On December 1, 2025, Skuppah Indian Band (“Skuppah”) signed a settlement agreement with the Government of Canada for Skuppah’s specific claim related to their water rights on Inklyukinatko Indian Reserve 2 (“IR 2”).
The specific claim relates to Canada’s failure to protect Skuppah’s access rights to water from Inklyukinatko Creek, which had profound impacts on the community. When the Indian Reserve Commission set aside IR 2 in June 1878, the commissioner included a water record guaranteeing the reserve 20 inches of water per year from Inklyukinatko Creek.
Excerpt from William Jemmett’s 1885 survey plan of Inklyukinatko IR 2 showing the creek running across the southern portion of the reserve.
In 1904, when a settler pre-empted land adjacent to the creek, he illegally diverted water and renamed the creek after himself. He then secured his own water record to the newly renamed creek. The renaming caused confusion for government officials and when they investigated Skuppah’s complaints about the loss of water, instead of remedying the illegal loss of water, the government allocated water to the reserve from a different stream, which proved to be insufficient. As a result, many families left their home on IR 2 near the middle of the twentieth century, leaving only two families residing there for several decades. These families faced numerous challenges living on the reserve with inadequate water service. In the 1980s, Chief John McIntyre began a campaign to rectify this loss; a journey that has nearly reached its conclusion.
Having acknowledged its breach of fiduciary duty, Canada entered negotiations with Skuppah in 2019. Mandell Pinder is honoured to have assisted Skuppah in the negotiation process and congratulates Skuppah on reaching this historic agreement. Skuppah intends to have the true name of Inklyukinatko Creek returned and to acquire lands adjacent to its reserve to protect this vital source of water.
Satellite image of Inklyukinatko IR 2. For illustrative purposes only.
