Decades in the making, B.C. signs agreement handing over title to Haida Gwaii [Video]

The B.C. government and the Council of Haida Nation have signed an agreement officially recognizing Haida Gwaii’s Aboriginal title, more than two decades after the nation launched a legal action seeking formal recognition.

The province announced last month that it had reached a proposed deal with the Haida, which Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin called a “foundational step in the reconciliation pathway of Haida Nation and B.C.”

The deal recognizes the First Nation’s title throughout Haida Gwaii, but does not impact private property or government jurisdictions, and Rankin said at the time that litigation would’ve created “uncertainty for residents and businesses.”

The province says the “Rising Tide” title agreement is a “first-of-its-kind” deal negotiated between the government and the nation, shifting “ownership and jurisdiction of land from the Crown to the Haida Nation in Crown law.”

A statement released Sunday by the nation’s Ministry of Indigenous Relations and …