Chief Encouraged By Claims Commission Ruling

Chief Encouraged By Claims Commission Ruling

Friday, May 27, 2005 at 14:58

 

 

A First Nations chief says he’ll be watching the federal government to make sure it acts upon a land claim decision affecting his band.

 

Chief Walter Sewap of the Cumberland House Cree Nation says he plans to meet with the band’s lawyer as soon as possible to discuss the recent decision by the Indian Claims Commission.

 

Last week, the I.C.C. determined that both the Cumberland House and James Smith bands had been cheated out of 24,000 acres of land by Ottawa.

 

It released a total of four reports calling on Ottawa to return the land and to reinstate two other bands that had lost their status.

 

Sewap says he’s excited about the news and credits a number of chiefs who served before him with helping get the ball rolling.

 

He says measures are also being put in place to make sure the band is ready to handle the land transfer when it happens.

 

Sewap says he isn’t sure how this decision affects efforts by those associated with the John Cochrane First Nation.

 

John Cochrane is another band in that area that lost its status approximately 100 years ago and is seeking to reclaim it.

 

Meanwhile, officials with Indian Affairs have already said they are not bound by the recommendations of the I.C.C., but promise they will take them seriously.