Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement
The Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, signed in September 1993 by Pauline Browes, then Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Chiefs of the Sahtu First Nations, and the Presidents of the Métis Councils marking the resolution of the Sahtu Dene and Metis claims to the Sahtu area in Canada's Northwest Territories. The land claims agreement came into effect on June 23, 1994. This agreement is a treaty which is protected by Section 35 of the Constitution of Canada.
The agreement includes recognizing Sahtu Dene and Metis ownership of 41,437 km² of land in the Mackenzie River Valley. This includes subsurface or mineral rights to 1,813 km² of land.
The Government of Canada agreed to negotiate self-government agreements on a community by community basis with the five Sahtu communities of Colville Lake, Fort Good Hope, Tulita, Deline, and Norman Wells.
The Sahtu Dene and Metis received a tax-free payment of $75 million over a 15-year period. They receive a share of annual resource revenues from development in the Mackenzie Valley as per the agreement, including a share in Norman Wells oil and gas royalties. The Sahtu Dene Council must be consulted before lands are opened up for oil or gas exploration, development or production takes place; and before any mineral exploration requiring a land use permit or water licence takes place.
Negotiated terms regarding the 1944 oil production under the Norman Wells Proven Area Agreement are found in Chapter 9.
The Sahtu Dene and Metis maintain exclusive right to trap and the right to hunt and fish throughout in a 280,238 square kilometre area which includes Great Bear Lake.
