Members of the small Tsawwassen First Nations made history yesterday, as they voted strongly in favour of a comprehensive treaty with the federal and provincial governments, ending their long governance by the Indian Act.
The treaty is the first to be approved by a native group under the province's treaty process, after more than 14 years of negotiation and more than $1-billion spent.
It is also the province's first modern urban treaty and likely the first of its kind in Canada.
The vote was about 70 per cent (130 to 50) in favour of the treaty, said to be worth $120-million to the 370 band members. It provides more than 400 hectares of new land, $16-million in cash, a share of the annual Fraser River salmon catch and more than $36-million in program funding.
In return, the band agrees to abandon further land claims and its members will eventually pay government taxes.
As the result became known late last night, jubilant natives gathered inside and outside the local recreation hall where counting took place erupted in cheers. Many embraced.
"It's yes!" shouted one.
"We did it. We won," said beaming elder Ruth Adams, a strong supporter of the Tsawwassen agreement. "We're legal now. We can go into business with anyone we want to. We are equal with everyone. I'm really joyful."
No one was more pleased than the Tsawwassen First Nation's dynamic chief Kim Baird, 36, who has been at the treaty negotiating table since the beginning of the treaty process in 1993.
"I'm ecstatic that we received such strong support from the community," Chief Baird told reporters after announcing the vote. "I'm very, very relieved.
"Our community has sent a clear message to us that this is the way forward for our community."
Premier Gordon Campbell, who has been in the forefront of recent government efforts reconcile with the province's natives, phoned Chief Baird immediately after the vote was counted to congratulate her.
"They have shown tremendous leadership by taking this historic step forward and ratifying the final agreement," Premier Campbell said in a statement.
The treaty must still be approved by the province and the federal government, but this is seen as a formality.
Many considered the vote pivotal to the future of native land claims in B.C., where, unlike other provinces, only a handful of treaties were ever signed to strip natives of their traditional territory.
A negative vote would almost certainly plunge the treaty process into an abyss.
"It would [have been] a body blow...a serious, serious setback. No doubt about it," said Michael Prince, professor of human and social development at the University of Victoria.
On the Tsawwassen reserve, sandwiched between a bustling ferry terminal and a large coal port south of Vancouver, few early voters were anxious to say how they voted.
Those that did were mostly in favour.
"It will move us away from the Indian Act and give us more opportunity to do our own thing," said one pro-treaty voter.
Said another: "I had mixed feelings before, but now I totally support the treaty. It's about long-term economic development."
A third hedged his bets. "I think the result will be very close. We have to decide whether we want to move forward with change, or stay with the present."
The proposed $120-million deal will add more than 400 hectares of Crown land to the reserve's existing 290 hectares.
As an illustration of the complexity of forging a treaty on the edge of the Lower Mainland's urban sprawl, however, much of the new land is protected farmland within the Agricultural Land Reserve.
The provincial government has promised to remove more than 200 hectares from the ALR for the local band to develop as a storage site for shipping containers.
In addition, the treaty provides $16-million in cash, a guaranteed share of the Fraser River salmon run, and $36.6-million in funding for other programs.
In return for defined treaty rights, the Tsawwassen First Nation agrees to abandon further land claims, while members will eventually lose their tax-free status, a big concession to many on the reserve.
Even elder Ruth Adams, a treaty supporter, found it tough to think about paying taxes.
"It's a scary thing," she said this week. "Not paying taxes was the only thing that still showed we had a special status in Canada. It's a huge thing to be giving up."
Some native leaders are also uneasy by what they call "extinguishment," ceding traditional aboriginal title in favour of a specified treaty.
"They take our lands, then they package some of it to give back," complained Grand Chief Ed John of the First Nations Summit. "But they don't offer any compensation for what we have lost. It's not on the table."
But Chief John said he will support whatever choice the Tsawwassen natives make.
Supporters of the treaty process, particularly the provincial government, were even more anxious over the Tsawwassen vote since members of the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation surprisingly rejected a previous proposed treaty earlier this year.
They will also be watching another treaty ratification on Saturday, when the Huu-ay-aht First Nation on Vancouver Island vote on terms of their proposed deal with the federal and provincial governments.
However, some say that even if the two tentative treaties are approved this week, the treaty process is still in serious trouble, given the overall lack of progress at dozens of other negotiating tables.