Tseshaht First Nation, British Columbia - Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Today, Chief Ken Watts of Tseshaht First Nation and the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, announced that Tseshaht First Nation and the Government of Canada have negotiated a settlement agreement regarding the Tseshaht First Nation's 1913 purported Surrender and Sale of Iwachis IR 3 Specific Claim and that the settlement of $21 million has now been paid to the First Nation.
The specific claim, filed on April 16, 2016, at the Specific Claims Tribunal, seeks to address a historic wrong regarding the alleged surrender and subsequent sale of Iwachis reserve land (IR 3) to the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway for the development of the railway in 1913. The former reserve land known as Iwachis is approximately 26 acres of land at the mouth of the Franklin River on the eastern side of the Alberni Inlet on Vancouver Island.
The settlement and payment of the compensation to Tseshaht First Nation successfully concludes the specific claim. Tseshaht voters ratified the settlement agreement by an overwhelming majority of votes cast, and now the Nation will determine next steps.
