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1998 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 36th Parliament

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The following electronic version is for informational

purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

BILL 51: NIS G A'A FINAL AGREEMENT ACT –

SCHEDULE

PREAMBLE

PREAMBLE

WHEREAS the Nis g a'a Nation has lived in the Nass Area

since time immemorial;

WHEREAS the Nis g a'a Nation is an aboriginal people of

Canada;

WHEREAS

section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982

recognizes and affirms the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples

of Canada, which the Courts have stated include aboriginal title;

WHEREAS the Nis g a'a Nation has never entered into a

treaty with Canada or British Columbia;

WHEREAS the Nis g a'a Nation has sought a just and

equitable settlement of the land question since the arrival of the British Crown,

including the preparation of the Nis g a'a Petition to His Majesty's Privy Council,

dated 21 May, 1913, and the conduct of the litigation that led to the decision of the

Supreme Court of Canada in Calder v. the Attorney-General of British Columbia

in 1973, and this Agreement is intended to be the just and equitable settlement of the

land question;

WHEREAS Canadian courts have stated that the reconciliation

between the prior presence of aboriginal peoples and the assertion of sovereignty by the

Crown is best achieved through negotiation and agreement, rather than through litigation

or conflict;

WHEREAS the Parties intend that this Agreement will result in

this reconciliation and establish a new relationship among them;

WHEREAS this Agreement sets out Nis g a'a

section 35

rights inside and outside of the area that is identified in this Agreement as Nis g a'a

Lands;

WHEREAS the Parties acknowledge the ongoing importance to the

Nis g a'a Nation of the Simgigat and Sigidimhaanak (hereditary chiefs

and matriarchs) continuing to tell their Adaawak (oral histories) relating to their

Ango'oskw (family hunting, fishing, and gathering territories) in accordance with

the Ayuuk (Nis g a'a traditional laws and practices);

WHEREAS the Parties intend their relationship to be based on a

new approach to mutual recognition and sharing, and to achieve this mutual recognition and

sharing by agreeing on rights, rather than by the extinguishment of rights; and

WHEREAS the Parties intend that this Agreement will provide

certainty with respect to Nis g a'a ownership and use of lands and resources, and the

relationship of federal, provincial and Nis g a'a laws, within the Nass Area;

NOW THEREFORE THE PARTIES AGREE AS FOLLOWS:

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