In 1887, the Nisga’a people of what is known today as British Columbia sent their chiefs to Victoria to demand recognition of title, negotiation of treaties and provision for self-government Now, over 100 years later, they have finally signed an agreement-in-principle with the B.C. government and Ottawa.
Emotions were high at the signing ceremony. The people who had been given the run-around for so long were close to a formal agreement. The Nisga’a were to get $ 190 million, self-government and ownership over 1,900 square kilometers. The ownership includes surface and sub-surface rights and a quota for harvesting salmon and wildlife.
But Natives across Canada were outraged at other conditions that were imposed on the Nisga’a. While the Nisga’a will remain aboriginal people under the Constitution, they will eventually have the Indian Act no longer apply to them. No one at this time knows exactly what this means. Their 56 reserves will no longer be considered reserve lands, but rather land that the Nisga’a own.
Perhaps the most damning of all in Native eyes is that they gave up their right to not pay taxes. Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin said the Nisga’a agreement is a sign of things to come. He said he can’t keep ‘‘asking the Canadian public to provide money for my portfolio to help aboriginal people without seeing some type of payback in the future.”
The agreement-in-principle is not yet a done deal despite the hopes of the Nisga’a. Tina Bolton of the Nisga’a Tribal Council told The Nation the agreement-in-principle will have to be discussed by all Nisga’a, and concerns will have to be answered before it’s signed, if it’s signed at all. “The general feeling is we are happy we at least got something finally, but a lot of people are scared of what’s in there— the tax stuff and whatnot,” said Bolton.
“It will be some time before it all sinks in, but we still have a long process of consultation with our people before the final agreement is signed. But at least for now we have something.”
