Snuneymuxw First Nation, B.C. government announce 212-hectare land transfer

The Snuneymuxw First Nation and the province of B.C. have completed a significant 212-hectare land transfer, which the Snuneymuxw are calling an important step in reconciliation. 

The parcel of land on Te'tuxtun, known as Mount Benson East, is located just south of Nanaimo, B.C., on Vancouver Island. It's the first of a series of anticipated land transfers agreed upon by the nation and the province back in 2020.

The remaining land, about 1,166 hectares, is expected to be transferred back to the nation in the near future, the nation said in a Thursday release. 

"It's very, very exciting, and a long time coming," said Snuneymuxw Chief Mike Wyse in the release.

The land, a heavily forested area, has significant cultural and economic value for the Snuneymuxw, with Wyse saying the nation plans to harvest timber from the land for economic development.

The land being returned is now part of the Snuneymuxw's Petroglyph Development Corporation, and part of the nation's forest management program.

"We're looking into the future and how we're going to provide and take care of our future people," said Wyse. 

"We definitely need land to support our people."

'A lot of our people didn't get to see this day'

The Snuneymuxw First Nation initially signed two agreements with the province back in 2020, which Wyse said at the time will "breathe life through the generations." 

Speaking to CBC News Thursday, Wyse says it's difficult to put into words how he feels about the transfer's completion.

"A lot of our people didn't get to see this day," said Wyse. 

He says the 2020 agreement and subsequent 2024 land transfers honour a treaty that was signed back in 1854, with the government of James Douglas. 

The Snuneymuxw Treaty of 1854  guarantees to preserve and protect Snuneymuxw lands and way of life, as well as the right to harvest, gather, hunt and fish as they did formerly, according to the nation. The treaty is protected under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Wyse says the Treaty of 1854 helped move the discussions on land transfers forward.

"This land transfer represents another step in our relationship," Murray Rankin, minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, said in the release this week. 

"It will foster transformative change toward self-government and bring stability and prosperity to everyone in the mid-Island region."

Wyse says that next steps will be to continue negotiations with the province, as well as federal and municipal governments, on continued land transfers, and working together to strengthen the local economy and Snuneymuxw way of life.