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TORONTO – An Algonquin band from West Quebec is asking to join a land claim that involves the majority of eastern Ontario, including the city of Ottawa.
The Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Algonquins of Maniwaki, Quebec, say they are historical descendants of the Ontario Algonquin band now negotiating with the federal and provincial governments over a vast tract of land that runs from North Bay to Hawkesbury and includes Ottawa, Kemptville, Sharbot Lake, Bancroft and more than 90 per cent of Algonquin Park.
“The Algonquins at Pikwakanagan are our cousins and we share the same set of rights and title that flow from the exact same historical sources since time immemorial”, Chief Gilbert Whiteduck said in a statement. “To this day, we have been given no reason for being excluded and not consulted about what they are doing in relation to our lands in Ontario.”
The Algonquins of Ontario claim the entire Ottawa valley — roughly 36,000 square kilometres of land — and the natural resources that it holds. They are seeking financial compensation for their loss of land and its natural resources as well as titled land and hunting and fishing rights.
The Algonquins of Golden Lake, west of Ottawa, or Pikwakanagan, first launched the claim in 1983. They have been negotiating with government since 1991, after reviews by both levels of government concluded the claim had sufficient merit to proceed to a negotiated settlement.
The government has not admitted legal liability, however.
The two sides came to an agreement over hunting limits in 1991. Since 2003, the Algonquins have hunted moose using a tag system similar to that used by hunters throughout the rest of the province.
Samuel de Champlain wrote of meeting a group of Algonquin traders in 1603, the first recorded encounter between them and European explorers.
The province acknowledges that evidence supports the Algonquin claim that they occupied large portions of the Ottawa River watershed and travelled extensively throughout the territory as a hunting and gathering society.
The First Nations band says it never surrendered its territory by treaty, sale or conquest and have made such claims since 1772.
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