Members of the Peepeekisis Cree Nation have voted 97 per cent to approve and receive a $150-million land settlement from the federal government, the roots of which date back to the late 1800s.
Sitting in Treaty 4 territory a little more than an hour’s drive northeast of Regina, Peepeekisis won its case against Ottawa, after the feds sent the band a settlement offer letter Nov. 6. It prompted the community’s leaders to hold a ratification vote on reserve on Friday; they also sent mail-in ballots to members living off reserve, including those in the United States and Japan.
Of the 1,142 ballots cast, 1,113 were for the settlement money, equal to 97.5 per cent approval. There were slightly more than 2,000 eligible voters.
“It’s a big relief, especially to our older members. We have some that were waiting for this and they passed on within the three years we’ve been in negotiations,” Chief Frank Dieter said. “It is a big accomplishment.”
Former Peepeekisis Chief Enock Poitras first filed legal papers for the land claim in 1986; federal courts twice denied it, saying the band’s first two attempts were outside the statute of limitations.
The community’s leaders re-submitted the case a third time, the current successful one, in June 2017, Dieter said. “We thought, ‘what the hell? Let’s try it; it’s dead anyway, been shot down twice.’”
Six months later they were negotiating with the feds.
The claim stems from the work of Indian agent William Graham in 1898. He led a federally-imposed farm colony program in the area, forcing non-Peepeekisis members to marry and then settle on the community’s reserve land east of Balcarres.
It meant Indigenous people with outside traditions and oral histories were forced to assimilate to those of Peepeekisis.
Dieter can trace his family’s lineage through that history.
“My great grandfather … he came from Okanese (north of Peepeekisis). He was brought here by the Indian agent. He was told to farm.
“But before he was told to farm he was forced to marry his wife who came from the Cote Nation (north of Kamsack). It was forced marriages,” the Chief said. “It was a terrible time.”
Like other men sent to Peepeekisis, his great grandpa, Fred Dieter, first completed a farming program at a nearby industrial school, believing he'd return home when done.
Now the community's leaders have to disburse individual payouts to the band’s 3,057 members, $15,000 per person. Members under 18 years old will have their money sitting in a trust fund.
After paying legal fees, the band will put the remaining $70 million in a trust fund, created with help from consulting firm Deloitte.
There's also now a sub-committee of five Peepeekisis members tasked with deciding “how to spend interest off the trust,” Dieter said; none of them are in governance positions.
Dieter said the first task on tap is building a new community hub, which is to house the band office, a daycare, a kitchen and a gas station. Construction is to start at the end of January.
