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Members of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) have voted to approve a $601.5 million settlement agreement with the federal government.
Under Treaty 6, Indigenous communities including the LLRIB had been promised agricultural support (also known as “cows and plows”).
In recent years, the federal government has — belatedly — been settling with many Indigenous communities who never received what they had been promised under Treaty.
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This settlement with the LLRIB is one of the largest of its kind in Canadian history.
In a community vote held from August 19th to the 23rd, LLRIB members voiced their overwhelming support for the settlement agreement.
With a 60 per cent voter turnout — the highest turnout in LLRIB history — 95 per cent of voters said they were in favour of the settlement.
“This is a momentous day for Lac La Ronge Indian Band,” Chief Tammy Cook-Searson said in a statement on Saturday. “The membership’s overwhelming support for the settlement demonstrates their commitment to securing a better future for our community. We are pleased that Canada has finally recognized and acknowledged its failure to fulfill the obligations under Treaty 6, and this settlement is a critical step towards rectifying that historical wrong.
“This settlement is the result of careful consideration and input from our community members. … This agreement represents a significant step toward justice and reconciliation for the members of our First Nation.”
Now, LLRIB leadership will proceed with finalizing the settlement agreement with the federal government. The LLRIB expects this process to take about seven months to complete.
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