19 hours Ago By By Connor McDowell
Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation has filed a lawsuit claiming it owns Turtle Mountain Provincial Park and asking for the land, compensation and proceeds from the land to be transferred to it from Canada and Manitoba. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support.
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Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation has filed a lawsuit claiming it owns Turtle Mountain Provincial Park and asking for the land, compensation and proceeds from the land to be transferred to it from Canada and Manitoba. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation has filed a lawsuit claiming it owns Turtle Mountain Provincial Park and asking for the land, compensation and proceeds from the land to be transferred to it from Canada and Manitoba. The First Nation entered the claim against the Government of Manitoba and the Attorney General of Canada on April 22 in the Winnipeg Court of King’s Bench.
It alleges the First Nation is entitled to the land that is now the provincial park because of its ancestral ties to the area. The federal government has previously disputed this claim. Turtle Mountain Provincial Park is south of Boissevain, near the Canada-U.
S. border. Designated a provincial park by the Manitoba government in 1961, it is 186 square kilometres (72 square miles) in size.
“The federal government ...
removed us from there,” Chief Raymond Brown said in an interview with the Sun on Tuesday. “We had trees and water, we had food and vegetation, stuff like that, and they brought us to a swamp, which is nothing.” Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation is situated about 100 km southwest of Brandon and 130 km northwest of the park.
“I just want Turtle Mountain back,” said Brown. “As soon as they give Turtle Mountain back, I just quietly fade away. That’s it.
” Brown said he was working on a separate lawsuit as well, but did not provide more details. The current lawsuit filed by Trippier Law claims that evidence exists suggesting that humans hunted on the land as far back as 8000 BCE. The lawsuit says Dakota peoples are understood to be the earliest inhabitants on the land and, as such, are entitled to the land as it stands today.
“At no time has (Canupawakpa) ever agreed to cede, release, surrender, or yield their jurisdiction to govern and care for Turtle Mountain,” the lawsuit says. A spokesperson from the Manitoba government told the Sun that the province had no comment on the lawsuit. The province did not confirm whether it is preparing a response in court.
Canupawakpa filed a similar lawsuit earlier this year, claiming it owned land in Manitoba. The Government of Canada countered the claim, arguing that Dakota people are not entitled rights holders. Former Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani wrote at the time that Dakota people were welcomed into Canada for humanitarian reasons, and did not satisfy criteria to have rights to land.
Virani said the Dakota people, as far as Canada is aware, were not firmly established within Canada when legislation took effect, and thus the First Nation does not satisfy criteria that entitles a group to stake Aboriginal claim to land. The lawsuit filed this month focuses on Turtle Mountain Provincial Park. “The ancestral territory and homeland of the Plaintiff includes the lands, waters, natural resources, air space, and everything contained in or around the Land,” it says.
“The Land was exclusively occupied, possessed, controlled, governed, and/or used by the Plaintiff’s citizens or ancestors since time immemorial. As such, the Plaintiff continues to hold Aboriginal title to the Park and Turtle Mountain. “ The claim asks that governments no longer issue permits, leases or licences related to the land without consent of the nation, and that the government transfer complete ownership of the provincial park, or equal partnership in management of the land, to Canupawakpa.
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