Dakota First Nations lay claim for mineral rights in Manitoba’s oil patch

Two Manitoba First Nations have sued the federal and provincial governments over oil and natural gas rights in the province. Harrison Shin explains.

Two Manitoba First Nations are suing the federal and provincial governments to recoup oil and natural gas rights in the province.

The Nov. 20 claim said rights were given away without proper consultation. The Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation and Dakota Tipi First Nation held a news conference on Tuesday at Winnipeg’s Trippier Law.

“The Dakotas were the allies of Canada and were critical to the formation of Canada, deliberately and strategically,” said Faron Trippier, the lawyer representing the nations. “The Dakotas were excluded from the numbered treaties. This means the Dakotas have never surrendered their rights or title, and they have unceded rights to the land.”

The First Nations are claiming the federal government granted subsurface rights to private landowners in the Manitoba portion of the Williston Basin—which spans three provinces and three states—without consulting them.

The claim is also asking for damages to account for the “loss of past, present and future use” of these rights and have asked for the Crown’s portion of subsurface rights to be transferred to them.

“The value of the oil and gas extracted is well over $1 billion a year in Manitoba. The Dakotas have never been compensated, and the Dakotas have never participated in any of that oil and gas activity,” Trippier said.

He emphasized the claim is aimed at the governments not against private property owners.

“There are no consultation engagement agreements with the First Nations on the oil patch; we aim to change that.”

Chief Dennis Pashe of Dakota Tipi First Nation said this will create certainty within Manitoba since the case is related to “rights and territories for all stakeholders.”

“On the matter of oil and gas, mineral rights within our territory – we are just looking at the same types of agreements as the rights holders in Alberta, B.C. and other mineral rights regions,” Pashe said on Monday.

Chief Raymond Brown of the Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation couldn’t attend the news conference due to inclement weather.

Trippier said litigation is not reconciliation.

“What needs to happen is a process where the government sit down with the Dakotas and engage in proper consultation. That failure in the past won’t continue.

“If we have to sit down in a court room, we’ll do it. We’d rather sit down in a boardroom.”

The province told CTV News said it would not be commenting, as the matter is in front of the courts.

CTV News has reached out to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada but has not yet heard back.