

Stinson Henry said a lot of work and consultation with both on- and off-reserve members went into preparing the Rama trust agreement, and while she couldn’t share the details, she said the turnout was excellent throughout the consultation process.

“It’s an opportunity for our community to continue to enhance our community development,” she said.

“We’ll be looking for ways to continue to improve our community, enhance existing programs and services. I’m very pleased about that,” she said. “We do have the opportunity over the next 30 years to acquire additional lands to make up for what we lost.”

Stanton commended the First Nations for their “exemplary” leadership throughout the process.

“They were determined negotiators, but they always approached the process in a professional and forthright way,” he said.