The Sipekne’katik First Nation is going it alone where negotiations surrounding their Treaty Rights to a Moderate Livelihood are concerned.
In a letter sent to the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs on Tuesday, Chief Mike Sack stated that the First Nation has withdrawn from the Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office, or KMKNO.
The letter was shared to social media on Thursday.
Chief Sack noted that the First Nation will continue to maintain a political role with the assembly.
He noted in the letter that negotiations via KMKNO have yielded little progress over the past 21 years, and the Sipekne’katik First Nation is facing mounting issues surrounding increasing membership, a lack of housing, and deficit financing that demands drastic changes.
He says the Assembly showed a lack of support for Sipekne’katik implementing its Moderate Livelihood plan, and alleges that the Assembly’s relationship with the Negotiation Office is so intertwined that it is difficult to see where one begins and the other ends.
Read the letter in its entirety below:
