Hay River Reserve (Apr 11/05) - The federal government has agreed to negotiate with K'atlodeeche First Nation on additional land for the Hay River Reserve.

Andy Scott, the minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, wrote Chief Roy Fabian in March recognizing the need to negotiate the treaty land entitlement.

K'atlodeeche First Nation Chief Roy Fabian says negotiations for additional reserve land could take two to four years. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Fabian said the issue dates back to 1974 when the Hay River Reserve was established under terms of Treaty 8, signed at the turn of the last century.

The chief notes the treaty gives one square mile of reserve land for every five people in a band, and the reserve was established at 50 square miles. That would equal 250 members.

However, research in the mid-1990s showed the band membership in 1974 was actually 278.

K'atlodeeche filed a claim for additional reserve land in 1999, Fabian notes. "It took them several years to give a response to the band."

When DIAND responded in late 2002, he says, "they didn't think we had a claim," but the minister's letter reverses that position.

The federal negotiator for the Deh Cho Process says the band's claim centres on an incorrect membership count in 1974.

Mark Prystupa said the negotiations will take place as part of an existing side table for Hay River Reserve issues under the Deh Cho Process.

Prystupa could not predict whether a settlement would include a financial component, along with land.

Fabian says negotiations are expected to take between two and four years.

"We will be consulting closely with community members as to the additional reserve lands to be selected."

The chief says it is unknown where that additional land might be.