Lubicon Lake Cree celebrate land deal

LITTLE BUFFALO, ALTA. Their story of poverty and neglect went from northern Alberta to the world and on Tuesday decades of determination paid off when the Lubicon Lake Cree signed a long-awaited treaty with Canada.

Band member Denise Ominayak could hardly believe it.

“I’m excited, I’m happy, but I’m still asking myself, ‘Is this really happening ?’ ”

Ominayak was one of dozens of band members who crowded into the tiny school gym in Little Buffalo as federal, provincial and band officials signed a deal expected to change everything in the community of about 640.

“This is a huge milestone for us,” said Lubicon Lake First Nation Chief Billy-joe Laboucan.

“Whatever we’re doing here today impacts all of the children going to school here and all the children yet to be born.”

The Lubicons were missed during Treaty 8 negotiations in the late 1800s and had been fighting for a land claim of their own since the 1930s. Their struggle and the abject conditions they were living in eventually gained international attention.

Half the band’s homes still have no running water. Many are mouldy. Others are overcrowded. That may change.

Signing on to Treaty 8 comes with 246 square kilometres of land and $113 million in federal and provincial funds.

The band anticipates more than 140 new homes, a new school, new firehall with a truck, a health centre, a community hall with indoor rink, 12 kilometres of road upgrades and a fibre-optic link.

A provisional deal was signed in 1988 with then-premier Don Getty, but it was never implemented. It formed the basis for today’s deal.