Canada: Deal of the Century

Deal of the Century

They are already known as the "first Canadians." Now 13,000 native Indians and metis (of mixed European and Indian stock) who inhabit the Mackenzie River Valley in Canada's Northwest Territories are about to become the region's biggest landlords. With drums beating a steady cadence and 1,000 Dogrib, Slavey, Chipewyan and Cree Indians and metis looking on, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney last week signed a tentative agreement calling for $403 million and 109,000 sq. mi. of federal lands to be turned over to native peoples in the western subarctic end of the region that stretches across the top of North America. Along...

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