The Western Treaty Nations Summit wrapped up in Prince Albert on Thursday.
The three-day summit was hosted by the Prince Albert Grand Council with a focus on the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement.
The 1930 NRTA transferred control of Crown lands and natural resources from the federal government to the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
PAGC Chief Brian Hardlotte says he hopes delegates came away with a better understanding of the act and how it has affected Prairie First Nations people.
“That’s part of the summit itself is the learning, awareness and what the NRTA is,” he says. “Look at the history, how it affected the people of the three Prairie provinces.”
Hardlotte says although the NRTA does not decrease treaty rights, provinces like Saskatchewan have historically used the act in a negative way against First Nations.
“The NRTA continues to affect our people negatively. You look at the hunting charges our people have to face. The fishing charges, harassment from provincial conservation officers.”
The PAGC Chief says what is now most important is for Western First Nations to work together collectively in fighting provincial government abuses of the NRTA when they occur.
(PHOTO: Closing ceremony at Western Treaty Nations Summit in Prince Albert. Photo by Fraser Needham.)