Resolution No. 2019-10-25
Rupert's Land Protection Pledge
WHEREAS We are· the llliliwuk / lnniniwuk; We are an ancient people united by language, culture, history, tradition, geography, and government; We are the first people to inhabit, govern, and hold sacred these lands and waters, the vast region that we call our homeland; We don't own the land, and we never did. We were placed here by our Creator to look after it. It is ours to look after and use. It is ours to leave to future generations; and
WHEREAS Despite knowing that the Mushkegowuk people lived in the area that the early settlers/explorers called Rupert's Land, Her Majesty signs "The Rupert's Land Order" which transferred our Homelands to the control of Canada in June 1870; and
WHEREAS After conducting extensive research and consultations, the Mushkegowuk Council ono behalf of the Mushkegowuk First Nations filed a statement of claim (lawsuit) in the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice in 2003
WHEREAS, the lawsuit asks the Court to rule that a number of federal and provincial laws violate a constitutional commitment made by Canada in the 1870 Ruperts Land Order, to protect the interests and well-being of Aboriginal peoples in the region
WHEREAS the Lawsuit has been dormant since 2005 and given the significant and strong legal grounds the Rupert's Land Order Protection Pledge presents, the Mushkegowuk Council of Chiefs have recently reopened the file and are examining the option of resubmitting the statement of claim in court; and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that this Mamowihitown of the Omushkegowuk directs the office of the Grand Chief to conduct more engagement sessions on the Rupert's Land Protection Pledge Lawsuit with the Mushkegowuk First Nations leadership and take action as directed by the engagement sessions.
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