New portray marks land declare settlement between Ottawa and Siksika Nation

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An historic land declare settlement between Ottawa and the Siksika Nation was marked on the weekend with the disclosing of a giant, unique piece of art work.

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The six-by-10-foot oil portray commemorates the occasion when Siksika Chief Ouray Crowfoot and different elders met with Prime Minister Trudeau in June final yr to signal the settlement.

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Beneath the settlement, the Siksika Nation is receiving $1.3 billion in compensation for wrongful land give up. Moreover, over time it will likely be in a position to purchase 46,500 hectares of land from surrounding areas.

“You’ll by no means make it entire of what it was earlier than, however you’ve bought to maneuver ahead,” Chief Crowfoot stated on the time. “What the $1.3 billion can do is present alternatives — alternatives we didn’t have earlier than, a few of these financial alternatives.”

The portray, by Calgary artist Paul Van Ginkel, reveals Crowfoot and members of the nation sitting with Trudeau, on the ceremony the place the settlement was signed. Van Ginkel has acquired worldwide acclaim in years previous for his work of First Nations and Western Canadian tradition.

Trudeau famous final yr that the federal authorities had taken land from the Nation with dishonour and deceit. The Nation had first filed a land declare greater than 60 years in the past, asking for the difficulty to be addressed. It entails claims regarding the Bow River Irrigation District, the Canadian Pacific Railway Declare and different historic grievances.