The Musqueam Indian Band and the federal government have signed three deals that recognize the First Nation’s Aboriginal rights and increase its role in fisheries and marine emergency management in an area that encompasses Greater Vancouver.
In an announcement on Feb. 20, the federal government said the first agreement recognized the Musqueam have Aboriginal rights including title within their traditional territory and establishes a framework for “incremental implementation” and nation-to-nation relations with Canada.
The Musqueam’s traditional territory encompasses a large area including Vancouver, the North Shore, Richmond, Burnaby, and parts of Delta and Surrey, and overlaps traditional territories of other First Nations including the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh.
In a statement on Monday, Crown-Indigenous Relations Canada said the agreement provides general recognition the Musqueam have Aboriginal rights and title within their territory and established a framework for negotiations to define how and where those rights and title could apply.
The federal government said private lands are not affected by the agreement.
“Canada firmly believes that the best way to resolve outstanding claims is to work together in partnership through co-operative negotiations and respectful dialogue. Not through litigation,” the federal government said in an email sent by communications official Pascal Laplante.
The federal government did not say whether there was money attached to the agreements.
It provided a copy of the 31-page rights recognition agreement, which outlines the Musqueam’s traditional territory, efforts to have title recognized, harm from “colonial structures,” guidelines for negotiations including the principle that Musqueam has rights and title within its territory, a dispute resolution, and a process of how incremental agreements can be reached, paused or terminated.
Read the full article at the Vancouver Sun: Musqueam sign Aboriginal rights deals with federal government.