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The Bigstone Cree Nation are signatories of Treaty 8, signed in 1899. This treaty promises that the First Nations of Treaty 8 territory have the right to use public Crown lands for traditional uses and activities; this promise is protected under section 35 of The Constitution Act, 1982. For this reason, the federal and provincial governments have a duty to consult the Bigstone Cree Nation, along with other Treaty 8 First Nations, regarding the impacts of proposed projects on public land. Under the terms of the treaty, the government set aside reserve lands for the band. Each member of the band, according to the treaty, would receive 128 acres of land. The problem arose, however, when the Crown did not count the members living north of Bigstone Cree. Although this mistake was eventually discovered, the Crown did not compensate for the members that they initially had not counted.

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The band filed a claim in 1981 to increase the size of the reserve lands. The land that was given was inadequate, according to the claim. Alberta, Canada, and the Bigstone Cree have been in negotiations since 1999. Bigstone Cree Nation was made up of five communities at the time, one of which resided on the reserve and the other four in isolated communities. The Bigstone Cree Nation filed claims with the government in 1989 and again in 2000, arguing that treaty promises from the late 1800s had been broken.

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At the negotiating table, elected representatives from the four isolated areas started participating in 2002. Bigstone Cree Nation signed the claim settlement on April 1, 2010. Alberta approved the settlement on July 13, 2010, and Canada approved the agreement on December 13, 2010, as the final steps in the claim resolution process. The claim was eventually settled in December 2010 when the Bigstone Cree Nation, Alberta, and Canada concluded a $259,400,000 settlement agreement. Alberta contributes $28 million for the construction of two elementary schools in Peerless Lake and Trout Lake. Alberta will also have water treatment plants for each of the five communities. Canada is providing a $231,400,000 contribution. Bigstone Cree Nation would use some of the money to help communities improve their housing and infrastructure. The remaining funds would be distributed to the communities and used to cover the expenses of the negotiations.

A vital part of the settlement was creating a new band for Peerless Lake and Trout Lake communities. Peerless Trout First Nation members were also members of Bigstone First Nation, but they have always seen themselves as independent and distinct from Bigstone. On May 19, 2010, the Peerless Trout First Nation was formally created and acknowledged.

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RECENT EVENTS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY LAND CLAIM

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RECENT EVENTS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY LAND CLAIM

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Members of the Bigstone Cree Nation stop drivers on Highway 813 north of Calling Lake, Alta. March 15, 2017. In a letter dated Feb. 20, the chief of Bigstone Cree Nation told Minister of Indigenous Relations Richard Feehan the band was preparing to install gates that would be manned by band members near the entrances to reserve lands. One of the Bigstone chief, Gordon Auger wrote all traffic related to the oilfield/forestry/mineral industry will be barred from entering without the express written consent of Bigstone Cree Nation. Bigstone Cree Nation said it is re-affirming its pre-Alberta treaty and aboriginal rights due to many reasons, including the abandonment of the local economy, the delayed transfer of treaty entitlement lands to the nation as well as water protection concerns. On March 16, 2017, RCMP said that the peaceful demonstration on Bigstone Cree Nation ended and the checkpoints were taken down.

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March 16 update: RCMP said Thursday the peaceful demonstration on Bigstone Cree Nation ended and the checkpoints were taken down.
Desmarais RCMP said Wednesday it was monitoring a peaceful demonstration set up by the Bigstone Cree Nation on two northern Alberta highways.

Members of the band set up two checkpoints to monitor traffic coming in and out of the area, RCMP said.

One is set up on Highway 813 north of Calling Lake by marker 71. The other is on Highway 754, about 12 kilometres west of Desmarais.

"The RCMP respects and protects the right to peaceful demonstrations as guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms," RCMP said in a news release. "In circumstances where people gather peacefully to express themselves on an issue, a simple police presence can be enough to ensure order and protect the fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression."
READ MORE: Drivers in Alberta say they faced $20 'toll' after detour through First Nation near Morley
In a letter dated Feb. 20, the chief of Bigstone Cree Nation told Minister of Indigenous Relations Richard Feehan the band was preparing to install gates that would be manned by band members near the entrances to reserve lands.

"We have tried many routes of civil means to end the unjust enrichment of multi national corporations such as Canadian Natural Resources and Alberta Pacific Forest Inc.," Chief Gordon Auger wrote.
READ MORE: First Nations blockade Alberta oilsands highway near Fort McMurray
He said the action was a unanimous decision by council but was not taken lightly and wasn't their first choice.

"We would have preferred the oil/gas and forestry companies had honoured Bigstone Cree Nation's offers of participation and mutual prosperity," Auger said.

Bigstone Cree Nation said it is re-affirming its pre-Alberta treaty and aboriginal rights due to many reasons, including the abandonment of the local economy, the delayed transfer of treaty entitlement lands to the nation as well as water protection concerns.
Scroll down to read the full letter from Auger.
Auger said the band planned to install the "gateway structures" on March 12 and "all traffic related to the oilfield/forestry/mineral industry will be barred from entering without the express written consent of Bigstone Cree Nation." He said the checkpoints would remain until the concerns were addressed.

Global News went to the checkpoint on Highway 813 just north of Calling Lake on Wednesday. There were no gates and vehicles were not being turned around or denied entry.

Letter to Richard Feehan, Minister of Indigenous Relations by Anonymous TdomnV9OD4 on Scribd

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Bigstone Cree Nation sets up checkpoints on Alberta highways as part of demonstration

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March 16 update: RCMP said Thursday the peaceful demonstration on Bigstone Cree Nation ended and the checkpoints were taken down. Desmarais RCMP said Wednesday it was monitoring a peaceful demonstration set up by the Bigstone Cree Nation on two northern Alberta highways.

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On February 8, 2020, Moose were found with cyst-like abnormalities. Bigstone Cree Nation members in northern Alberta have begun to notice abnormalities in the moose they hunt. To perform experiments, the nation has teamed up with researchers from the University of Calgary. Janelle Baker, an anthropology assistant professor at Athabasca University, was influential in bridging the divide between the nation and the University of Calgary. It's part of a research grant to install environmental monitors in the Bigstone Cree Nation, according to Baker. She took samples from the moose and tested them for infections, parasites, and environmental pollutants. The community is getting involved in research to help monitor the wildlife and water on the nation's land.
Back in 2015, the nation started a joint initiative for a food sampling study, funded by the First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program. Bigstone Cree Nation environmental monitors sampled 150 animals and plants. The partnership included McGill University's Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment. Stuart says the community has also been helping the province monitor the water in the region as the nation has noticed changes like declining water flows. Stuart says he hopes the program will help establish trust between the community and researchers. He also hopes it will increase his community's confidence in the results by being involved in the sample collection. Stuart says he hopes the project will help spread awareness of environmental issues within the nation. The top priority, he adds, is to find out what's happening in their environment.

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For hunters in a northern Indigenous community, not every moose caught by hunters is useful.

"Once they skin them, once they start to prepare them, they notice abnormalities underneath the skin, in the fat, in the meat, in the liver," said Troy Stuart, a hunter and lands manager with Bigstone Cree Nation.

He says the abnormalities appear to be cysts, and it's raising red flags for community members.

Stuart says the hunters don't bother eating those moose.

"They tell us, they tell people, they tell the community members but ... nobody has gone to the extent to study what that is."

The nation is comprised of three communities, Calling Lake, Chipewyan Lake and Wabasca, located north of Edmonton.

The First Nation recently paired with scientists from the University of Calgary to investigate. Using kits supplied by the researchers, the hunters will take samples of the moose and send them to the lab for processing.

Janelle Baker, an assistant professor at Athabasca University in the department of anthropology, helped connect the nation to the U of C.

Baker says it's part of the research grant to implement environmental monitors within the Bigstone Cree Nation.

"The fact that land users, hunters, people on the land who know the habits and health of the animals ... they're able to bring so much more insight," Baker said.

She notes that hunters can still take the moose home for consumption since the samples are fairly small.

The samples will be tested for possible illnesses, parasites and contaminants from the environment.

Not the first scientific pairing

Back in 2015, the nation started a joint initiative for a food sampling study, funded by the First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program.

Bigstone Cree Nation environmental monitors sampled 150 animals and plants. The partnership included McGill University's Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment.

Stuart says the community has also been helping the province monitor the water in the region as the nation has noticed changes like declining water flows.

He says the community is especially worried given the industrial development in the area like oil and gas and logging, along with other factors like the increased beaver population.

The community doesn't bother hunting or trapping them as much as they used to, he said, meaning the rodents are rampant and are plugging up the rivers with dams.

Building trust

Stuart says he hopes the program will help establish trust between the community and researchers. He also hopes it will increase his community's confidence in the results by being involved in the sample collection.

"These kits that we're being provided ... they don't need a scientist around to do (the sampling)," he said.

Some of the hunters were invited to the U of C to see how the samples are tested in the lab. It gave them the chance to meet with some members of the Arctic communities where a similar sampling project is being done on caribou.

Stuart says he hopes the project will help spread awareness of environmental issues within the nation.

"The reason we wanted to look at moose was because ... we think of it more as a key indicator species for us," he said.

"People will be more concerned ... when their food source is being threatened."

The top priority, he adds, is to find out what's happening in their environment.

"I don't want it to be too late," he said.

The samples will be collected over the coming months.

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Cyst-like abnormalities have been spotted in moose. Now Calgary scientists and Indigenous hunters pair up | CBC News

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For hunters in a northern Indigenous community, not every moose caught by hunters is useful. "Once they skin them, once they start to prepare them, they notice abnormalities underneath the skin, in the fat, in the meat, in the liver," said Troy Stuart, a hunter and lands manager with Bigstone Cree Nation.

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I believe the Bigstone Cree Nation has a legitimate land claim because they have prospered and struggled to be respected for obtaining this amount of land in order to create a better future for their nation. For the betterment of the future, they now have a government that preserves and reinforces the spirit and purpose of the treaties and the traditional lands. The Bigstone Cree Nation claims that their way of life will become impossible unless they take action independently. Bigstone Cree Nation continues to organize rallies during which they halt traffic or attend events. These demonstrations are being performed to reassure industry officials that they are on traditional Bigstone Cree Nation territory. In addition to righting past wrongs, it provides the Bigstone Cree and Peerless Trout First Nation communities with new opportunities, both economically and socially.  Adding lands to the reserve offers opportunities for individual First Nation communities to have a better, more prosperous future and economic benefits for the surrounding areas.