Nazko First Nation

Background
Negotiations
Planned Meetings

Background

Negotiating Status

: Negotiating a comprehensive treaty settlement within the British Columbia Treaty Commission six-stage treaty process.

Negotiation Affiliation

: Negotiating independently with Canada and British Columbia. Affiliated with the five-member Carrier Chilcotin Tribal Council, none of the other member bands of which are involved in the B.C. treaty process.

Location

: Approximately 120 km west of Quesnel, in the B.C. Interior. Main community is on Nazko Indian Reserve #20. (19 reserves on 1,851.4 hectares)

Total band members

: 315 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence February 2006, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Negotiations

The Nazko Treaty Office entered the treaty process in November 1994, and is now in Stage 4 of the six-stage process, negotiating an agreement in principle.

Activities were limited at the treaty table after the framework agreement was signed in 1999. However, Nazko, Canada and British Columbia re-engaged in active treaty negotiations in the spring of 2003. Since then, the parties have been discussing key issues in the negotiations including access, environmental assessment and management, fisheries, forestry, lands, and language and culture. The parties continue to meet regularly to develop AIP chapters pertaining to these issues.

Current Activities

In April 2004, the Nazko First Nation and the Government of BC signed a forest and range agreement to help fight the mountain pine beetle epidemic within the band's asserted traditional territory and provide band members with economic benefits from the forest industry. The agreement provides the Nazko with $731,000 in forestry revenues over five years with access to 79,000 cubic metres of timber in the Quesnel Timber Supply Area. The Nazko area has been heavily impacted by the mountain pine beetle attack, and is probably the most damaged area in the Quesnel TSA.

Planned meetings

As dates are established for open public meetings, they will be publicized through the local media and on the British Columbia Treaty Commission website Negotiations Calendar.