West Moberly First Nations

{{Short description|First Nations in British Columbia, Canada}} {{Infobox First Nation | band_name = West Moberly First Nations | band_number = 545 | endonym = | image = Three generations of Beaver women at Moberly Lake British Columbia NA-2211-48.jpg | caption = Three generations of Dunne-za women at Moberly Lake c. 1899 | people = Dane-zaa and Cree | treaty = Treaty 8 | province = British Columbia | main_reserve = West Moberly Lake 168A<ref name=reserve>{{FNINAC|FNReserves|545|West Moberly|July 19, 2021}}</ref> | area = 20.336<ref name=reserve/> | pop_year = 2021<ref name=population>{{FNINAC|FNRegPopulation|545|West Moberly|July 19, 2021}}</ref> | on_reserve = 121 | on_other_land = 9 | off_reserve = 228 | total_pop = 358 | chief = Roland Willson<ref name=C&C>{{cite web|url=https://www.westmo.org/council |title=Chief & Council|access-date=July 19, 2021}}</ref><ref name=govern>{{FNINAC|FNGovernance|545|West Moberly|July 19, 2021}}</ref> | council = * Asher Atchiqua * Theresa Davis * Robin Fuller * Clarence Willson | tribal_council = Treaty 8 Tribal Association<ref name=tribal>{{FNINAC|TCMain|1072|Treaty 8 Tribal Association|July 19, 2021}}</ref> | website = http://www.westmo.org/ | footnotes = }}

'''West Moberly First Nations'''<ref name=main>{{FNINAC|FNMain|545|West Moberly|July 19, 2021}}</ref> is a First Nation located in the Peace River Country in northern British Columbia. They are part of the Dunne-za and Cree cultural and language groups. West Moberly First Nations used to be part of the Hudson Hope Band, but in 1977 the band split becoming the modern-day Halfway River First Nation and West Moberly First Nations.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Willson|first=Roland|date=March 27, 2015|title=Re: Assembly of First Nations Expert Panel on the Specific Claims process|url=https://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/specific_claims/westmoberlyfirstnations-treaty8-ranalaw-_specific_claims_review.pdf|journal=Assembly of First Nations Expert Panel on the Specific Claims Process|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806024006/https://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/specific_claims/westmoberlyfirstnations-treaty8-ranalaw-_specific_claims_review.pdf|archive-date=August 6, 2015}}</ref>

The Nation is located on the West Moberly Lake 168A<ref name=reserve/> reserve, at the west end of Moberly Lake, about {{convert|90|km|abbr=on}} southwest of Fort St. John, within territory covered by Treaty 8. Facilities on the reserve include the band administration office, the leadership offices, the lands management building, a community health centre, the Dakii Yadze childcare centre and the Dunne-za Lodge.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Affiliated First Nations|url=http://treaty8.bc.ca/cultural-section/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124121511/http://treaty8.bc.ca/cultural-section/|archive-date=January 24, 2020|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Treaty 8 Tribal Association}}</ref>

West Moberly is affiliated with the Treaty 8 Tribal Association,<ref name=tribal/> which is registered under the B.C. Societies Act.

==Governance== West Moberly First Nations Chief and Council consists of a generally elected Chief and four family Councillors that are elected according to the preference of each of the main families (Brown, Dokkie, Desjarlais, and Miller).<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=July 30, 2014|title=West Moberly First Nations celebrate 100 years|work=NorthEast News|agency=NorthEast News|url=https://www.northeastnews.ca/west-moberly-first-nations-celebrate-100-years/|url-status=live|access-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806212046/https://www.northeastnews.ca/west-moberly-first-nations-celebrate-100-years/|archive-date=August 6, 2020}}</ref><ref name=govern/> West Moberly used to operate under a governance model set forward by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), but a custom governance system was established in 2000. Under the custom governance system, every member over the age of 19 has a vote, and council may not proceed on any action without support from 50% + 1 of its membership.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|last=Anselmi|first=Elaine|date=September 19, 2014|title=Roland Willson takes the lead|work=Alaska Highway News|url=https://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/regional-news/hudson-s-hope/roland-willson-takes-the-lead-1.1381315|url-status=live|access-date=September 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321172320/https://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/regional-news/hudson-s-hope/roland-willson-takes-the-lead-1.1381315|archive-date=March 21, 2019}}</ref>

=== Council composition history === {{Missing information|section|council composition history|date=August 2020}} {| class="wikitable" |+ !Chief (term of office) !Ref !Brown Family Councillor (term of office) !Ref !Dokkie Family Councillor (term of office) !Ref !Desjarlais Family Councillor (term of office) !Ref !Miller Family Councillor (term of office) !Ref |- | rowspan="6" |Roland Willson (August 2000 – present) | rowspan="6" |<ref name=C&C/> | rowspan="2" |Theresa Davis (December 2019 – present) | rowspan="2" |<ref name=govern/> |Asher Atchiqua (July 8, 2020 – present) |<ref name=govern/> | rowspan="3" |Robyn Fuller (September 20, 2016 – present) | rowspan="3" |<ref name=govern/> | rowspan="6" |Clarence Willson (June 3, 2002 – present) | rowspan="6" |<ref name=govern/> |- |Brad Dokkie (December 2019 - July 2020) |<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Affiliated First Nations|url=http://treaty8.bc.ca/cultural-section/|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225093502/http://treaty8.bc.ca:80/cultural-section/|archive-date=December 25, 2019|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Treaty 8 Tribal Association}}</ref> |- | rowspan="2" |Patricia Brown

(February 2016 - November 2019) | rowspan="2" |<ref>{{Cite web|title=Affiliated First Nations|url=http://treaty8.bc.ca/cultural-section/|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213135442/http://treaty8.bc.ca/cultural-section/|archive-date=February 13, 2016|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Treaty 8 Tribal Association}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Affiliated First Nations|url=http://treaty8.bc.ca:80/cultural-section/|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191125060855/http://treaty8.bc.ca:80/cultural-section/|archive-date=November 25, 2019|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Treaty 8 Tribal Association}}</ref> | rowspan="4" |Dean Dokkie

(at least October 2008 - September 19, 2016) | rowspan="3" |<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Affiliated First Nations|url=http://treaty8.bc.ca/cultural-section/|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919203128/http://treaty8.bc.ca/cultural-section/|archive-date=September 19, 2016|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Treaty 8 Tribal Association}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> |- |Tim Davis (at least March 2015 - February 2016) |<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite journal|date=November 13, 2015|title=Appendix O - PMTPP Communication Log|url=https://docs2.cer-rec.gc.ca/ll-eng/llisapi.dll?func=ll&objId=3579497&objaction=download&viewType=1|format=PDF|journal=Preliminary NGTL Plans, Bores #1 - Regulatory Document Index|publisher=NOVA Gas Transmission, Ltd.|page=69|quote="May 27, 2015 ... NGTL met with WMFN ... In regards to the Project, the following was discussed: ... Councillor Tim Davis replaced Councillor Kyle Brown}}</ref> |- |Kyle Brown (at least October 2008 - at latest March 2015) |<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|date=October 28, 2008|title=WMFN Finance Policy|url=http://www.westmo.org/sites/default/files/page-files/WMFN%20Finance%20Policy%20Adopted%20102508_Amended%20092619.pdf|journal=West Moberly First Nations|page=23}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Chief & Council|url=http://www.westmo.org/council|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209225544/http://www.westmo.org/council|archive-date=December 9, 2013|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=West Moberly First Nations}}</ref> |}

==Treaty Process== The West Moberly First Nation is a signatory of the Treaty 8 but are now in discussions outside the BC Treaty Process, along with five other First Nations who have joined as the Treaty 8 Tribal Association.<ref name="gov.bc.ca.treaty.8">{{cite web |year= 2009 |url = http://www.gov.bc.ca/arr/firstnation/treaty_8/default.html|title = West Moberly First Nations|publisher = Executive Council of British Columbia| access-date = July 26, 2009}}</ref>

==History== Prior to 1977,<ref name=":5" /> the people of West Moberly were part of the Hudson Hope Band, also referred to as the Hudson's Hope Indigenous Band, after the nearby region of Hudson's Hope, where a North West Company outpost had been established in 1805.

Some Crees and Saulteaux arrived in the area in the late nineteenth century, fleeing the North-West Rebellion of 1885.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Calverley|first=Dorthea|title=01-119: The First Treaty Payment Day in Hudson's Hope|url=http://calverley.ca/article/01-119-the-first-treaty-payment-day-in-hudsons-hope/|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=South Peace Historical Society}}</ref>

In 1914, the Nation was admitted to Treaty 8 as part of the Hudson Hope Band, referred to in the 1914-1915 Indian Affairs Annual Report as "Hudson's Hope (Beaver) 116". The West Moberly Reserve 168A was established at the same time, the same size as it is today. They had not been admitted to the treaty earlier (as other nearby nations had) because the day the Treaty Commission arrived in 1899 "conflicted with the annual hunt."<ref name=":4" /> The Chief at the time was Chief Dokkie.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Phillips|first=Lee J.|date=April 6, 1973|title=18-020: John Dokkie|url=https://calverley.ca/article/18-020-john-dokkie/|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=South Peace Historical Society}}</ref>

In 1977, the Hudson Hope Band split and became the modern West Moberly First Nations and Halfway River First Nation.<ref name=":5" />

In the 1980s, West Moberly First Nations began hosting an annual celebration known as West Mo Days.<ref name=":1" />

In 1996, West Moberly submitted its Treaty Land Entitlement claim, by which they hoped to receive the full extent of the land they were promised as signatories to Treaty 8. The claim was accepted for negotiation in 1998, but Canada did not appoint its first negotiation team until 2002.<ref name=":5" />

Around 1999, during a full audit, West Moberly was found to have misspent, and was entered into a repayment program to the federal government. The community removed the council of the time, and appointed an interim council with a mandate to fix the Nation's financial troubles. The 1999 interim council included Roland Willson as a councillor, before he was acclaimed chief in 2000.<ref name=":6" />

On September 5, 2002, members of the Kelly Lake First Nation (KLFN), set up a blockade at the Rat Lake entrance of the Wapiti River to demand their recognition as an independent first nation, separate from the West Moberly and Saulteau First Nations.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nielsen|first=Mark|date=September 9, 2002|title=BN01-15: Kelly Lake First Nation Sets Up Blockade|url=https://calverley.ca/article/bn01-15-kelly-lake-first-nation-sets-up-blockade/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806222534/https://calverley.ca/article/bn01-15-kelly-lake-first-nation-sets-up-blockade/|archive-date=August 6, 2020|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=South Peace Historical Society}}</ref> Up until that point, members of KLFN had been members of the other two bands, despite KLFN having gained status in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nielsen|first=Mark|date=September 12, 2002|title=BN01-16: Kelly Lake First Nation at an Impasse|url=https://calverley.ca/article/bn01-16-kelly-lake-first-nation-at-an-impasse/|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=South Peace Historical Society}}</ref> A few weeks after the blockade went up, Saulteau First Nations agreed to allow KLFN to separate from them.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nielsen|first=Mark|date=September 20, 2002|title=BN01-17: Kelly Lake Settles with Saulteau|url=https://calverley.ca/article/bn01-17-kelly-lake-settles-with-saulteau/|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=South Peace Historical Society}}</ref>

Treaty Land Entitlement claim negotiations were suspended by Canada in 2004, then resumed in 2006 with a second negotiation team, and the team changed again in 2008. In 2015, the Nation described negotiations as "effectively stalled".<ref name=":5" />

In 2004, the Nation headed up a study on petroleum contaminants after hunters noticed abnormalities in game. This study contributed to a change in how the BC Oil and Gas Commission dealt with reclamation fines.<ref name=":5" />

In 2005, West Moberly, along with several other Nations under Treaty 8, began litigation around the definition of the western boundary of the treaty, which was defined in the original document as "due west to the central range of the Rocky Mountains, thence northwesterly along the said range to the point where it intersects the 60th parallel of north latitude," but defined differently in the map attached to Order in Council 2749 (1898). On September 27, 2017, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled in ''West Moberly First Nations v. British Columbia'' that the western boundary was "the height of land along the continental divide between the Arctic and Pacific watersheds," rather than an interpretation proposed by the Province and the Kaska Dena Council (and, on appeal, the McLeod Lake First Nation) of a boundary of the height of the Rocky Mountains. The British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld the ruling in May 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gilbride|first1=Bridget|last2=Rand|first2=Niall|date=June 5, 2020|title=BC Court Of Appeal Affirms The Western Boundary Of Treaty 8 Is The Arctic-Pacific Divide|work=Fasken|url=https://www.mondaq.com/canada/indigenous-peoples/943818/bc-court-of-appeal-affirms-the-western-boundary-of-treaty-8-is-the-arctic-pacific-divide|access-date=September 4, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite court|litigants=West Moberly First Nations v. British Columbia|court=Court of Appeal for British Columbia|date=May 19, 2020|url=https://www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/ca/20/01/2020BCCA0138.htm}}</ref>

==Demographics==

=== Population history === {{Missing information|section|population data|date=August 2020}} {| class="wikitable" |+ !Date !Number of band members !Ref |- |July 2009 |207 |<ref name="West.Moberly">{{cite web|year=2009|title=West Moberly|url=https://fnp-ppn.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/FNP/Main/Search/FNMain.aspx?BAND_NUMBER=545&lang=eng|website=Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada|publisher=Government of Canada|access-date=July 26, 2009}}</ref> |- |May 2016 |140 (on-reserve) |<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018|title=West Moberly Lake 168A, IRI [Census subdivision], British Columbia|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/abpopprof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=5955802&Data=Count&SearchText=west%20moberly&SearchType=Begins&B1=All&SEX_ID=1&AGE_ID=1&RESGEO_ID=1|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Statistics Canada|series=Aboriginal Population Profile, 2016 Census.|publisher=Statistics Canada|type=Table}}</ref> |- |July 2021 |358 |<ref name=population/> |}

==Social, educational and cultural programs and facilities== === Klinse-Za Caribou Maternity Pen === In 2014, the West Moberly First Nations and Saulteau First Nations jointly began a caribou penning project to stabilize and regrow the Klinse-Za caribou herd. The caribou populations had been devastated by industrial development in the region, including the severing of a major migration route by the construction of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam in the 1960s. The project is primarily run by members of the two founding nations, and involves the capture and transportation of pregnant caribou cows every March to the 15-hectare pen on a mountaintop in the Misinchinka Ranges, where they are tagged, protected, and cared for while their calves are young, and then released in mid-summer, once the calves are old enough to survive in the wild.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cox|first=Sarah|date=September 13, 2018|title=The caribou guardians|work=The Narwhal|url=https://thenarwhal.ca/the-caribou-guardians/|url-status=live|access-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804162519/https://thenarwhal.ca/the-caribou-guardians/|archive-date=August 4, 2020}}</ref> From an initial population of 36 animals in 2014 (including some taken from the Scott herd), the herd had grown to 95 as of July 2020. The project has received funding from crowdfunding, provincial and federal government organizations, and some resource extraction companies including TransCanada, Teck Resources, Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Spectra Energy. The project also receives technical assistance from Wildlife Infometrics Inc and West Fraser Timber.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2017|title=THE KLINSE-ZA CARIBOU MATERNITY PEN|url=http://wildlifeinfometrics.com/project/klinse-za-caribou-maternity-pen/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806184501/http://wildlifeinfometrics.com/project/klinse-za-caribou-maternity-pen/|archive-date=August 6, 2020|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Wildlife Infometrics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Cox|first=Sarah|date=July 25, 2020|title=Up close with B.C.'s endangered baby caribou — and the First Nations trying to save them|work=The Narwhal|url=https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-endangered-baby-caribou/|url-status=live|access-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731035119/https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-endangered-baby-caribou/|archive-date=July 31, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Klinse-Za Caribou Maternal Release|url=http://www.westmo.org/news/klinse-za-caribou-maternal-release|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105034425/http://www.westmo.org/news/klinse-za-caribou-maternal-release|archive-date=November 5, 2019|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=West Moberly First Nations}}</ref>

In less than a decade, the collaborative program had succeeded in bringing the herd back from extinction.<ref name="CBC_20220408">{{Cite news | title = Indigenous-led conservation program saves caribou herd from extinction |work=CBC Radio | access-date = April 9, 2022| date = April 8, 2022| url = https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/apr-9-arctic-plastic-pollution-the-drunken-monkey-hypothesis-the-songs-of-the-manatee-and-more-1.6413118/indigenous-led-conservation-program-saves-caribou-herd-from-extinction-1.6413550}}</ref><ref name="quirks-and-quarks_20220409">{{Cite web| title = Indigenous-led conservation program saves caribou herd from extinction |series=Quirks and Quarks with Bob McDonald | work = CBC Listen| access-date = April 9, 2022| date = April 9, 2022| url = https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-51-quirks-and-quarks/clip/15905732-indigenous-led-conservation-program-saves-caribou-herd-extinction}}</ref> A March 23, 2022 article in the ''Ecological Applications'' journal cited West Moberly Elders saying that caribou were once so numerous that they were "like bugs on the landscape". The herd had declined from ~250 in the 1990s to 38 in 2013, then with the program, had increased to 114.<ref name="Lamb_20220323">{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1002/eap.2581| pmid=35319140 | issn = 1939-5582| article-number = e2581| last1 = Lamb| first1 = Clayton T.| last2 = Willson| first2 = Roland| last3 = Richter| first3 = Carmen| last4 = Owens-Beek| first4 = Naomi| last5 = Napoleon| first5 = Julian| last6 = Muir| first6 = Bruce| last7 = McNay| first7 = R. Scott| last8 = Lavis| first8 = Estelle| last9 = Hebblewhite| first9 = Mark| last10 = Giguere| first10 = Line| last11 = Dokkie| first11 = Tamara| last12 = Boutin| first12 = Stan| last13 = Ford| first13 = Adam T.| title = Indigenous-led conservation: Pathways to recovery for the nearly extirpated Klinse-Za mountain caribou| journal = Ecological Applications|date= March 23, 2022 | volume=32 | issue=5 | pmc=9286450 | s2cid = 247616935}}</ref>

=== Dakii Yadze Out Of School Care Centre === As of October 2019<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dakii Yadze Out of School Care Centre - Inspection Report|url=https://www.healthspace.ca/Clients/NHA/NHA_Website.nsf/CCFL-InspectionDetails?OpenView&RestrictToCategory=DB70E5B69BEB848D072584A200735305&Count=1000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806205340/https://www.healthspace.ca/Clients/NHA/NHA_Website.nsf/CCFL-InspectionDetails?OpenView=&RestrictToCategory=DB70E5B69BEB848D072584A200735305&Count=1000|archive-date=August 6, 2020|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Northern Health Public Health Protection}}</ref> and since at least September 2011,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dakii Yadze Out of School Care Centre - Inspection Report|url=https://www.healthspace.ca/Clients/NHA/NHA_Website.nsf/CCFL-InspectionDetails?OpenView&RestrictToCategory=C213ABD63ED05E278825790C005DA26F&Count=1000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806205940/https://www.healthspace.ca/Clients/NHA/NHA_Website.nsf/CCFL-InspectionDetails?OpenView=&RestrictToCategory=C213ABD63ED05E278825790C005DA26F&Count=1000|archive-date=August 6, 2020|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Northern Health Public Health Protection}}</ref> the Dakii Yadze Centre has operated a licensed child care program on weekdays to serve the families of West Moberly. The centre emphasizes holistic programming and play-based learning in its mission statement.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dakii Yadze Child Care Centre|url=http://www.westmo.org/programs/dakii-yadze-child-care-centre|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817031511/http://www.westmo.org/programs/dakii-yadze-child-care-centre|archive-date=August 17, 2019|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=West Moberly First Nations}}</ref>

=== Dunne-za Lodge === The Dunne-za Lodge is a year-round retreat destination located on the northwest shore of Moberly Lake, with 30 acres of land, cabins that are available for rent, and a meeting space. The First Nations' website states that the lodge "is used to showcase our culture, traditions, host community events, cultural healing camps and other special events hosted by West Moberly First Nations".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dunne-Za Lodge|url=http://www.westmo.org/programs/dunneza-lodge|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911072155/http://www.westmo.org/programs/dunneza-lodge|archive-date=September 11, 2019|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=West Moberly First Nations}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://westmo.org/ West Moberly First Nations]

Category:First Nations governments in British Columbia Category:Peace River Country