The work took 25 years, and some of those who started it died before it was finished, but the Snuneymuxw First Nation finally has a settlement for 79 acres in downtown Nanaimo that were snatched by the government.
Acting chief Douglas White said the settlement of $49,148,121 is “the largest specific claim settlement in B.C. history by a factor of five.”
Thanks to the nation’s negotiators and the government, the Snuneymuxw now have an opportunity to make significant improvement in their lives.
The agreement will go some distance toward compensating the nation for the loss of the reserve, known as Thlap’qwam, but perhaps as important is the promise to find replacement land. Only about a third of Snuneymuxw members live on reserve because their land base is so small.
The loss of the land has had a profound effect on generations of people, White said. Repairing the damage will be no easy task.
The 79-acre parcel of land was along Nanaimo’s Stewart Avenue, across from Newcastle Island. The government took the reserve in the 1880s.
After elders raised the issue in the late 1980s, members began the claim process in 1992, and negotiations on a settlement began in 2003. The members approved the deal in a vote on Sunday; of the 1,312 eligible voters, 848 cast ballots and 828 of those voted to approve the settlement.
It will take eight to 12 months before the Snuneymuxw see the money, which will be placed in a community trust. The trust will be overseen by an administrative trustee and five community trustees.
At first, the chief and council will appoint community trustees, but beginning next year, some will be elected.
Some of the money will go to individual members, while the rest will go to such things as a trust to purchase land and invest money to generate future wealth, and advocacy.
Beyond the cash settlement is an agreement that the Snuneymuxw will have the right to negotiate for 79 acres of land as a replacement. White said his people have the smallest land base per capita of any First Nation in the country.
One option for replacement land, according to the band’s website, is some owned by the Department of National Defence next to Vancouver Island University.
Replacing the land would give the nation a solid foundation as it builds on the success of the settlement talks. The Snuneymuxw and the government should take advantage of that momentum from the settlement and begin working on the land negotiations as soon as possible.
The voter turnout of 64.6 per cent and the 98 per cent yes-vote are a clear indication that the members like what the negotiators created.
“The settlement cannot change the past, and how that past has structured our present reality,” White said. “But it does provide Snuneymuxw with a transformative infusion of resources to address the significant needs of our nation.”
Reached after a long process that required commitment on both sides, the settlement gives hope of turning that “present reality” into a future worth striving for.
