Sask farmers, Indigenous land users launch land sharing network
Saskatchewan Indigenous land users have formed the Treaty Land Sharing Network (TLSN) together with an alliance of farmers and ranchers who welcome Indigenous residents to “practice their way of life on the land that they farm.”
In a news release, the group said the new network is a necessary move toward land-based reconciliation.
“The Treaty Land Sharing Network is a welcome and much-needed alliance with farmers and ranchers who want to share their land and the medicines that are on it,” says Joely BigEagle Kequahtooway with Buffalo People Arts Institute, who attended the launch. “This is a tangible example of reconciliation in action.”
Morley and Paula Maier’s mixed farm near Yorkton is one of many in the province to join the Treaty Land Sharing Network.
Morley said he and his wife wanted to do what was right when they decided to join the network, which officially launched on July 15 in Bladworth, Sask.
"We know the history of Saskatchewan, we know the history of Canada. It's not a good history and it continues, and I think Paula and I, for the most part, have just decided that we don't want to be a part of that,” said Morley.
He said Indigenous land users already have permission to use the land under Treaty rights, but the network connects users and owners online before use to ensure safe and organized use.
“Without access to land, we cannot exercise our inherent rights and meet the needs of our communities,” said Bradley Desjarlais, a hunter and committee member of the Anishnabek Nation Treaty Authority. “The Treaty Land Sharing Network is not only opening access to privately held land, it is opening a possibility to build respectful and positive relationships based on the Treaty principles of mutual respect and mutual benefit.”
Indigenous land users can access the farmland in the network to gather plants, medicines, hunt and hold ceremonies.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.