The importance of Insight for First Nations Land Management

VICTORIA, British Columbia - Dec. 10, 2014 - PRLog -- The Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot’in ruling is indeed historic and has also paved the way for First Nations people all over Canada to seek similar outcomes when it comes to land ownership, title, and claims – hence theNational Post’s reference to the case as the farthest-reaching decision on Indian land claims and title in Canada.

What made this ruling so profoundly important is that the unanimous ruling says that aboriginal title “flows from occupation in the sense of regular and exclusive use of land… Occupation sufficient to ground aboriginal title is not confined to specific sites of settlement, but extends to tracts of land that were regularly used for hunting, fishing or otherwise exploiting resources and over which the group exercised effective control at the time of assertion of European sovereignty.” What this meant is that economic development proposed by non-aboriginals – such as resource extraction and pipeline activity – requires explicit consent from host First Nations on land where the Supreme Court’s expanded concept of land title is established. Interesting to note, however, that First Nations have claimed a Supreme Court of Canada decision in the Tsilhqot’in land rights case gives them substantial powers, but a B.C. Supreme Court decision has set some limits… particularly ruling that the high court decision didn’t create a new rule compelling negotiation of all aboriginal litigation, rather it said the Crown was required to consult and accommodate claims.

It seems that settling claims and providing restitution to First Nations is not restricted to Canada as recently in the US, the Government has settled a land management issue with the Navajo Nation, with restitution reported to be $554 million, this coming on the heels of more than $3.4 billion in payouts to various Native American tribes over land management related matters.  (Source: circa)

With such precedent setting cases being finalized, the time is here for First Nations and other self-governing bodies to take control of their assets and invest in technology and land management solutions to help them to take control and manage land ownership, title, taxation, and land sale/lease related matters. Indeed it was interesting (and timely) that Google recently organized and hosted a mapping workshop at the University of Victoria for B.C First Nations land managers and others interested in issues of land tenure, ownership, and asset management.  Insight(TM) from CloverPoint is THE solution being adopted by the likes of the Nisga’a, Squamish, and Huu-ay-aht to support their return to self-governance and the management of their lands.

At CloverPoint (http://cloverpoint.com/) we recognize and understand the needs of First Nations groups to have access to tools and data that enable them to manage their lands and the subsequent development and/or access to these lands and traditional territories – The solution is Insight™ by CloverPoint.

About Insight

Insight™ by CloverPoint is a system for maintaining records to aid in land title and facilities management. It provides a secure environment for storing and accessing information in order to support users and their need to make informed decisions on activities that may impact their land and resources. Insight is unique in its ability to collect information from multiple sources and share it with users based on their roles within the system. Insight™ is being used across North America by planning departments, local governments, engineers, architects, and first nations.

See more at http://cloverpoint.com/insight/

About CloverPoint

CloverPoint (est. 1992) started as a cartographic company 20 years ago and is now an industry leading full services mapping company, delivering location based software and services around the globe. CloverPoint provides land management solutions to progressive organizations. Our mission is to simplify the connection between people, technology and their environment. We believe that everyone should be empowered to realize the full potential of their lands. We do this by making it easy for people to organize, discover and share their information.