Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation is the latest beneficiary of a settlement agreement for a treaty land entitlement claim as part of the Saskatchewan Treaty Land Entitlement Framework Agreement.

These entitlement claims come into effect in situations where First Nations did not receive the amount of reserve land promised to them at the time of treaty. In this case, Ottawa did not give Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation the full amount of land it was entitled to receive under Treaty 10, signed in 1907, which was128 acres per person.

Now, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and the Province of Saskatchewan will provide the First Nation with $29.6 million as full and final compensation for this claim. The Nation may also apply to add up to 28,118 acres of land on a willing buyer/willing seller basis.

A release from Ottawa says these types of settlements provide First Nations with capital that can be invested in community priorities, such as land purchases, infrastructure, and economic development, and create new economic opportunities.