The Lubicon Lake Band is a Cree

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

band government in northern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. Missed by government agents during the signing of

Treaty 8 Treaty 8, which concluded with the June 21, 1899 signing by representatives of the Crown and various First Nations of the Lesser Slave Lake area, is the most comprehensive of the one of eleven Numbered Treaties. The agreement encompassed a ...

in 1899, the Lubicon community was long without federal support. Seeking to have their traditional title acknowledged through the creation of an

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." In ...

, Lubicon representatives have maintained an active land claim since 1933. As oil and gas development changed the face of Alberta, development on Lubicon land became an increasingly pressing issue. Between 1979 and 1982, over 400 oil and gas wells were drilled around the community of Little Buffalo, the band's headquarters. Most prominently, the nation mounted a protest campaign during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, blockading roads crossing its traditional territory in October of the same year. Because of a disputed election, the band was placed under third-party management from 2008 to 2013. A secret ballot was used for the first time in 2013, resulting in the election of new Chief Billy Joe Laboucan and the restoration of Government of Canada recognition. In October 2018, Lubicon members approved a settlement with federal and provincial governments in a community vote. The agreement includes $121 million and 246 square kilometers of land near Little Buffalo.

Land agreement

On October 24, 2018, the Lubicon Lake Band reached a land claim agreement with the province of Alberta. Chief Billy Joe Laboucan met with Alberta Premier
Rachel Notley Rachel Anne Notley (born April 17, 1964) is a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Alberta from 2015 to 2019, and has been the leader of the Opposition since 2019. She sits as the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for ...
and federal Minister of Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett for the signing. The agreement includes a land allocation of around of Crown land in the area of Little Buffalo, northern Alberta, to the Lubicon Lake Band, and $95 million in financial compensation from the federal government. The province of Alberta is providing an additional $18 million, which will go toward the construction of a new post-secondary school for 682 residents who have long struggled with poverty and substandard housing. There will also be developments on infrastructure like housing, roads, and utility services. This needs updating since the United Conservative Party, under the leadership of Jason Kennedy, won the last provincial election and has consistently tried to undermine Indigneous land protectors.

References

{{Numbertreaty, treaty=8 First Nations governments in Alberta Cree governments