September 28, 2001

Dene, Inuit still not talking

Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — Nunavut’s Inuit and the Dene of northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan still aren’t speaking to each other about their overlapping land claims.

The Sayisi Dene of Manitoba and the Northlands Dene of Saskatchewan have taken Ottawa to court, asserting that they have rights to lands given to Nunavut in the 1993 Nunavut land claims agreement.

But because the talks between the First Nations groups and the feds are locked in secrecy, Nunavummiut have no idea what the Dene are demanding. Reciprocal hunting rights between the two groups already exist, so it’s speculated that the Dene are looking for land, or for revenues from future mines or other projects in Nunavut.

Though Inuit and Dene leaders agreed in January to work toward signing a "treaty of friendship and cooperation," a follow-up meeting planned for the spring never happened.

"There’s no information flowing around at all," said Hugh Lloyd of the GN’s Department of Intergovernmental Affairs. "It’s not something we’re very happy about."