First Nations have new weapon in traditional land disputes with Sask. government — maps | CBC News

Saskatchewan First Nations say the provincial government is keeping them in the dark as it privatizes land within their traditional territories.

“They started these land sales without our knowledge,” said Onion Lake Cree Nation’s Okimaw (Chief) Henry Lewis.

Lewis and others had heard about individual plots of public or “Crown” land being sold or leased, but they didn’t know the full extent.

That’s all changing. They have new weapons in this fight — a comprehensive series of maps created by the Saskatchewan First Nations Natural Resources Centre of Excellence.

It’s the result of hundreds of hours of data collection and analysis at the centre’s office outside Saskatoon.

The maps show the exact location and sizes of Crown land sales, and the centre is sharing them with every First Nation in the province.

Red and green dots representing sales and leases dot every region of south and central Saskatchewan, from Meadow Lake in the north to Estevan in the south.

The centre concluded that during the past decade, the provincial government has taken in at least $84 million from Crown land privatization.

On the maps, Lewis could see parcels of land had been sold off close to his reserve. But land was also privatized directly on the borders of Onion Lake, a community of more than 4,000 people located 300 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

He said he tried to get answers, but no one would talk to him.

“We were the first to find out, but a lot of other Nations weren’t aware of what was happening. We tried to put a moratorium on Crown land sales, and I think it worked for a bit,” Lewis said.

When Onion Lake demanded a moratorium on sales, Lewis said the government promised to do so. But now, instead of selling the land, Lewis said the government is leasing it instead for terms of up to 33 years.

They’ve done this on more than 40 pieces of land across the province during the past year, and there are plans for another 50, said Onion Lake officials. Lewis and other First Nations leaders said this is dishonest.

Terry Quinney, Onion Lake’s duty to consult co-ordinator, helped the centre create the first maps. She said they had to fight just to get the raw data from the government..

“We want Nations to know what’s happening right under their noses,” she said.

Lewis and others say this sell-off must stop immediately, for two reasons.

First, the numbered treaties, signed mostly in the 1870s, included the right to hunt and gather and fish on public lands. This was reinforced by a 1930 law called the Natural Resource Transfer Agreement. If land is privatized, it’s no longer available. They say the provincial government’s new, stricter trespassing law further violates and limits their right to practise traditional lifestyles.

Second, after those treaties were signed, dozens of Saskatchewan First Nations failed to receive the promised amount of land for their reserves. For other First Nations, their land was granted, but then taken back by the government for infrastructure projects, for white farmers or white returning veterans of the First and Second World Wars.

First Nations are now negotiating “specific claims” to get back what was promised by selecting parcels of Crown land. They can’t do that if the location has already been sold off.

The centre’s CEO, Sheldon Wuttunee, said Lewis and others have a right to be concerned. He said the situation is urgent.

“Crown lands were set aside early on to ensure that the Crown was able to live up to their treaty agreements, so that we could hunt, fish, trap, gather and practise our treaty rights and that there are Crown lands to do so. So it really becomes extremely concerning when, at an alarming rate, Crown lands and Crown minerals are being sold off,” Wuttunee said.

Wuttunee’s group has also mapped claims and extraction sites for oil, potash and even critical minerals such as lithium. He said it’s vital for First Nations to know what’s going on above and below the ground.

Betty Nippi-Albright, the NDP opposition critic for First Nations and Métis Relations, has been pressing the government on this issue for years. She said First Nations have a constitutional right to be consulted on land and resource issues affecting them

This has been affirmed multiple times by the Supreme Court, and the government is neglecting its legal duty, she said.

“So we’ve been talking about the sale of Crown lands and leases without consultation, and when there has been consultation, the turnaround has been very short. Nations need to be consulted. They need to be consulted from the get-go,” she said.

Agriculture Minister David Marit was not available for an interview, but a government official emailed a statement on his behalf.

It stated the government “seeks information from potentially affected First Nation and Métis communities about their use of the land for hunting, fishing and trapping rights and for traditional activities. If the land is needed for these purposes, the government does not sell it.”

Lewis, Quinney, Wuttunee and others say Marit’s words do not match the government’s actions. They say this is definitely not being followed.

Quinney said government officials frequently give contradictory information. Some say they consult if land is within 60 kilometres of a First Nation. Another official said it’s 75 to 100 kilometres. In reality, they often don’t even consult on land bordering First Nations, she said. 

Quinney said this could become a legal issue. She said First Nations will go to the courts if they have to, armed with their maps.

“They just pick and choose who they’re going to consult with,” she said. “They’re going against their word.”