Williams Lake First Nation reaches tentative $135M settlement, 160 years after being forced off its land
A British Columbia First Nation has reached a proposed $135-million settlement with the federal authorities, 160 years after settlers started taking on its village lands.
Chief Willie Sellars of the Williams Lake First Nation says a authorized battle that started almost three a long time in the past ended up within the Supreme Court docket of Canada in 2018 earlier than mediation started final yr.
Sellars says village lands inside what’s now the Metropolis of Williams Lake had been occupied by settlers opposite to the colonial authorities’s dedication to create a reserve, and lots of of their ancestors had been displaced.
Members aged 18 and over could have an opportunity to ratify the settlement in a vote on June 29, and Sellars says three data periods can be held earlier than then, on Might 12, 26 and June 9.
He says the $135-million deal is near the utmost $150 million that might have been awarded, and he is urging all members of the First Nation to help it for the sake of future generations.
Sellars says many of the cash would go right into a professionally managed group belief, with the curiosity offering annual funds to members, whereas the remaining would fund applications to convey again cultural ceremony and infrastructure, together with housing and a group centre.
