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Winnipeg Free Press

Western Manitoba First Nation suing for piece of public land

BRANDON — A Dakota First Nation in western Manitoba is suing for another piece of public land; this time, Canupawakpa argues it is the rightful owner of Turtle Mountain Provincial Park near the Canada-U.S. border. The community has already filed suits claiming it owns The Forks in downtown Winnipeg and land around Portage la Prairie near the Southport Aerospace Centre. The latest claim was filed against the Manitoba government and the federal attorney general on April 22 in the Court of King's Bench in Winnipeg. 'The ancestral territory and homeland of the plaintiff includes the lands, waters, natural resources, air space, and everything contained in or around the land,' the lawsuit says. 'The land was exclusively occupied, possessed, controlled, governed, and/or used by the plaintiff's citizens or ancestors since time immemorial. As such, the plaintiff continues to hold Aboriginal title to the park and Turtle Mountain.' The claim asks that governments no longer issue permits, leases, or licences related to the land without consent of the First Nation, and that the government transfer ownership of the provincial park, or equal partnership in management of the land, to Canupawakpa. The suit alleges the First Nation is entitled to the land because it has ancestral ties to the area. The federal government has disputed this claim. A spokesperson from the Manitoba government told the Brandon Sun the province had no comment on the Turtle Mountain lawsuit at this time. The 186-square-kilometre parcel of land south of Boissevain was designated a provincial park by the Manitoba government in 1961. 'The federal government… removed us from there,' Chief Raymond Brown said in an interview with the Sun on Tuesday. 'We had trees and water, we had food and vegetation, stuff like that, and they brought us to a swamp, which is nothing.' Canupawakpa is about 130 kilometres northwest of the park. 'I just want Turtle Mountain back,' said Brown. 'As soon as they give Turtle Mountain back, I just quietly fade away. That's it.' The lawsuit filed by Trippier Law claims there is evidence to suggest that humans hunted on the land as far back as 8000 BCE. The lawsuit says Dakota people are understood to be the earliest inhabitants on the land and, as such, are entitled to it. 'At no time has (Canupawakpa) ever agreed to cede, release, surrender, or yield their jurisdiction to govern and care for Turtle Mountain,' the lawsuit says. Last year, the Dakota Tipi First Nation filed a suit claiming it had a right to The Forks. The federal government asked the court to dismiss that case because, it argued, the Dakota are not entitled rights holders. Arif Virani, the federal attorney general at the time, wrote that the Dakota people were welcomed to Canada for humanitarian reasons, and did not satisfy criteria to have land rights. Virani said the Dakota people were not firmly established in Canada when legislation took effect, and thus the First Nation does not satisfy criteria that entitles a group to make an Aboriginal land claim. The federal statement of defence filed Jan. 13, 2025, said: 'Canada states that Dakota Tipi Nation has not provided evidence to meet the criteria for Aboriginal title, and the claim for Aboriginal title to the land must fail.' The government argues that when Europeans arrived in Manitoba in the late 1600s, the land was mostly occupied by the Assiniboine, whom Canada concedes share lineage with the Dakota, but asserts they claim their own distinct identity. — Brandon Sun