FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2021
Indigenous, environmental, and agricultural organizations throughout Saskatchewan have come together to call on the provincial government to halt the sale of treaty land to private owners. Since 2007, the Province has auctioned off over 2 million acres of Crown land – totalling an area larger than Prince Albert National Park – with sweeping implications for treaty relations, wildlife habitat, and the ability of people throughout Saskatchewan to access land for both livelihood and recreational activities.
The statement (below) is signed by over 20 organizations in Saskatchewan, including Idle No More, the Office of the Treaty Commissioner, Nature Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, the National Farmers Union, and the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, together representing over 100,000 members.
The lands that have been privatized include formerly protected grassland, wetlands, and aspen parkland that are the territories of the Cree, Saulteaux, Nakota, Dakota, Lakota, and Métis Peoples. “People forget that these are treaty lands that belong to Indigenous title holders,” says Sylvia McAdam, a law professor and founding member of Idle No More. “They should not be viewed as ceded lands.”
With less than 14% of grasslands remaining in Saskatchewan, Crown lands provide critically important wildlife habitat in an increasingly fragmented prairie ecosystem. “The relatively large blocks of native prairie existing on Crown lands provide a refuge and source population for many at-risk plants and animals,” says Jordan Ignatiuk, Executive Director of Nature Saskatchewan. “Their protection is crucial to avoiding the extinction of iconic prairie species.”
“We all share a responsibility to preserve the precious little native prairie that’s left and ensure that it remains accessible,” says Trevor Herriot of Public Pastures – Public Interest. “This is land we were entrusted to share and protect together under treaty, and it’s the closest thing we have to land held in common for the benefit of all treaty people. It belongs to future generations, and is crucial to honouring the treaty relationship.”
PPPI is a signatory to the following statement to Premier Scott Moe, Hon. David Marit, Hon. Warren Kaeding, and Hon. Don McMorris. Individuals wanting to show support can sign a petition here.
News coverage: The Battlefords News-Optimist and CBC Saskatchewan.
Halt Crown Land Sales in Saskatchewan
Since 2007, the Saskatchewan government has sold nearly 2 million acres of Crown land that previously belonged to the people of this province. This land – totalling an area twice the size of Prince Albert National Park – includes formerly protected grassland, wetlands, and aspen parkland that are the territories of the Cree, Saulteaux, Nakota, Dakota, Lakota, and Métis Peoples. In our commitment to honour the Treaty relationship, protect natural landscapes, and ensure that all people have access to land for both leisure and livelihood, we call on the Saskatchewan government to halt the liquidation of public land for the following reasons:
1. Violation of Our Treaty Agreements
Treaties are legal and political agreements between Indigenous nations and the Crown that establish a framework for living together in healthy and regenerative ways for everyone’s benefit. Under Treaty, lands are to be shared and governed jointly. Liquidating Crown lands to private interests violates our Treaty agreements and our mutual responsibilities to one another and to the land. Already 85% of land south of Saskatchewan’s forest fringe is privately owned or leased under terms that exclude public access. Decreasing the land available for shared use and stewardship through further privatization moves us in the opposite direction of reconciliation. It undermines our ability to honour and implement the frameworks that allow for our coexistence in these territories.
2. Loss of Native Prairie
With less than 14% of grasslands remaining in Saskatchewan, our Crown lands provide critically important wildlife habitat in an increasingly fragmented prairie ecosystem. Native prairie also sequesters significant amounts of carbon in soil and root systems, which are vital to preserve in a changing climate. Old-growth temperate grassland is one of the most threatened and least protected ecosystems worldwide, and in Saskatchewan, it is diminishing faster than in any province or state in North America. Most of the land sold by the Saskatchewan government was previously held under the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act; now that it is in private hands, it is more likely to be cultivated. We all share a responsibility to preserve the precious little native prairie that remains.
3. Violation of Indigenous Rights
Indigenous Peoples’ inherent and Treaty rights to practice their culture and maintain their lifeways depend on access to a healthy and vibrant prairie ecosystem. Indigenous rights include, but are not limited to, hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and practicing ceremony and culture. These rights are crucial to Indigenous food sovereignty, language revitalization, and sustaining Indigenous relationships and responsibilities to the land. As Treaty people, it is our duty to ensure that Indigenous rights are upheld, which can only be accomplished by nurturing the ecosystems and land base upon which these rights depend.
Liquidating Crown land denies the people of Saskatchewan an opportunity to develop and implement frameworks for shared land use and governance that protect native prairie and allow for a variety of Indigenous, agricultural, and recreational land uses. This land belongs to future generations and is not the province’s to sell. We join the growing number of organizations calling on the Government of Saskatchewan to immediately halt the sale of Crown land and implement the true spirit and intent of Treaty.
Signatories
- Anishnabek Nation Treaty Authority
- Black Lives Matter YXE
- Buffalo People Arts Institute
- Calling Lakes Ecomuseum
- Citizens Environmental Alliance
- Climate Justice Saskatoon
- Department of Educational Foundations, University of Saskatchewan
- EnviroCollective Network
- Fort Qu’Appelle Nature Society
- Idle No More
- Indian Head Natural History Society
- National Farmers Union
- Nature Regina
- Nature Saskatchewan
- Northeast Swale Watchers
- Office of the Treaty Commissioner
- Public Pastures – Public Interest
- Saskatchewan Environmental Society
- Saskatchewan Federation of Labour
- SaskForward
- Treaty Land Sharing Network
- Wild About Saskatoon
- Yellowhead Flyway Birding Trail Association
Contact treatylandsharingnetwork@gmail.com to add your organization’s endorsement.
Tags: Crown land, native prairie, Treaty
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