Tracy Kovalench
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 22/98) - "Why is it we have to go to court to prove who we are?" asked Herb George at the Dene National Assembly.

George, vice-president of the Assembly of First Nations and a spokesman for the Wet'suweten Nation of B.C., made a presentation on the recent Delgamuukw decision of the Supreme Court of Canada to delegates at the assembly Tuesday afternoon.

He stressed that although aboriginal ownership of land was not recognized by the federal government, the Wet'suweten succeeded in officially defining the principle of aboriginal title in court.

The Supreme Court has now provided a definition that both the government and aboriginal peoples can refer to in future negotiations. It's a big step in improving communication, said George.

Also resulting from the case was the acceptance of elders as physical evidence for the pre-constitutional existence of aboriginal culture. The Supreme Court overruled decisions by B.C courts that denied the testimony of Wet'suweten elders, considering it hearsay.

Another Supreme Court ruling in the Yukon has caught the attention of aboriginal peoples across the North. Yukon courts have equated land set aside for Ross River Dena to that of a reserve. Canada's Indian Act defines a reserve as land set aside for the use and benefit of a band, though the legal title remains vested in the Crown. The ruling means the aboriginal people of Ross River don't have to pay tax on items such as tobacco and gasoline bought at their general store.

Ripples from the ruling are already reaching the NWT. In the 1950s, the federal government set aside 22 hectare in Ndilo and 60 hectares in Dettah for aboriginal housing. Currently, people on those lands are paying taxes. The Dene Nation is lobbying the federal government to resist appealing the Yukon Supreme Court's decision, says Erasmus.

"It would create more opportunities for the First Nations to profit," said Dene Nation Grand Chief Bill Erasmus. "And more equality to what First Nations in the South are getting."

Erasmus said reserves were never established in the North because aboriginal people were still living off the land. The only recognized reserve in the NWT is in Hay River.