Paul Cree make 11-day trek to protest government inaction on land claim

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The journey was made o foot, from their homes in northeastern Alberta to the federal government building in Edmonton, 431 kilometres to the south.

Members of the Paul Cree Indian Band near For McMurray chose to make the 11-day trip to protest government inaction on a land claim outstanding for 73 years.

the time they'd reached their destination on Aug. 31 some of the walkers were sick, most were tired and all were more determined than ever to have their issues with the federal government resolved, said Chief Robert Cree.

The band wants its special status as a separate and distinct First Nation recognized, he said. Members want to occupy and develop the land promised to them in a Privy Council of Canada order dated May 1921.

This document, Cree insists, proves the Indian band exists. He said members are entitled to the 904 hectares of land known as the Clearwater Reserve and currently recognized as being part of the Fort McMurray Indian Band.

The order in council was discovered only five years ago when other bands were researching their own land claims, said Cree. The order had been shelved and the promises in it forgotten by Indian Affairs for 73 years. The Paul Cree Band has no intention of letting Ottawa forget the document again.

The band's members number as many as 140, but only a few families live on the reserve land, said Cree. There is no housing, power, roads or natural gas. The people live in tents and tipis. They travel in all-terrain vehicles. Until a road is developed the children will not be attending schools.

"The main focus right now is the development of our community and the resource dollars for this band to start developing; to have that self-reliance and self-determination," said the chief.

Seed money is required to develop an infrastructure around which a community can grow. Recognition of the Paul Cree band by Ottawa is the first step toward this development.

Boosting their claim to the land is a 101-year-old band member who witnessed the signing of the order in council. Elder Rapheal Cree was only 15 years old at the time, but remembers the signing ceremony clearly. His testimony has been videotaped and preserved as the band settles in for the fight.

"The department is quite afraid at saying there is an existing band out there even though we have a legal document and order in council. It's because they are going to be faced with compensation dollars from this particular group," said Chief Cree. Compensation Cree believes will be in the millions.

As for the first phase of their protest, the results have yet to be determined. The band has given Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin two weeks to respond to its demands, said Cree. Then the protest efforts will be stepped up.

Rather than walking this time, the band council will be busing the people to the federal building in Edmonton, and camping out on the streets, Cree warned.

"I don't think the people, the Aboriginal people, should be treated that way, or should have to demonstrate the way we had to in walking that 431 kilometres. It's damn unfair for the federal government to be treating us the way they have been," said Cree in a voice choked with emotion.

If the government is trying to test the Paul Cree Band it had better think twice about it, said Cree.

"We're not going to hold back any longer."