It has been a slow journey, spanning 50 years of bureaucracy, but a parcel of land adjacent to Goldstream Provincial Park was officially returned by the federal and provincial governments to the five Saanich First Nations Friday.
The five bands will also receive $877,375 in federal compensation for loss of use of the four-hectare parcel, which was accidentally removed from the Goldstream Reserve through a surveying error in 1962. The money will be divided and each First Nation will decide how its portion is to be spent.
“We are celebrating a somewhat long journey,” said Pauquachin Chief Bruce Underwood at a ceremony in the Tsawout gymnasium.
“These are our sacred lands and we have made a small step forward today.”
The process has helped the Saanich Tribes work with each other as well as with government, the chiefs said.
“Thank you to everyone for being patient,” said Malahat Chief Michael Harry. “Challenges come when there’s passion and this group has led with passion.”
Aboriginal Relations Minister Ida Chong said correcting the old error has been a priority since she took over the ministry last year.
“It is pretty obvious that things don’t happen quickly in government, but most important was the persistence of the First Nations,” she said. “It has taken a long time to correct [the surveying error].”
One of the delays has been getting the federal government to sign off on the transfer, as there are protocols for adding parcels to reserve lands, Chong said after the ceremony.
The parcel, which has traditionally been used for harvesting medicinal and edible plants, connects to the existing reserve, where First Nations fish for salmon.
The return of the land means those traditions can continue, Underwood said.
“It is important we honour our relatives that have walked the land before us and those that walk the land after we are gone.”
For Underwood’s 14-year-old son Landon, the opportunity to learn about Saanich traditions is important. “I like to fish,” he said. “I catch fish and I smoke fish and I have learned to dipnet and gaffe.”
