Snuneymuxw, feds talk additional land for band at settlement signing
NANAIMO — Snuneymuxw First Nation hopes a historic settlement with the federal government is the first step towards more room to house members of the land-starved band.
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett and Snuneymuxw First Nation (SFN) chief John Wesley officially signed the largest specific claim settlement in B.C. history on Tuesday. The settlement gives the First Nation $49.1 million in compensation for 79-acres of land in Nanaimo’s Stewart Ave. area which was illegally taken by the crown in the late 1880’s.
Tuesday’s signing formalized an SFN vote last November overwhelmingly in favour of the deal.
Chief John Wesley said it has taken 32 years of work for SFN to be compensated for the loss of their “sacred grounds.”