Five months from just about now – on April 5, 2016 – the Tla’amin final treaty agreement will become effective. Chief treaty negotiator Roy Francis recently summarized the huge amount of work underway at the nation, whose English name is Sliammon. He said there is a lot of progress being made and many changes taking place in preparation for nationhood. Surveys are being carried out to create legal descriptions for the land base, including the new treaty settlement lands.

After April 5, they will become Tla’amin lands with the nation owning clear legal title. “Our Tla’amin government will be the authority over the entire land base,” Francis said. “Tla’amin laws will apply to everyone who resides on Tla’amin lands.”

He said the nation has developed a financial administration law and added that the financial affairs of Tla’amin are “in very good shape… We intend to design a means to look after our immediate needs, but not lose sight of the needs of generations to come.”

Francis said the history of good teamwork by Sliammon sports teams would have to be continued by all citizens of the new nation. “We are going to need a very strong team effort to complete the work we still have in front of us. We have established a relatively small work team in lands, governance and finance.”