Land claims launched

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GROUARD - Seven isolated communities took the first step in launching Native land claims by agreeing to establish a Native Land Claims Advisory Board, at the land claims workshop here on April 12.

The community delegates propose an organizational meeting in the near future and will put the new board in place, which will operate in a similar manner to the Isolated Communities Advisory Board that was formed in the late 1960s.

The next step will be to secure the co-operation of Native organizations such as the Indian Association of Alberta, the Metis Association of Alberta and the Assembly of First Nations, said conference chairperson William Beaver, former chief of the Bigstone Cree Band.

"I'm really happy about the decision. The communities have every right to say 'it's our land it's time we got some of it on our own terms'," said Doris Ronnenberg, president of the Native Council of Canada (Alberta.)

Ronnenberg had earlier said that she would like to see something concrete in the way of a decision by the isolated communities come out of the workshop. The workshop was sponsored by the N.C.C. (Alberta), with the mandate that a land claims effort be started by people at the local level.

"We will support and help with the process chosen by off-reserve Indians on land claims," said Ronnenberg.

"The fact that the meeting took a concrete form hopefully means it will lead to united action in dealing with a common problem," says Calling Lake delegate Cora Weber.

Weber feels the workshop was an exceptional meeting. "It's a reflection of the unity that has always existed between the isolated communities."

"The advisory board would have to be scrutinized closely," said Jeff Chalifoux, Zone 5 director with the Metis Association of Alberta, who further requested that terms of reference be outlined by the advisory board, at a meting with his association.

Representatives from the isolated communities, Sand, Trout, Loon, Chipewyan, Calling, Cadotte and Peerless Lakes were pleased with the outcome of the workshop.

These isolated communities were overlooked during the signing of treaties or were promised reserve land which never materialized.