Saskatchewan First Nations Chiefs and John Cochrane band delegates at a meeting in 2009. Photo courtesy johncochrane.ca
A small Indian band in northern Saskatchewan is bolstered by a recent court ruling that backs its lawsuit against the FSIN.
The ruling blocks a second attempt by the FSIN to halt Kaministikominahiko-skak Cree Nation’s lawsuit, which claims treaty status.
Chief John Dorion has been fighting for nine years and it says it will keep fighting until his Indian band wins.
He says there is a lot at stake here and it needs the support of the FSIN in its efforts to be declared a sovereign First Nation, which would give it control over its lands and provide federal funding to help run the band.
Dorion says the band will also try to get a court injunction to block the nearby Cumberland Cree Nation from laying claim to its land.
He says the land must be protected and preserved for future generations.
“We will never quit. We have to do this for our grandchildren,” he says. “We made a commitment to help the future generation because right now they can’t get into treaty.”
Right now there are about 1,200 members of the Kaministikominahiko-skak Cree Nation but Dorion says he expects that number would rise to 3,000 or 4,000 if the band is given status.
He says he would like to negotiate an agreement with the FSIN rather than continue a battle that has been going for years.
“I have been working on this for about fifteen years,” he says. “But I still have a chief and council, but we don’t get any recognition or any kind of funding from the federal government.”
Dorion expects the case to be back in court within a month or two. The FSIN has twice tried to get the case thrown out, calling the suit frivolous and scandalous.
Dorion says the band went through the proper vetting process with the FSIN back in 2009 and was accepted as a treaty nation, however he says that was later rescinded after the Cumberland Cree Nation expressed its opposition.