Brokenhead Ojibway Nation plans 60 acres of economic expansion

Brokenhead Ojibway Nation Chief Gordon Bluesky’s field of dreams is one step closer to reality.

“I call it that because I always drive past it and say it’s going to be something one day,” he said, standing in front of a 60-acre soybean field on the northeast edge of Winnipeg.

The goal is to turn it into 60 acres of residential, commercial and retail development.

On Friday, Bluesky announced the parcel of land had been successfully transferred to the Manitoba First Nation from the Rural Municipality of East St. Paul, 16 years after it was initially purchased through a federal Treaty Land Entitlement claim.

The land sits within the RM, on the boundary of the City of Winnipeg, east of Highway 59 and south of the Perimeter Highway.

Bluesky is eyeing the area as the next opportunity for economic prosperity for Brokenhead and the areas it surrounds.

“We’ve already increased the land value around our main reserve with the developments that we have there,” the chief said. “The work that we’re going to be doing on these lands doesn’t just benefit First Nations people.”

The transfer to reserve land is the first step in the site’s redevelopment. Next will come consultations with surrounding landowners and community members from Brokenhead to see what is desired for the area.

Affordable housing and retail are among the amenities expected to be built on the land, Bluesky said.

The parcel is part of 480 acres previously purchased by the First Nation in the late 2000s. It was only recently was transferred to reserve status through the federal claim agreement, with a push by the provincial government through an order in council.

Brokenhead also owns land in the RMs of Lac du Bonnet, Alexander and East St. Paul, and within Winnipeg (including the Westwood Village Inn and property on Nairn Avenue which is currently going through the reserve creation process).

“We’re trying to fulfill our treaty land entitlement, which is an outstanding obligation from 1871 — our people were promised these lands,” Bluesky said.

Federal Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs Rebecca Chartrand (Churchill—Keewatinook Aski) attended the ceremony on behalf of Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty.

Chartrand called the transferred land a foundation for community prosperity. “These new lands open doors, they bring opportunity through jobs, investment and thriving business that lift up entire communities.”

Since 2006, more than one million acres across Canada have been transferred to reserves, Chartrand added.

In Manitoba, about 10 other First Nations are eyeing transfers through Treaty Land Entitlement claims, which Chartrand said she would help advocate for.

Bluesky compared the 60-acre parcel to the 160-acre Naawi-Oodena site along a portion of Kenaston Boulevard in south Winnipeg. The former Canadian Armed Forces land is jointly owned by the seven Treaty 1 Nations (Brokenhead, Long Plain, Peguis, Roseau River, Sagkeeng, Sandy Bay and Swan Lake).

Naawi-Oodena recently opened its first business at the site: a gas bar/convenience store.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said urban reserves are a testament to the economic sovereignty of First Nations communities and she looks forward to seeing more such development.

“We are strong in our business, we’re strong in our vision and it’s about reclaiming that land and those spaces,” she said.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca