YELLOWKNIFE - Hundreds of Deninu K'ue band members living outside of Fort Resolution are about $900 short, according to band member Marc Casaway.

Lawrence Beaulieu stood outside the post office Tuesday to protest lack of benefit payments to Deninu Ku'e band members who don't live in Fort Resolution. - Laura Power/NNSL photo

Casaway, who has lived in Yellowknife most of his life, was among band members who gathered at the post office on Tuesday last week to protest the Deninu K'ue band's failure to pay benefits to non-residents.

Money from impact agreements with companies with projects on Deninu K'ue lands amounts to about $800 or $900, Cassaway said, but a band council resolution prevents the money from being distributed to those who don't live in Fort Resolution.

Lawrence Beaulieu, a band member who has lived in Yellowknife for the past 30 years, said many people left their homes because there were no jobs.

Beaulieu estimates there are more than 200 band members living in Yellowknife. He knows of one band member in Yellowknife who has seven kids, and said "they're taking food away from their kids."

"Our people turn into street people," he said. According to Casaway, some of the money intended for distribution was spent on infrastructure, which he supports.

"But if they do pay out to band members then all band members should be paid out the same."

About 95 band members live in Hay River, according to Beaulieu. The Hay River group has been meeting to discuss the topic, and over 50 people showed up to their May 3 meeting.

On May 9, the group sent a letter to the chief and council of the Deninu K'ue First Nation outlining several of their concerns including the question of payments.

The group asks in the letter, "why are we being counted as members to receive funding from INAC and other sources when we do not benefit?"

The group requested in the letter that it received the minutes from band meetings, particularly the one in which the decision not to include non-residents in payments.

The group also requested that a general membership meeting be called for such concerns to be discussed.