The Tla’amin treaty was officially implemented April 5 at a ceremony in Powell River. It is the fourth modern day treaty to be implemented in B.C. Two others, the Tsawwassen and Maa-nulth (which represents five tribes on Vancouver Island) were signed under the BC Treaty process. The first modern-day treaty was implemented by the Nisga’a outside the BC Treaty process.
According to the Powell River Peak, Tla’amin members celebrated the new era by each taking a page from the Indian Act and burning it in a bonfire outside of the Nation’s government house.
“I'm proud of my community for choosing a path of change, that while difficult at times, provides us with a new beginning as a self-governing nation free of the Indian Act,” Chief Clint Williams said.
The treaty provides a capital transfer of $33.9 million, plus an economic development fund of $7.9 million. The land package includes 8,323 hectares of treaty land, 1,917 hectares of which was Tla’amin Indian reserve land.
By contrast, the Tsawwassen treaty – the first one implemented under the BC Treaty Process – provided $15 million in cash, and 724 hectares of land, and first right of refusal on another 278 hectares of Crown land..
As detailed last week in Business in Vancouver, the Tsawwassen have attracted roughly $1 billion of investment in economic development since its treaty was implemented seven years ago.
The Tla’min have a population of about 1,000, 589 of whom live on Tla’amin land.
