Yellowknife (May 31/04) - A decade-old dispute about whether or not an aboriginal band ever existed at Rocher River has taken a new turn.

The group arguing there was a band has hired a B.C. lawyer to make their case to government.

Up to the early 1960s, Rocher River was a settlement on the banks of the Taltson River, about 80km east of Fort Resolution.

The lawyer -- John Weston of Vancouver -- has experience with treaty issues involving B.C. First Nations.

Weston declined comment on Rocher River, preferring his clients speak on the issue.

The leader of the revival movement is Barbara Beck of Yellowknife.

Beck says before Weston was hired, some people were beginning to give up and losing hope in their cause.

"Everybody has got their hopes up now," she says.

Weston met with about 16 former residents of Rocher River in Yellowknife on April 20.

Beck hopes a reinstatement of the band can be negotiated with the government, adding the matter would be taken to court only as a last resort.

Never recognized

George Cleary, the director of Indian and Inuit Affairs with DIAND in Yellowknife, says the Rocher River issue has already been studied.

"We've done extensive research and we find there's never been an officially recognized band at Rocher River," Cleary says.

There are also differing opinions on whether a Rocher River band was a separate entity covered by Treaty 8 in 1900.

Beck says Chief Snuff signed the treaty on behalf of 191 Yellowknives -- also known as the Tatsanottine -- living at Rocher River. The people also lived along the Taltson River and along the south shore and east arm of Great Slave Lake.

Beck, who has been researching the history of the band for almost 10 years, says Rocher River is an historically significant band. "We have to be recognized."

If not, it means that Treaty 8 is not being honoured, she says.

However, Cleary says Chief Snuff signed on behalf of Yellowknives living in Fort Resolution, Rocher River and in Yellowknife Bay.

The beginning of the end of Rocher River was when the community's school burned down over 40 years ago. Eventually, residents moved away and most were absorbed into other bands.

Beck says the people were forced to leave after the government refused to rebuild the school.

Cleary says the school, which burned in 1958, was not rebuilt because there were not enough school-age children in the community, adding the Hudson's Bay store also closed in 1963.

Cleary says the Rocher River people have the option of applying to form a new band under DIAND's New Band/Band Amalgamation Policy.

However, they would have to meet certain conditions -- no additional infrastructure costs, no cost to the federal government, permission from existing bands losing members, and a written agreement from the GNWT.

Beck blames the federal government for the situation. "Now it's time for them to fix it."

At the time of the relocation, she says about 150 people lived at Rocher River and along the Taltson.

Beck, who was born on the Taltson, notes some people have seasonal cabins at Rocher River. "We're still a community. We've always been."

She estimates there are now about 200 Rocher River people and descendants.