by Ralph Plath
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (May 02/97) - The federal government is trying to come up with a new way to negotiate a self-government agreement with the Deh Cho First Nations.

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs is working on new wording for an agreement to deal with the major stumbling block with the Deh Cho First Nations -- the treaty rights extinguishment clause.

"Our problem with the Deh Cho First Nations is that we don't have a new language," explained Catherine MacQuarrie, DIAND's director of aboriginal and territorial relationships for the NWT. "Extinguishment is still in the books."

The federal government wants a legal guarantee that any settlement is fair and final so that the Deh Cho First Nations or any other First Nations won't re-open negotiations once an agreement is signed.

"We want to know that our commitments have been fulfilled," she explained. "(The DCFN) don't want to be trapped into a clause."

But the federal government also faces a new twist in negotiating with the Deh Cho First Nations -- the group would like to settle self-government issues first. That resolve came out of a special assembly in December.

While the current government recognizes the right to aboriginal self-government, MacQuarrie said it would be difficult to negotiate self-government without talking about a defined area.

"It makes it legally more difficult to give authority," MacQuarrie said. "We're looking at the possibility of talking land and resources."

The federal government must also deal with the problem of the Deh Cho First Nations not wanting any involvement with the territorial government. But the federal government says the territorial government should be part of negotiations because of the mixed population base in the Deh Cho region.

"The legislative assembly is a fair reflection of the population," she said. "Rather than hive people off, our policy is to encourage co-operation among the groups of people."

MacQuarrie said it's also practical to have the territorial government at the table as it already handles health, justice, and education, which are the subject of self-government negotiations.

The Deh Cho First Nations is the only group in the NWT the federal government won't be negotiating with in the near future. It hasn't helped that DIAND has only given limited funding for a negotiation process.

"We've had a minister who would rather build houses and improve communities," MacQuarrie said.

The upcoming federal election is also putting a damper on the whole negotiations process.

The Deh Cho First Nations may get their long-awaited reply to their self-government proposal by the end of the month but the future remains unclear.

"No matter how we respond, permission to negotiate has to be approved by the minister and cabinet," MacQuarrie said. "But I and my colleagues have hope that over the next four to five years, we will still have a government that is willing to change the language."