The provincial and federal governments have agreed to a process that will see the Gitanyow First Nation in northwestern B.C. move towards full self-government, based on a “revitalized” hereditary system.
An accord signed between the Gitanyow, the province and Canada sets the stage for removing members of the First Nation from the aegis of the Indian Act, and for legal recognition of the Gitanyow’s traditional form of governance under a hereditary system. The process is expected to take five years.
“It is a process of rebuilding Gitanyow hereditary governance with modern-day governance tools and provides an important example of the benefits of implementing rights and title through negotiation, rather than relying on the courts,” the B.C. government states in a news release.
The process will include establishing a Gitanyow constitution and governance structure, as well as a citizenship code.
"This is a historic step in recognition of who we are as hereditary governed people,” Simogyet Malii (Glen Williams), president of the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs Office, said in a press release.
“My grandfather told me as a young boy that our laws have been suppressed, but one day they will grow from a small spark and spread light over the land once again."
"Signing this accord affirms our commitment to renewing nation-to-nation relationships and recognizing Gitanyow's hereditary structure and their right to self-government,” said Murray Rankin, B.C.'s minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.
The Gitanyow have eight hereditary chiefs, each of whom heads a Wilp (house group). Their traditional territory spans 1.7 million hectares in northwestern B.C. The Gitanyow are in stage 4 of a six-stage treaty process.
“The accord provides a path forward in the B.C. Treaty process toward full self-government, led by a restored Gitanyow hereditary governance system,” the B.C. government says in its news release.
