First Nations won't be excluded from critical minerals 'gold rush,' say leaders

Some are calling it Saskatchewan's third "gold rush" — the frenzy to stake claims for lithium and other critical minerals.

First Nations say they were pushed to the sidelines during previous waves of development and that won't happen again. They're set to deliver that message to a powerful international audience on Friday.

"We are willing partners, willing to do business. We aren't the boogeyman," Thunderchild First Nation Chief Delbert Wapass said. "But we won't sit back. This new gold rush will not happen without us."

Wapass is the only North American First Nations leader invited to a critical minerals roundtable Friday in Washington, D.C. Other participants include senior members of U.S. President Joe Biden's council of economic advisors and the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as top executives from resource and electronics corporations.

Wapass comes from Treaty 6 territory, but he and others from the Saskatchewan First Nations Natural Resource Centre of Excellence have been working with chiefs on both side of the international border.

Centre CEO Sheldon Wuttunee and his staff have spent months trying to get a clear picture of the critical mineral situation in Saskatchewan. They hope to help First Nations in other jurisdictions do the same.

The centre has produced a series of maps. Wuttunee said they were shocked to discover that the provincial government has already granted claims and leases covering hundreds of square kilometres. They include lithium, helium and rare earth mineral projects.

Wuttunee said no First Nations have been consulted or accommodated on these claims, contrary to international law, various Canadian court rulings and the government's own written "duty to consult" framework.

He said the stakes could not be higher, and that First Nations will no longer settle for a few jobs at a new mine or a catering contract.

"It's a multi-billion dollar opportunity. Let's make no mistake, we will need to really work toward creating some parity within our homelands here," said Wuttunee, the former chief of Red Pheasant Cree Nation.

"We are not interested in continuing to manage poverty in our communities. We will take our rightful place in the ownership of these resources."

Saskatchewan's Ministry of Energy and Resources Minister Jim Reiter said he "respectfully disagrees." The Saskatchewan government believes there is no requirement to consult First Nations until shovels are about to go into the ground, but Wapass and Wuttunee said that will be too late.

To understand the current critical minerals gold rush, it's also important to understand two previous waves, Wuttunee said. Who owns the land and resources, and how did it get that way?

On the Canadian Prairies, one wave occurred more than a century ago. Surveyors, speculators, soldiers, clergy and farmers rushed to occupy the land of the Cree, Nakota, Denesuline and other First Nations. They believed the Roman Catholic Church's Doctrine of Discovery permitted them to claim any new lands and subjugate Indigenous inhabitants.