More than a dozen people were gathered in front of the band office in Garden River First Nation Wednesday, protesting the way leadership has handled the community’s share of the $10-billion Robinson Huron Treaty settlement for past compensation.
The total settlement amount for Garden River is approximately $610 million, with up to $50 million expected from the reduction of a 'war chest fund' that was set aside by the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund for future legal costs.
Although members of Garden First Nation each received a per capita distribution of $110,000 this past fall, demonstrators who spoke with SooToday demanded more settlement dollars from chief and council after seeing members of other First Nations in the treaty territory receive a second settlement payout in recent weeks.
“We want the second payment. We want money — and for this chief and council to step up and interact with our people,” said Garden River First Nation member Rene Belleau.
Former band councillor Cindy Belleau-Jones says the First Nation’s decision to distribute $110,000 to each member is “not equal.”
“Give them a percentage — the older you are, the more money you get. It’s not fair for me to get the same amount as a five-year-old. It’s not fair,” she said.
A meeting about the settlement proceeds scheduled for last month was cancelled due to a death in the community, protesters said, but has yet to be rescheduled by leadership.
“They’re not even telling us when they’re re-booking the meetings or anything,” Belleau said.
“There’s no transparency here at all, and no communication.”
Another member of the First Nation also expressed his concern with the lack of transparency and communication on the part of chief and council.
“They’re trying to give us a lot of satisfactory words. They put out a letter saying that we’re considering a second payment, now that we see other reserves getting a second payment,” said Daniel LeBlanc.
“They said it’s a possibility — they didn’t say we are getting it.”
LeBlanc also disagrees with Garden River’s decision to place $200 million into a ‘legacy trust’ for the community’s needs. “We don’t need that much money in the trust,” he said.
The historic $10-billion settlement finalized earlier this year provided past compensation to beneficiaries of the 1850 Robinson Huron Treaty after not seeing an increase to annual treaty payments for a period of nearly 150 years, as wealth generated in the territory through resource revenues from the mining, forestry and fishing sectors continued to grow.
The annual treaty payments to Anishinaabe beneficiaries, also known as annuities, have remained frozen at $4 per person since 1875. Prior to that, the annuities were equivalent to roughly $1.80 per person.
Belleau-Jones and others at Wednesday’s protest believe that 100 per cent of Garden River’s share of the settlement proceeds should’ve been distributed to treaty beneficiaries, as protesters claim was promised in the electoral platforms of Garden River First Nation Chief Karen Bell and the majority of those currently sitting on council leading up to the band elections held last year.
“The money is for the people — not for the band office, not for the elected officials to say, ‘We’re going to do this, this and this with it.’ It’s for the people,” she said.
Batchewana First Nation member Adele Madigan stood in solidarity with protesters in Garden River outside of the band office Wednesday.
“We’re here today just to support Garden River First Nation in the fact that they are speaking out, and they are standing up for their rights,” she told SooToday. “It’s very important to do that, because we are marginalized people — and we are being taken advantage of."
Madigan also believes that 100 per cent of settlement proceeds should have been distributed to beneficiaries of the Robinson Huron Treaty, including members of Batchewana First Nation.
“They were not open to giving us our full percentage of the annuities — they wanted to keep more for the future,” she said of her leadership.
“These dollars are for past compensation from our ancestors, and they are for the people today. They are for the families today . . . they are to get these families out of poverty.”
Garden River First Nation issued a notice the day before Wednesday’s protest, instructing its staff to abstain from engaging with protesters and providing comments to the media.
“Please be conscious of your role and responsibility,” the notice said. “Do not approach the protest. Do not engage in conversation with them.”
Belleau-Jones took issue with the notice to staff members.
“This is no dictatorship or whatever, you have your own right,” she said. “If you want to go support a protest, or whatever you want to call it, you should have that right.”
Garden River First Nation Chief Karen Bell has yet to respond to questions posed by SooToday via email after an attempt to interview her in person at the band office Wednesday morning was unsuccessful.