By Spencer Sterritt

SFN eager for negotiations to help solve land issues

Feb 2, 2017 | 12:26 PM

NANAIMO — The Snuneymuxw First Nation (SFN) is anxious to get negotiations underway with the provincial and federal governments to reclaim their land.

The negotiations come after a record-setting $49.1 million settlement between the SFN and federal government over 79 acres of land illegally taken in the 1880’s and the promise of transferring it back to the SFN.

Snuneymuxw chief negotiator and councillor Doug White said there’s no timeline in place yet for negotiations about the land transfer, but he believed they’ll be able to make headway over the next year.

“This isn’t something that should take an enormous amount of time,” he told NanaimoNewsNOW.

The negotiations will also be for the transfer of 250 acres near Vancouver Island University’s Nanaimo campus, 100 acres in the Cedar-Duke Point area and 1,000 acres on Gabriola Island.

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White said they need to move as quickly as possible since SFN is in a “miserable position” with respect to how much land they have, 266 hectares, especially compared to other First Nations bands in the province.

He compared the SFN to the Osoyoos Indian Band in the Okanagan Region, who have 32,000 acres of land for a few hundred band members and have been able to look after the residential and economic needs of their people.

“Whereas with Snuneymuxw we’ve always been massively constrained and the Indian reserve land we have doesn’t even provide for the first need of land, which is somewhere to live,” he said.

He said the “vast difference” between themselves and other First Nations communities will compel the Crown to make sure transfer of land is done as quickly as possible.

“It’s been a well known and notorious fact for a long period of time that Snuneymuxw has been in a tough position, so we’re looking forward to breaking through that to make new opportunities for our people.”

-with files from Ian Holmes

spencer.sterritt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit