\u00a0By Brett McKay \u00a0Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Several First Nations are negotiating settlements with the federal government to resolve an unfulfilled promise in the numbered treaties to provide agricultural supports. But accepting compensation for what was not delivered in the past comes with a concession of the treaty right to agriculture for future generations, an Indigenous legal team warns. “It’s a settlement that has a clause that indemnifies Canada and also a clause that says that this is the final, absolute payment, or the end of any action in this area,” said Rachel Snow. “That tells us that this one-time pay is not what our ancestors would have wanted, when they signed the treaty believing that the treaties are an eternal agreement, an eternal way of sharing with Canadian society… <\/p>\n
\u00a0By Brett McKay \u00a0Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Several First Nations are negotiating settlements with the federal government to resolve an unfulfilled promise in the numbered treaties to provide agricultural supports. But accepting compensation for what was not delivered in the past comes with a concession of the treaty right to agriculture for future generations, an Indigenous legal team warns. “It’s a settlement that has a clause that indemnifies Canada and also a clause that says that this is the final, absolute payment, or the end of any action in this area,” said Rachel Snow. “That tells us that this one-time pay is not what our ancestors would have wanted, when they signed the treaty believing that the treaties are an eternal agreement, an eternal way of sharing with Canadian society... <\/p>\n