LAKE HELEN — Red Rock Indian Band is still dispensing cheques from a $130.8-million land claim settlement at its resource centre, but some members may not have to travel to the office to get their cheques.
The First Nation’s leadership told members in December that they must appear in-person with proof of Red Rock membership in order to get their cheque.
That presented difficulties for some members. Of the more than 2,400 members, most do not live on the band’s Lake Helen reserve. (The on-reserve population is about 300.)
Band leadership responded to those concerns in a letter posted on Dec. 20: “If there are special circumstances/requests as to why you cannot pick up your payment, please email Chief and Council with your request.”
That came as a relief to Red Rock member and former chief Marvin Wawia.
Retired after more than 30 years in policing, he’s living in B.C. with a permanent disability and requires medical treatment three times a week.
Flying in to pick up a cheque would be a burden, and there’s got to be a better way, he said.
He and his daughters, who also reside in B.C., presented his case to the First Nation and now it won’t be requiring him to present himself at the resource centre.
Instead, Wawia explained, the band agreed to send him documents to sign and send back by registered mail.
He’s glad that’s cleared up, but said he doesn’t think it ever had to be so complicated.
The band could have set up a system that doesn’t require in-person applications for payment, he said.
Telling people they had to show up in-person was, he said, unfair to the hundreds of Red Rock members who live more than a short drive from Lake Helen.
His criticism of the process met with agreement on social media.
“Many have felt like outcasts and discriminated against by their own people,” one Facebook user wrote.
The Red Rock and Whitesand First Nations filed their claims for additional reserve lands in 2019 in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice.
The First Nations contended in their legal filings that the reserve lands provided to them out of the 1850 Robinson-Superior Treaty were smaller than what they were entitled to.
They reached an agreement with Canada last year which guarantees each of the two First Nations at least $130.8 million. They could receive more, depending on the outcome of their legal action against Ontario, which has not settled with the First Nations.
Red Rock members ratified the settlement in a secret ballot held in Lake Helen and Thunder Bay in September.
Red Rock is dividing the settlement funds equally among members, which means more than $50,000 for each Red Rock member regardless of age. Payouts to minors are to be held in trust until they reach the age of 18.
Red Rock Chief Allan Odawa Jr. said Thursday he had no comment on the land claim settlement. Whitesand Chief Lawrence Wanakamik said by email that an interview “would have to wait for the time being.”