This past Sunday officially marked 25 years since the landmark Nisga’a Treaty came into effect, which was the first treaty in Canada to ever include the right to self government in it’s terms and served as a big step forward for the Nisga’a First Nation in their quest to take charge of their own destiny.
And on Friday at the end of last week, the Nisga’a Lisims Government held a celebration at their main office building in Gitlaxt’aamiks, the village that was formerly known as New Aiyansh.
Nisga’a Nation President Eva Clayton attended the event and said that the importance of the treaty is not just in what it did for her people, but how it provides a framework for other nations to establish their own treaties.
The event also saw the Nisga’a give a shout out to their treaty partners like the Federal Government and BC Provincial Government while noting that their current relationship with both entities is in a good spot.
And while challenges existed with the relationships in the past and they could also possibly even appear in the future, it’s known that they’ll have to work together to overcome them.
Many Nisga’a Nation members came out to help commemorate the day that can be pointed to as a big turning point in not only helping their Nation get the ability to govern itself, but also to take steps to gain control over it’s own economy as well.