The Cheslatta Carrier Nation has reached agreements with the provincial government to provide restitution and redress for impacts from the creation of the Nechako Reservoir, the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation said Wednesday.
At a private ceremony in Victoria on March 28, Chief Corrina Leween and Councillors Ted Jack and Hazel Burt of Cheslatta Nation, along with Scott Fraser, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, signed a settlement agreement and an interim reconciliation agreement.
The settlement agreement had received unanimous support from the 60 per cent of Cheslatta members who participated in a ratification vote on March 14.
It provides payments to Cheslatta over a 10-year period and a commitment from B.C. to future land transfers and tenures as proposed by the Cheslatta. A period of engagement with neighbouring First Nations and stakeholders will proceed before final land parcels can be determined.
In return, the agreement constitutes a full and final settlement of Cheslatta claims against B.C. related to impacts of the Nechako Reservoir on their rights and title interests, the ministry said.
Cheslatta Nation has requested that terms of the agreement remain confidential for one year pending their negotiations with other parties.
The interim reconciliation agreement is for 10 years and includes $200,000 per year for management of protected areas and fish and wildlife and $200,000 per year for watershed and heritage restoration projects within the Cheslatta's traditional territory.
It also includes a commitment to support Cheslatta's cultural rejuvenation and language revitalization and to specific forestry opportunities where feasible, such as licences for harvesting wood within the Nechako Reservoir.
In 1952, the Cheslatta were evicted from their homes on two weeks' notice and forcibly resettled outside their traditional lands.
Their lands, villages, cultural and spiritual sites were then flooded as the newly-built Kenney Dam filled reservoir.
"For 67 years, the Cheslatta people have worked tirelessly to achieve resolution and reconciliation to this historic wrong," Cheslatte Carrier Nation Chief Corrina Leween said in a news release.
"This agreement honours the justice our ancestors and previous leadership spent their lives fighting for. Now, we are positioned to begin the healing process and to advance the social and economic standing of our people for generations to come."
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