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4 mmmm(ý8 - Orono ýWeekly Tlimies, Wedneýsday, Mýardi 25, 19 Spring spectacle at Presqui'Ie festival It's time to join the flock as at Presqu'i le Park! Presqu'ile Provincial Park's .During the festival, famouswaeow retun f or Presqui'ile-'.s Lighthlouse the Presqu'iIe Water-fowl Interpretive Centre will open Festival! Fromi 10:00 a.mi. until its-doors feafturing the Birds of 4:00 p.mi. on March 28, 29 and a Feather carving exhibition April 4, 5 expert voluinteer niat- and the artwork of Brent uralists will be on hand to hielp Townsend, thle creator of visitors iýdenitify UP toteny Canada's two dQllar coin, the five species of duicks, geese Tooney. and sw,ýans from) various sta- Exquîisitely detailed wvater- tions throughouit the park. Back fowl carvin 'gs will be displayed again this year are the popular alongside beauitiful scenes from Duck Truck mobile viewing a variety of Ontario's parks stations, a waterfowl carving including the debut of an origi- display, Wonderful Waterfowl nal Townsend piece ttied Jobes Adventure children's activities Lane, after a familiar and more! Presqu'ile landmark. At the Tens of thousands of water- park staffhouse is the Ducks fowl mnigrate through for Kids headquarters where Presqu'ile on route to their organized activities of a ducky breeding grounds far to the kind are planned for the kids at north and west of Presqu'ile. 11:00 arn, 1:00 and 3:00 pmn These birds take advantage of daily. the abundant food supplies in On March 28 and 29 the park's waters to replenish Bushnell Sports Optics their energy reserves before Worldwide will offer their pop- heading off on further migra- ular Binocular Hospital clean- tion flights. Since most of ing service. A complete line of Presqu'ile's waterfowl nest in Bushnell binoculars and tele- the northemn prairies and tundra scopes will also bc available the species seen on the viewing for field testing - hopefully weekends are rarely seen in spying out one of the rare Ontario. This opportunity to species spotted each year! see a richi variety of waterfowl In ahl, up to twenty-five dif- and huge numbers of birds is ferent types of waterfowl and truly unique. tens of thousands of individual The sight of thousands of ducks, geese and swans will courting and feeding ducks in pass through Presqu'ile Park their brilliant spring plumage is this spring. This sight is one of an unforgettable spectacle says Ontarîo 's great natural won- Presqu'ile Park's Biodiversity ders. The entry féeeis five dol- Specialist, Dont Tyerman. He lars per vehicle and visitors are adds, I have visited many advisedtodress warmly to famnous eastemn North Amnerica fully enjoy their outing. Be waterfowl locations including sure to joïn the flock at the Chesapeake Bay (USA), Long, Presqu'ile Waterfowl Festival! Point (southern Ontario) and For more information please locations along the Gulf of caîl Don Tyermnan, Biodiversit-y Mexico - none of these places Specialist at (613) 4 75-4324. rival the 'viewing opportunities Agreemeint in princi%.ple to seUtle Treaty Claim A cdaim by three Ontario First Nations 'that remrained unsetled for almost 12 years has now been accepted by Canada and an agreement in principle has been reacied for a settlemnen-t. The dlaimn was submitted to the Department of Indian Affairs ti 1986 by the Chlppewa Tri-Council, compÔsed of the Chlppewas of Beausoleil First Nation, the Chlppewas of Raima Flrst Nation and the Chlppewas of Georgina Island Flrst Nation. Indian Affairs rel ected tie dlaim In October 1993, and the Tri-Council brought the dlaim to the Indian Claimas Commission shortly there- afler. The unique process used by the Indian Clalms Commission (ICC or "the Commission) lnvolved bring- lng tie parties together to dis- cuss the issues and tie mer- ils of the dlaim face-to-face In an informaI, open mariner. Ultlmately, as a resull of these discussions, Canada agreed to accept the dlaim uinder its Specific Claimqs Policy and the parties arrlved at a basis for a settlemenit. There was no need to proceed to a full-blown inquiry. "We see in this case how a dlaim which stood unsettled for many years was resolved throughi perseverance, good wlll and the shared desire of the parties to deal with this grievance ti a fair and just mariner," said ICC Commissioner Roger Augustine. "These qualities are tie hallmarks of the ICC's approaph, and we believe they should be a feature of any* progressive dlaims process.- The Chlppewa Tri-Council dlaimi was based on tradition- ai use and occupation of cer- tain lands tI the province of Ontario by the Chippewa peo- ple. The lands at issue are located between Lake Slmcoe and Georgina Bay, described in 1795 as one mile on each side of a foot path that stretched fromn the Narrows at Lake Simcoe to Matchedash Bay (part of Georgian Bay), with three and a haif miles at each end of the path, and onie mile oni each side of the Severn River from Lake Simcoe to Matchedash Bay. In the l8th century, the British becamie interested in this area because of its strategic miitary importance for cormunication, trade and travel. In 1785, John Collins, then Deputy Surveyor General, was asked to survey the route and report on what lands miglit be required from the Indians in the region. Collins reported i August of that year that he had entered into an agreement with Chiefs of the Mississauga Nation (the Mssîssauga and Chippewa Indians were both part of the Ojibwa Nation and were oflen mistaken for one another). A memo ivritten by Collins at the time seemed to indicate the aereement was for a rlght of passage or rlght of way. This came to be known as the "Collins Purchase" or "Collins Treaty." The nature of the agree- ment was an important issue in the dlaim. There was some question as to whether the agreement actually constitut- ed a treaty, whethet it allowed a right of passage or was actually a purchase or sur- render of the land, whether Colins had the authority to enter into a treaty, and what if any compensation was due. The issues were further clouded by the fact that the Collins Treaty lands were lncluded ini the 1923 Williams Treaty, which provided for the surrender of 3 large tracts of land i southern Ontario. The relationship between the Collins Treaty and the Williams Treaty raised som-e issues in the dlaim, including alleged breaches of Canada's fiduciary responsibilîties and resulting damages to the Chippewa Tri-Coundil mem-, ber nations. With the Commission's involvrement, the parties mari- aged to clarify and focus these issues and arrive at a mutual agreement. ICC inquiries begin with a plan- ning conference - a meeting, or sertes of meetings chaired by the ICO ti which Ca-nada and the First Nations jointly discuss the issues and their positions. Bringing the par- ties together at an ea-,rly stage to discuss the history and merits of the dlaim is not a feature of the dlaims process used by the Department of Indian Affairs. ICC Commissioners have found thiat open discussion in an informai setting early on can address concerns and head- off impasses before they arise. For example, in th15 case the parties agreed that mat- ters arising fromn the Williams Treaty did not have to be addressed. The dlaim which was ultimately accepted relat- ed to the agreement between the Crown and the Chippewas for a right of pas- sage from Lake Simcoe to Lake Huron i exchange for certain promises which had principle was reached on the terms of the proposed settle- ment, and Canada accepted the dlaim as a "fast-track dlaim" under the Speclfic Claims Pollcy, deslgned to settle dlaims for compensa- tion of $500,000 or less. 'The planning conferences have been a key to our Commnission's success. Face- to-face discussions help to prevent mlsu-nderstandings and clarlljy failures of com- mnunication," said ICC Co- Chair Dan Hellegarde. "We have seeni long-standing dis- putes resolved at this early stage, preventing the need for a full blown inqulry or court action. It saves everyone time, money and a good deal of frustration." To date, 16 dlaims have been accepted for negotiation or settled through the assistance of the ICC's process. Many of these break- throughs were achieved by the parties during the plan- ning conferences. Even where the planning conferences do not lead to imm-ediate accep- tance, they the planning con- ferences make the lnquiry more convenient, expedltious and effective. The Indian Claims Commission ias established ti 1991 as a joint initiative between First Nations and the Government of Canada to accelerate the process of spe- cific land dlaims settlements. As part of its mandate, the ICC can make recommenda- tions on improving the cur- rent process. Subscribe to the Orono Weekly Times onty $23.0O a year 983-5301