Canada, BC and the Tŝilhqot’in Nation Sign Gwets’en Nilt’i Pathway Agreement

Courtesy of the Government of BC:

The federal and provincial governments have joined with the Tŝilhqot’in National Government and the six Tŝilhqot’in communities to celebrate the signing of the Gwets’en Nilt’i Pathway Agreement (“Towards it, We are Striving”), a historic reconciliation agreement to support Tŝilhqot’in self-determination, five years after the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Tŝilhqot’in Nation Decision. 

Leaders from the Tŝilhqot’in Nation, along with Carolyn Bennett, federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations; Jonathan Wilkinson, federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard; and Scott Fraser, British Columbia’s Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation; have signed the new five-year Gwets’en Nilt’i Pathway Agreement. The six Tŝilhqot’in Nation signatories included Chief Joe Alphonse, Tribal Chair (Tl'etinqox); Chief Russell Myers Ross, Vice Chair (Yuneŝit’in); Chief Francis Laceese (Tl'esqox); Chief Roy Stump (ʔEsdilagh); Chief Otis Guichon (Tŝideldel); and Chief Jimmy Lulua (Xeni Gwet'in).

The Tsilhqot’in Nation Decision declared Aboriginal title for the first time in Canada, in the homeland of the Tŝilhqot’in peoples. Since that time, the federal and provincial governments have worked separately with the Tŝilhqot’in Nation to implement the Tŝilhqot’in Nation Decision and to chart a path to lasting reconciliation. The new agreement brings all three parties to the table to continue their work together.

The purpose of the Gwets’en Nilt’i Pathway Agreement is to bring transformative change to the lives of the Tŝilhqot’in peoples and to the relationship between the Tŝilhqot’in Nation, Canada and British Columbia. It is the first tripartite reconciliation agreement of its kind in the province.

A core principle of the agreement is to support the self-determination of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation. This agreement is a tangible expression of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which recognizes every Nation has unique and distinct paths to self-determination. 

The agreement commits the Nation and the provincial and federal governments to sustained progress on eight Tŝilhqot’in priorities: Tŝilhqot’in governance; language and culture; children and families; healthy communities; justice; education and training; Tŝilhqot’in Nen (lands, water and resources); and economic development. 

Recognizing the social and cultural importance of fisheries to the Tŝilhqot’in Nation, the agreement will also support the role of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation in stewardship, monitoring and fisheries management of Tŝilhqot’in fisheries.

The agreement will also support negotiations over the next five years to effect the practical transition to Tŝilhqot’in governance in the declared title area as recognized in the Tŝilhqot’in Nation Decision.

On behalf of the Tŝilhqot’in National Government –  Chief Joe Alphonse said:

“We have spent decades fighting in courts and on the front lines to protect our lands and our way of life. That fight is who we are as Tŝilhqot’in peoples – it is passed down directly from our Tŝilhqot’in war chiefs of 1864-65. But we also want to see a better future for our children, a better life. That is what this Agreement is about: building a better future for our people, based on our priorities and our solutions. We commend the prime minister, Minister Bennett and the Government of Canada for following through on the commitments made to our people when they came to declared title lands to deliver the statement of exoneration for our war chiefs. We are ready to be the authors of our own future as Tŝilhqot’in peoples.”