Yukon Land Claims and Self-Government
Elijah Edward Smith
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Yukon Land Claims: A Brief History
•
1763: Royal Proclamation of King George III
recognizes aboriginal title and rights to land
• 1902: Chief Jim Boss of the Ta'an Kwach'an
requests compensation for lost lands and
hunting grounds as a result of the Klondike
Gold Rush. Boss' letter is ignored
• 1972: with the publication of Together Today
For our Children Tomorrow by Chief Elijah
Smith current process started.
• 1973: Yukon Indian Brotherhood and the
Yukon Association of Non-Status Indians form
Council for Yukon Indians (CYI) to negotiate a
land claims agreement.
Chief Jim Boss of the Ta'an Kwﾌﾛch'ﾌﾛn First Nation
Yukon Land Claims: A Brief History
(Continued)
• 1980: The two organizations and CYI merge
under CYI name.
• 1993: some justices of Supreme Court of
Canada acknowledge concept of Aboriginal
title (Nisga’a of Northern B.C.)
• 1993: Umbrella Final Agreement (UFA)
negotiations completed.
• 1995: CYI was renamed to the Council of
Yukon First Nations.
Canada, 1990
Yukon Land Claims: A Brief History
(Continued)
• 2007 Q. How many Yukon First Nations have
settled land claims?
• A. Eleven. Agreements now are being
implemented for those 11 self-governing Yukon
First Nations. Listed below are the First Nations
and the years their Final and Self-Government
agreements were signed.
• 1. Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation (1995)
• 2. First Nation of the Nacho Nyak Dun (1995)
• 3. Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (1995)
• 4. Teslin Tlingit Council (1995)
Yukon Land Claims: A Brief History
(Continued)
• 5. Selkirk First Nation (1997)
• 6. Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation (1997)
• 7. Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in (formerly Dawson First
Nation) (1998)
• 8. Ta'an Kwäch'än Council (2002)
• 9. Kluane First Nation (2003)
• 10. Kwanlin Dün First Nation (2005)
• 11. Carcross/Tagish First Nation (2006)
• White River First Nation, Liard First Nation and
Ross River Dena Council have not reached Final
and Self-Government Agreements and remain
Indian Bands under the federal Indian Act.
Umbrella Final Agreement
• UFA provided for a total amount of
compensation and a land quantum amounting
to about 8.5% of the Yukon's area (approx.
41,595 square km) to be returned to First
Nations.
• Most of the land is owned outright by First
Nation governments, although a number of
existing reserves were retained (eg. Old
Village).
• Each land claims agreement is also
accompanied by a Self-Government
agreement that gives First Nations the right to
enact legislation in a number of areas.
Umbrella Final Agreement
Individual First Nations’ Land Claims/Self Government
Terms you need to know:
• Self-government:
• Negotiated at the same time as the First Nation Final
Agreement,
• the F. N. Self-Government Agreement is a separate
document that is not part of the treaty.
• The Self-Government Agreement sets out powers of the
First Nation government to govern itself, its citizens
and its lands.
• Some powers are similar to territorial governments,
such as land and resource management, while other
powers are similar to those of municipalities, such as
local bylaws and zoning.
• The Yukon Self-Government Agreements clarify
that the Yukon Indian People are governed by their
own constitution and are no longer governed
under the federal Indian Act. The Yukon SelfGovernment agreements are unique in Canada.
Terms you need to know:
• Aboriginal Title: First Nations have the sovereign
right to jurisdiction rule within traditional
territories. Aboriginal groups can claim
ownership if they prove they occupied it
continuously and exclusively before CDN gov’t
claimed sovereignty (1998).
• Specific Claims: treaty signed between Aboriginal
peoples and federal government, but terms have
not been kept (think Mb., Sk., and Ab., Oka).
• Comprehensive Claims: questions ownership of
land in Canada never surrendered by treaty (think
parts of B.C., Yukon).
Terms you need to know:
• Reserves: land reserved for use of Indian People
under the Indian Act (e.g. Dawson Moosehide
Creek).
• Lands Set Aside: not ‘Reserves’, but land noted as
set aside for Indian People at this time.
• Category ‘A’ Settlement Lands: the band will
have complete ownership of surface AND
subsurface rights
• Category ‘B’ Settlement Lands: complete
ownership only of surface
• Non-Settlement Lands: lands surrendered to the
Federal Government
Terms you need to know:
• Public Access (to Settlement Lands): not allowed
except:
• 1. Emergency,
• 2. occasional recreational purposes involving less
than 15 people,
• 3. the access is of a casual or unimportant nature
• Outfitters can cross settlement lands to access their
concessions as long as they do not hunt and camps
are temporary
• Trans-boundary: land claimed by more than one
F.N. The nations involved must settle dispute
before land claim with Fed. Gov’t is settled
Terms you need to know:
• Fish and Wildlife:
Management Structure:
A. First Nations Band
-manage F&W on settlement lands
-decide Adjusted Basic Needs Level
B. Renewable Resources Councils (one for
each F.N. traditional area, 3 persons by F.N. and 3
persons by minister)
-suggest policies
C. Fish and Wildlife Management Board (one
for the whole Yukon, 6 by F.N.’s and 6 by
minister)
-determines Total Allowable
Harvest by species
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Think about this…
Total Allowable Harvest: maximum number of animals
allowed to be taken be Indian and Non-Indian people in
one year.
Basic Needs Level: total number of animals that each
F.N. will need each year.
For example: F. N. BNL = 500 moose
TAH = 1000 moose
= 500 moose for Non-Indians
For example: F.N. BNL = 500 moose
TAH = 400 moose
= 400 moose ALL for F.N.’s
Terms you need to know:
• Financial Compensation: the 14 Yukon F.
N.’s receive $242,673,000 (in 1989 dollars)
as financial compensation.
• paid out over 15 years starting when an
individual First Nation finalizes its
agreement, minus deductions for loans
(25% of their total compensation) used by
the F. N.’s to negotiate the treaty.
Words to think about….
"One does not sell the land people walk on." ...
Crazy Horse, Sept. 23, 1875
"No tribe has the right to sell....Sell a country! Why
not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth?
Didn't the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his
children?"
-Tecumseh (Shawnee visionary)