Gitanmaax Band, British Columbia - Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Today, Tracey Woods, Chief of the Gitanmaax Band, and the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, announced the settlement agreement regarding the Gitanmaax Band's Surrender of 36 acres of Indian Reserve No. 1 Specific Claim.
The specific claim concerns Gitanmaax's 1948 surrender of 36 acres of reserve land adjacent to the Village of Hazelton townsite. Canada failed to return the unsold surrendered parcels to reserve status upon the Gitanmaax Band's request in 1966. Canada also breached its fiduciary duties by failing to compensate the Gitanmaax Band for the use of their reserve land by non-band members, from the early 1900s to 1947. Through dialogue and negotiation, Canada and the Gitanmaax Band reached a settlement of $6.1 million in compensation.
The significant socio-economic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada are the direct result of decades of colonial policies, which often led to the denial and dispossession of land. Ownership of land in Canada is closely linked to ownership of resources and economic benefit; for hundreds of years, settlers in Canada have benefited from the land to the detriment of Indigenous Peoples, who have suffered both culturally and economically.
Honouring Canada's moral and legal obligations and properly compensating Indigenous Peoples for what was unlawfully taken and withheld from them is fundamental to advancing reconciliation in Canada and rebuilding trust with Indigenous communities.
