At the beginning of the twentieth century, the government seized a large part of their land. It is one of the biggest damages ever done by land confiscation.
“We are gathered here to right a wrong from the past,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the signing ceremony. “We have come together to give ourselves a chance to re-trust each other,” the prime minister said. Both Trudeau and Siksika president, Orai Crowfoot, signed the settlement at the ceremony.
an agreement
In 1877 a treaty was signed, granting the lands in western Canada to Sisica. Despite this, nearly half of the community’s land was taken over by the Canadian government in 1910. The area was then sold to people who wanted to settle in the area.
“I cannot make up for the past with this settlement, but I still hope it will lead to a better future for these generations to come,” Mark Miller, Minister responsible for Indigenous Relations in Canada, said during the ceremony.
In the signature, Crowfoot said that while compensation won’t make up for past mistakes, it can make a difference in the lives of people in the Siksika community.
