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AUG 29 – SEPT 25, 2019
Thursday, September 12, 2019
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SAVINGS EVENT
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
Lean Man hereditary chief wants SAVE 100 story told, treaty honoured AUG 29 – SEPT 25, 2019
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Wahobin: ‘amalgamation was fraudulent’ By Josh Greschner Staff Reporter
Christine Wahobin loved her grandmother, but the relationship wasn’t typical. Mary Wahoben, who passed away in 2008, was hereditary chief of Lean Man band, one part of Mosquito-Grizzly Bear’s Head-Lean Man First Nation. The First Nation is located south of Battleford and intersects Highway 4. At her grandmother’s request, Christine Wahobin assumed the responsibilities as Lean Man’s hereditary chief. Hereditary chiefs have responsibilities to their people, and the people often regard hereditary chiefs highly. Today, however, not many people treat Wahobin in that manner. Wahobin lives on the Mosquito-Grizzly Bear’s Head-Lean Man First Nation land, but her house lacks heating. Her long driveway isn’t always ploughed in the winter and she sometimes has to walk through snow to get to her house. She has noticed fences erected close to her land without her consent. She keeps chickens and would
like goats or sheep, but doesn’t have the space for them. Wahobin said honouring the treaties is an important part of her role as hereditary chief. “Today is nothing without the treaties,” Wahobin told the News-Optimist recently. “Those treaties are more important to me than anything else.” Mosquito- Gr izzly Bear’s Head-Lean Man is distinctive because it includes three bands under Treaty 4 and Treaty 6. Band members are Cree, Assiniboine and Nakoda. Wahobin doesn’t consent to the combined First Nation, and she feels Lean Man is marginalized within the reserve. Some connected to Lean Man support Wahobin, she said, but don’t speak out due to fear of being blacklisted on the reserve. Wahobin also doubts treaties can be combined. Mosquito- Gr izzly Bear’s Head-Lean Man First Nation is made of three sections of land: Mosquito is Indian reserve No. 109, Grizzly Bear’s Head is No. 110, and Lean Man is No. 111. According to Indigenous Saskatchewan En-
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Lean Man hereditary chief Christine Wahobin holds a photo of her late grandmother Mary Wahoben, previous hereditary chief. Wahobin lives on Mosquito-Grizzly Bear’s Head-Lean Man First Nation, but she said, for historical and contemporary reasons, the current arrangement on the reserve isn’t working for the descendants of Lean Man band. Photo by Josh Greschner
cyclopedia, Mosquito band settled on the reserve in 1879-80 under Treaty 6. Lean Man executed an adhesion to Treaty 4 in 1877 and came from the Fort Qu’Appelle-area, but migrated to the Battleford area. Disease was present at the time and devastated populations, Wahobin said. Lean Man band was starving and was chased to Treaty 6 territory. “Grandpa said to me one time, he didn’t want to run anymore. He said ‘if they’re going to kill us, they’ll kill us all here,’” Wahobin said.
Calgary-based lawyer Ron Maurice, hired by the First Nation, has researched the First Nation’s formation. In 2014, he filed a declaration of claim against the federal government, arguing the government acted unlawfully over the years. In 1884, Indian Affairs surveyed Indian reserves 110 and 111, a total area of more than 23,000 acres. According to an 1884 Department of Indian Affairs report, the three bands “performed a great deal [of] work, and made good progress in agriculture.”
The North West Rebellion took place in 1885, and the federal government introduced punishments for bands the government deemed to be disloyal. Such disloyalty came into question more than 100 years later when bands claimed the government had illegally withheld money from them. Mosquito- Gr izzly Bear’s Head-Lean Man was awarded close to $6 million in 2018, due to adding compound interest over the years to the withheld funds. Continued on Page 6
See Page 3 for a look at former resident Brett Wilson’s initiatives for the Battlefords. Planet Youth is a program aimed at addictions and could turn the future around.
Sports North Stars roster Page 10
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Old hospital story not over Page 2
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