Protest in Atikameksheng Anishnawbek over distribution of treaty settlement

Dozens of people are stationed at the entrance of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek in the Sudbury area this week, calling for a referendum on how the First Nation's share of the Robinson Huron Treaty (RHT) settlement is distributed. 

They have set up a large tent with food, coffee and a fire to keep protestors going over the next few days. 

The community is set to receive approximately $383-million out of the $10-billion settlement for past annuities, with the money being received in different installments according to the distribution agreement. 

Earlier this year, the chief and council voted to distribute 46 per cent of that money directly to individuals, and to keep the rest aside for collective purposes. 

This means community members received $100,000 each. 

Several of the other 21 First Nations in Robinson Huron Treaty territory decided on the distribution through a vote of chief and council. 

Atikameksheng Anishnawbek held dozens of engagement and consultation sessions with its members on and off reserve in the year after the settlement was announced.

The latest installment of the settlement arrived earlier in November, prompting the protest as several people saw an opportunity to revisit the question of distribution.

The protestors are calling themselves 'Atikameksheng Strong.' 

They are asking for the right to vote on the issue and are asking to meet with the chief and council to determine what a ballot could look like. 

They are also alleging the settlement money for collective purposes is currently being held by the First Nation band office, and they want it to be transferred to a separate account. 

Growing tensions over the distribution of funds

Atikameksheng Anishnawbek's director of finance, Teresa Migwans, tells CBC the money "for RHT settlement funds sits in its own bank account… and is not in the First Nations general account." 

The community's public relations officer, Shawn McLaren, also says chief, council and staff do not have access to the account holding the collective money. 

He says work is underway to create a trust with the funds. 

The protest is a culmination of growing tensions in the community over this issue. 

"The discourse over the RHT [per capita distribution] in our community has become heated," says a notice dated November 14, 2024. 

"Gimaa [chief] and Council have received numerous negative comments, libelous accusations, and harmful threats from a contingent of Debendaagziwaad (Those Who Belong/Community members) running on a narrative of misinformation and malice."

The notice goes on to list the abuse leadership has experienced over this issue. 

Protestors say this is about democracy and transparency

Gail Shawbonquit is an elder in the community, and was its chief in the early 2000s. She is helping lead the current protest. 

She says the leadership is "probably sensationalizing things" and says that she has not witnessed violence of any kind in the meetings she attended. 

For her, this is about getting a say in the distribution process.

"We were not advised that this was going to happen. They had a meeting at a closed door meeting and they had their advisers there and they decided that no, there wasn't going to be a vote," she said. 

Shawbonquit says voting is a hard-earned right in First Nations, whose members were not allowed to vote in federal and provincial elections until 1960­.

"It's significant that our leadership has taken that away from us." 

It is difficult to assess how many people are part of Atikameksheng Strong. The group relies on a petition of about 260 signatures that was circulated in a door-to-door campaign earlier to assess the size of its membership.

Another leader of the group is Suzanne Shawbonquit. She ran to be chief in the June 2024 election in the community, with her platform drawing on the calls for a referendum and more transparency at the leadership level. 

She lost by a narrow margin of eight votes to current chief, Craig Nootchtai.

Late last week, Atikameksheng Anishnawbek leadership said it had planned to hold community meetings to better explain how the decision on the distribution happened, but these information sessions were postponed to 2025 because of what the chief, council and staff describe as ongoing incidents of harassment and hate speech.