A trial opens Thursday in a Toronto courtroom that could ultimately determine ownership of a huge section of Midwestern Ontario, as well as Lake Huron and southern Georgian Bay.
The Saugeen Ojibway Nation will have two long-standing claims heard by an Ontario court -- one is a claim about its ownership of lands under water and the second is a claim seeking redress from Canada and Ontario for a broken promise to protect some of SON’s lands.
SON is made up of the Saugeen First Nation and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation.
The claim about ownership of lands under water is a claim about title to SON’s traditional homelands that were not surrendered by treaty. SON’s traditional homelands (see map) includes the Bruce Peninsula and about one-and-a-half million acres of land to the south of it, stretching from Goderich to Collingwood.
It also includes the waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. SON is asking the court to recognize its "Aboriginal title" to those waters.
Most of the trial will take place in a Toronto courtroom, but some of the hearings are scheduled for SON communities: April 29 - May 3 at the Cape Croker Community Centre, and May 13-17 at the James Mason Memorial Cultural and Recreational Centre at Saugeen First Nation.
"This trial is not only a watershed moment for SON seeking recognition of our rights, but also for Indigenous peoples and Aboriginal rights across Canada," said Chief Lester Anoquot of Saugeen First Nation. "This is about legally recognizing how integral our waters are to us as Anishinaabe people, and how the relationship we have with and the responsibilities we have to our lands and our waters has survived to present day."
The trial is expected to last two years or longer.