Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Snowdrift (June 10/02) - Chief Archie Catholique is putting corporations in the North on notice that the Akaitcho Nation must approve all new developments on its claimed land.

Archie Catholique: "Our ancestors fought and made peace treaties on this land." - Jorge Barrera/NNSL photo

"We are tired of getting walked over and we are going to prove whose land this is," Catholique said last week. "We are not going to take these things. We are not sitting back."

Lutsel K'e is part of the Akaitcho Treaty 8 Nation, which claims land around Yellowknife all the way across to the eastern arm of Great Slave Lake.

The Akaitcho Nation is currently negotiating a "co-existence" agreement based on Treaty 8, signed in 1899.

Catholique is also adamant about how Akaitcho sees Treaty 8 and demands those who deal with the First Nation accept the same thing.

"Our treaties were made nation to nation," said Catholique. "We've kept our end of the bargain but the government has broken our treaties."

Catholique said he was part of a small spring hunting party in April that came across exploration markers near Meridian Lake, a few kilometres east of Fort Reliance. "The community was not consulted on this," said Catholique, whose band is trying to find out which company set up there.

Challenging the boards

Catholique is also aiming at the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board and the Mackenzie Vally Land and Water Board, which investigate development applications and give out permits.

The Akaitcho Nation does not recognize the authority of these boards and hs launched court action against the Department of Indian Affairs to overturn two logging permits app-roved through the boards for 5,000 cubic metres of timber at Pine Point.

Patterson Sawmill, which requested the permits, finally withdrew their land use application from the territorial Department of Resources and Economic Development. In order to log, Patterson needed authorization to use the land.

In a veiled remark aimed at the Dogrib Nation, Catholique said there is no question within the Akaitcho membership that the land around Yellowknife -- which is part of the Dogrib land claim settlement area -- is traditionally Akaitcho's.

"This land is here and our ancestors have fought and made peace treaties," said Catholique. "We're not going to allow these people to do what they are doing any more."

Akaitcho is currently in court trying to force a settlement to a decade long boundary dispute with the Dogrib, who are on the last leg of land-claim negotiations.