Local First Nations chiefs call gaming grant funds ‘historic,’ could help with development

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The band has the plans in the works, and last week’s announcement of the gaming grant funding could help Tk’emlups realize some of those plans. Casimir also has a vision to use some of the money to preserve the language and culture of their people. 

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“We’re going to be developing a language and culture department all on its own,” she noted. “It’s going to be able sharing and creating and putting some plans into place to make sure it’s not only revitalized but practiced.”

Ron Ignace, the chief of the Skeetchestn Indian Band, about 30 minutes west of Kamloops, says the gaming grant money will do great things for his people. Ignace hopes he can develop more industrially, something he hasn’t been able to do without the proper funding. But he says the funds will be just a portion of what First Nations like his will need to develop fully, estimating that Skeetchestn will receive anywhere from $60,000 to $200,000 a year. 

“We have 5,500 acres of designated land, open and ready for economic development, but we don’t have the money to put in the infrastructure,” said Ignace. “So the land just lies fallow.”

But Ignace is urging both the provincial and federal governments to include First Nations bands in taxation revenues from forestry, mining, and other industries. 

“So we can fund our governments, we can fund our education, we can fund all those different health-care issues in our community. Fund our national governments as a Secwepemc Nation. So that’s the direction that we need to go,” said Ignace. “We could totally be self-sufficient, self-reliant and independent, and contributing to the economy of Canada, as opposed to being considered a burden.”

In the meantime, local chiefs are calling the gaming grant funding “historic,” something they feel is a great first step forward in terms of First Nations sovereignty.