Members Bulletin – Agricultural Benefits Specific Claim
November 22, 2023

Chief and Council of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation (BON) are pleased to provide the following update to the community regarding our Agricultural Benefits Claim (Cows and Ploughs). This is our claim that the Crown failed to provide agricultural benefits owed to us under the terms of Treaty 1, including tools, seed, livestock, etc., that was supposed to be supplied to help facilitate a transition to an agricultural way of life.

The Government of Canada’s Specific Claims Branch was created to provide a way to deal with past wrongs against First Nations and resolve disputes outside of the court system. Maurice Law Firm has been retained to help BON with the assessment, filing, and negotiation of our claims.

Our Agricultural Benefits Claim was submitted to the Government of Canada’s Specific Claims Branch on April 21, 2023 and has now reached the important milestone of officially meeting the Minimum Standard and is filed with the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. It will now go through a research and assessment period by the Government of Canada’s Specific Claims Branch. This can take up to three years. They have committed to sharing with us any historical documents found in the course of their research. At the end of this step, Canada will decide whether or not it wants to negotiate the claim.

It’s important to know that advancing or resolving this claim does not, in any way, allow Canada to terminate or rescind the treaty rights of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation or our members.

Chief and Council are pleased to see our claims moving through the process. This claim is only one of six claims that are in various stages with the Government of Canada. Please stay tuned for the announcement of a community meeting to provide an overview of where all of our claims are at. We encourage all our members to come and hear about the hard work that has been underway to advance our treaty rights and deal with the wrongs of the past and their impact on our community.

Meegwetch – Chief Gord Bluesky, Councillor Chris Kent, Councillor Remi Olson, Councillor Wendell Sinclair Jr., Councillor Allen Hocaluk