Memorandum allows First Nations to revisit forced merger of 1901
Ira McArthur is optimistic about a memorandum of understanding signed this week between his First Nation and the federal government.
He hopes it will mean a correction of a 116-year-old dissolution of his Pheasant Rump Nakota and neighbouring Ocean Man First Nations.
In 1901, the federal government forced three Saskatchewan First Nations to amalgamate: Pheasant Rump Nakota and Ocean Man were subsumed by White Bear and lost all of their land — a rare thing, said McArthur, chief at Pheasant Rump. “There’s very few First Nations across Canada that lost all of their land base,” said McArthur.
In 1986, a settlement agreement between White Bear and the government recognized Ocean Man and Pheasant Rump as new bands, which granted them some land back, but they weren’t viewed or compensated as historic treaty signatories.
Mineral rights weren’t part of the new agreement, said McArthur, and INAC funding was denied for projects and programs due to the land status.
“That really impeded our economic development opportunities on the First Nation,” said McArthur.
In 1999, James McArthur of Pheasant Rump launched a lawsuit, the issues of which are addressed in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed Tuesday in Regina. A negotiation in good faith could lead to a better resolution than a court case, said Ira McArthur.
The four parties to the MOU are Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, represented by senior assistant deputy minister Joe Wild, and the chiefs of three southeast Saskatchewan First Nations: White Bear First Nation Chief Brian Standingready, Ocean Man First Nation Chief Constance BigEagle, and McArthur.
“All the way back from 1934, our great-grandfathers wrote letters to the minister of Indian affairs … requesting that our issues be looked at, and I guess that hope never ever dwindled with our people,” said McArthur.
The MOU is “a start,” he continued, with the main point of providing “clarity that the Pheasant Rump and Ocean Man First Nations are the same bands that signed treaty.”
Treaty 4 was signed Sept. 9, 1875, at Fort Ellice, near the present-day Saskatchewan-Manitoba border. Around March 21, 1901, the two First Nations were absorbed by White Bear First Nation.
Smallpox had killed many Pheasant Rump and Ocean Man people, said McArthur. In 1901, Pheasant Rump had a population of 39 and a large piece of land. “I think Canada saw that as an opportunity to be able to open up those lands for homesteaders,” said McArthur.
All three First Nations want compensation for the amalgamation.
They also claim outstanding treaty land entitlements, and the unlawful taking of a variety of lands, including hay lands and lakefront land at the Carlyle Lake Resort.
Ocean Man and Pheasant Rump are requesting funding to re-establish their reserves.
An outcome of the MOU would be “a new relationship … based on mutual respect and co-operation as far as the autonomy and jurisdiction of First Nations,” said McArthur, which would include the “power to develop laws and regulations that would benefit our people and our lands.”
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada is seeking the “renewal” of a “nation-to-nation relationship,” according to a statement from INAC.
The MOU is a “key first step.” “These exploratory discussions are being undertaken in the spirit of reconciliation, respect, co-operation and partnership,” the statement reads.
McArthur is “very optimistic.” “I think right from the very first day of Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau’s term of office, he’s been very open and encouraging in how he has mandated his ministries to work with First Nations people in developing a relationship that’s based on mutual respect,” said McArthur.