First Nation looking to settle land claim along Nanaimo River for $42 million – Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News
February 13, 2025
First Nation members will vote March 2-3 whether to ratify agreement
Members of the Snuneymuxw First Nation have the chance to vote on whether to accept a $42-million offer from the federal government to settle the Crown’s breach of contract in failing to protect land along the Nanaimo River.
As part of the Sarlequnn Treaty between Snuneymuxw and the Crown in 1854, village sites and cultivated fields were to be surveyed and protected for Snuneymuxw use. However, the the southern portion of the historical village of Teytexen, of about 23.6 hectares just south of the Nanaimo River IR 3 border, was given to settlers.
The land originally served as an important site for Snuneymuxw cultivation of potatoes, hay, camass, fishing and gathering.
