Yale First Nation

Background
Negotiations
Agreement-in-Principle
Factsheets
Other Activities

Background

Negotiating status

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

Negotiating affiliation

: Negotiating independently with Canada and British Columbia. Not affiliated with a tribal council or treaty group.

Location

: On the Fraser River at Yale, approximately 20 km north of Hope.
(18 reserves on 288.6 hectares.)

Number of Band Members: 145 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence March 2008, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Negotiations

The Yale First Nation (YFN) entered the treaty process in April 1994, and is now in Stage 5 of the six-stage process, negotiating a final agreement.

The Yale First Nation AIP was approved by the Yale community in a series of meetings held in the fall of 2005, by BC's Cabinet on February 6th, 2006, and by the federal Cabinet June 23, 2006.

A ceremony was held in Vancouver on March 9, 2006, where the AIP was officially signed by Yale First Nation Chief Robert Hope, the provincial Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Tom Christensen, and federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Jim Prentice on behalf of their governments.

Agreement-in-principle

The AIP provides for 1,139 hectares of proposed treaty lands, including 915 hectares of provincial Crown land and 224 hectares of existing reserve land. The offer also includes a capital transfer of $6.5 million.

Yale Agreement-in-Principle (PDF - 12.2MB)
Yale AIP Summary (PDF - 266KB)
Yale Brochure (PDF - 301KB)

Factsheets

Yale First Nation Agreement-in-Principle Fisheries (PDF - 35KB)
Yale First Nation Agreement-in-Principle Intergovernmental Relations (PDF - 514KB)
Yale First Nation Agreement-in-Principle Treaty Information (PDF - 38KB)

Other Activities

In April 2005, Yale First Nation and the provincial government signed a forest and range agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the Yale First Nation gains access to 20,900 cubic metres of timber in the Fraser Timber Supply Area, and over $348,355 in revenue sharing over five years.

At the same time, it was announced that Yale First Nation, the District of Hope, the Fraser Valley Regional District, Electoral Area 'B' were invited to apply for a probationary community forest agreement, providing up to 34,300 cubic metres of timber annually in the Fraser timber supply area.

In October 2007, the Ministry of Forests and Range issued the five-year probationary community forest agreement between the Yale First Nation, the District of Hope and the Fraser Valley Regional District.