Transfer of community pastures land concern First Nations

By the end of March, the
federal government will have transferred all land held under the Community
Pastures Program to the province and First Nations are concerned that the
history of that land will be lost to ranchers who will buy or lease it. Tomasin
Playford, executive director of the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society, is
worried that the loss of federal protection will compromise historical sites
and artifacts that document how First Nations groups lived. She said the land
contains burial sites, tipi rings and buffalo jumps, among other historic
items. “The way the pastures were managed in the past had potentially less
impact than there may be in the future because we don’t know what the future
holds,” Playford told Postmedia News. The land was not made available for First
Nations to acquire through land settlement agreements, said Federation of
Saskatchewan Indian Nations Vice-Chief Bobby Cameron.