GULL BAY — Members of Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek have accepted a financial settlement with the federal government over the first phase of the First Nation's longstanding land claim.
Details of the settlement are not being disclosed by either party.
In an interview with Newswatch, KZA Chief Wilfred King cited a confidentiality agreement but said "it's a very substantial amount of money."
The deal was announced Saturday by the office of the minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, Gary Anandasangaree, who said "this compensation is rightfully owed to the First Nation to address their claim and build a better future for the community."
The minister called the settlement a significant step forward in ongoing collaborative work to honour a treaty promise, advance reconciliation and strengthen the government's nation-to-nation relationship with KZA.
"Settling claims through dialogue is the right thing to do," he stated.
The agreement also recognizes that KZA is a party to the Robinson Superior Treaty of 1850.
The First Nation's grievance relates to errors, omissions and the misallocation of lands at the time the treaty was signed, and the lost opportunities for the use of that land.
Chief King has previously stated the reserve should be ten times its current size of four square miles.
Phase two of the negotiations, to select land to add to the reserve, is continuing among KZA, the federal government, and the Ontario government.
"I think it's important to recognize it's 175 years in the making, and we've been without this (land) for 175 years, so we're looking forward to a resolution on this as well," King said.
KZA has 1,635 registered members, of whom about 400 live at Gull Bay, and nearly 900 reside in Thunder Bay.
The First Nation has won some other significant settlements in recent years.
In 2016, Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek received $8 million from the federal government to resolve a claim for royalties for timber and other resources taken from the land it should have received under the Robinson Treaty.
In 2014, the community got over $12 million from Ontario Power Generation as compensation for flooding caused by hydro projects eight decades earlier.
King, who's a lawyer, said Monday "It's important to have leadership that really understands your legal position. And it's important to understand your own history in terms of land claims, and why these legal obligations exist, and to pursue them vigorously...you keep your feet on the gas, and don't let up on these things."
He added that he believes consistency in leadership is helpful because a change can sometimes put claims "on the back burner."
As a signatory to the Robinson Superior Treaty, KZA will also benefit from the outcome of an ongoing court case over annuities from the Crown.
Twelve First Nations will share billions of dollars in compensation, but the final amount has not been determined yet.
