First Nations and government leaders mark 30 years of BC Treaty Commission

First Nations leaders and representatives from the British Columbia and Canadian governments gathered in Vancouver Wednesday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the creation of the BC Treaty Commission.

The BCTC was formed to create a framework to guide treaty negotiations between First Nations, the province and Ottawa allowing Indigenous people to reclaim their sovereignty through their own systems of governance.

“What it’ll mean is we’ll be out of the Indian Act. There will be no more Indian Act,” said Mel Bevan, chief negotiator for the Kitselas First Nation. “It’ll give us the land base that we need to create an economy. A real ownership of the land.”

He is hopeful the Kitselas and the Crown will be able to sign a treaty sometime next year – bringing negotiations that began in 1992, the same year BCTC was formed, to a close.

"If we're looking at wanting to put a time stamp on things, building capacity for First Nations communities takes a long time,” said BCTC chief commissioner Celeste Haldane. “Each nation has the ability to forge the path that they want to forge to fulfill and pursue a path forward in a way that they see fit.”

In May of 2000, the Nisga’a signed the first modern treaty in British Columbia which established a self-governance model for the Nisga’a Nation.

"Initialing of the final agreement is a triumph for the Nisga'a people,” Nisga’a negotiator Joseph Gosnell proclaimed the day the Nisga’a Final Agreement was signed.

A total of eight modern treaties have been signed in BC since 2000 and 50 percent of the remaining First Nations in the province are in active negotiations with Victoria and Ottawa.

"This is about the relationship between people who have been here for tens of thousands of years, people who arrived later, and how we're going to build a future for as long as there is a British Columbia and there is a Canada,” said Deputy Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs.

For Bevan, a finalized agreement represents more than just his life’s work, it means economic opportunities, control over lands and resources and a brighter tomorrow for future generations.

“Really what we’re looking for is the freedom to be who we are,” he said. “And that’s really what we’re after.”