First Nation Tribe Receives Land Rights in Canadian NW

At what was hailed as a historic event, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien signed yesterday a land settlement giving the Dogrib tribe, an aboriginal people from Canada's north west, rights to collect resource royalties, including from the Diavik and Ekati diamond mines located on their land, among other wide powers.

“On this land, the Tlicho [Dogrib] will own the resources, which will give them the tools they need to strengthen their economy and their culture,” says Chretien, pointing out that the tribe has full control over the terms of resource development in their land.

The Dogrib, part of the First Nation, will get self-rule over a vast area of about 15,000 square miles between the Great Slave Lake and the Great Bear Lake, including the Northwest Territories.

According to the settlement the tribe will govern themselves, receive tax revenue and control hunting, fishing and industrial development, in addition to being paid C$108 million, over the next 15 years.

Current resource contracts, such as those signed with the diamond miners, will remain unchanged. After the lease agreements expire the companies will need to renegotiate the terms with the Dogrib government.

It is unclear at this stage how, if at all, this will impact De Beers’ mining efforts in the region, most notably the proposed Snap Lake project.