Snuneymuxw First Nation accepts nearly $50-million settlement over Nanaimo land
NANAIMO — The Snuneymuxw First Nation (SFN) has voted to accept a record settlement agreement with the federal government over downtown Nanaimo land illegally taken in the 1880’s.
An SFN release states there was near unanimous support from voters in Saturday’s ratification vote to accept the $49.1-million settlement. The agreement is over a 79-acre reserve in downtown Nanaimo in the Stewart Avenue area that was taken illegally by the Crown, according to acting SFN chief Doug White. The land covers roughly where St. George Street and Cypress Street are now, right up to the edge of the water directly across from Newcaslte Island.
White says this is the largest specific claim settlement in B.C. history by a factor of five.
“We have been deprived over the past century and longer of the potential economic benefit of these lands. The loss has contributed to the harsh reality that the Snuneymuxw have the smallest Indian reserve land base per capita in the country,” said White.