Sask. First Nation to receive $4.5M compensation for treaty money withheld 130 years ago: lawyers

Lawyers for a Saskatchewan First Nation say the federal government has been ordered to pay $4.5 million as compensation for treaty money withheld by the Crown after the Riel Rebellion.

Chief Rick Gamble from Beardy's and Okemasis joined lawyer Ron Maurice and Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Chief Bobby Cameron at a news conference on Tuesday. Maurice told reporters that the Specific Claims Tribunal had ruled the sum should be paid to the Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation.

It said the money was compensation for $4,250 in treaty money that the Crown illegally withheld from band members between 1885 to 1888, after the Riel Rebellion.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatchewan-first-nation-compensation-beardy-s-okemasis-1.3913288