By Rob Brown, Alaska Highway News
Four Treaty 8 First Nations have withdrawn their request to the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) for support of an initiative designed to connect Treaty 8 members with private landowners who wish to allow individuals to practice Treaty rights on their land.
In a statement released Wednesday – Doig River, Halfway River, Prophet River, and West Moberly First Nations have been working with their representative, Dale Bumstead, on this initiative, which was intended to strengthen ties between local Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members. The initiative was intended to be voluntary and would not provide access to private lands held by owners who did not participate in the program.
“The initiative initially received support from 11 of the 12 PRRD directors. Unfortunately, disinformation about it was circulated online, and the June 8 PRRD committee of the whole meeting was disrupted by a crowd of angry landowners. The meeting was ultimately shut down by the fire marshal due to overcrowding. The PRRD subsequently rescinded its support for the initiative,” said officials.
Read the rest of the full story here.
