The Peepeekisis First Nation is appealing a Federal Court ruling that denied a band claim.
Between 1900 and 1932, some band members were forced from their land to make way for a farming colony, and the band has been fighting that for over two decades.
Band officials say the government’s move messed up the reserve, pitting First Nations people against non-Aboriginal people.
Headman Enock Poitras says the federal government ruled against the band, even though the Indian Specific Claims Commission recommended a negotiated solution.
Poitras says band members want justice, and are frustrated by all the time it is taking to resolve the issue:
“People are starting to get restless now about it. They’re saying, ‘Well, let’s start doing something drastic. Let’s get up and do this or do that’. And they said, ‘Well, we’ll try to exhaust all these procedures before we get there’. So, that’s what they’re doing right now.”
He says that makes it even more important to settle now.