SKIDEGATE, B.C. — With tears streaming down his face, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a gathering of Haida Nation leaders and community members that he couldn't think of a better place to make one of his final trips as Canada's leader.
Federal and Haida leaders signed a historic agreement Monday recognizing Aboriginal title over the archipelago of Haida Gwaii off British Columbia's northern coast.
"Haida Gwaii belongs to you, the Haida people," Trudeau said, as the crowd cheered, clapped and rose to its feet. "This is only the beginning of a new chapter," he said, between the Haida Nation and the Canadian government.
Gaagwiis Jason Alsop, president of the Council of the Haida Nation, told the official ceremony that the agreement was the culmination of "well over 100 years of political mobilization by the Haida Nation."
He said it represents a move from an era of denial, occupation and resistance to one of peaceful coexistence and recognition that "this is Haida land."
The Big Tide Haida Title Lands Agreement affirms that the Haida have Aboriginal title over all of the islands' lands, beds of freshwater bodies, and foreshores to the low-tide mark.
It will transition the Crown-title land to the Haida people, granting them an inherent legal right to the land.
The transfer of the underlying title would affect how courts interpret issues involving disputes.
The community hall in Skidegate was packed full of Haida community members on Monday, including many children, youth and elders. Haida chiefs sitting with Trudeau at a head table wore elaborate regalia, while others at the ceremony wore woven cedar hats or vests emblazoned with bright red Haida designs.
Trudeau told the ceremony that Haida Gwaii is a special place for him, having first visited with his father and brothers in 1976.
"For me, everything has come full circle," he said.
"Haida Gwaii was one of my first trips as Liberal leader. I can't think of any place more appropriate for one of my very last," Trudeau said, with emotion in his voice and tears in his eyes.
He said the agreement was a "monumental step" in the fulfilment of his promise upon becoming prime minister to "stay true to the principles of truth and reconciliation" and restore Canada's relationship with Indigenous Peoples.
The agreement enshrines the right of the Haida to control their own destiny and opens a new chapter in which the nation and the Canadian government are in partnership as true equals, Trudeau said.
"A new chapter (that) confirms an incontrovertible and long-known truth: Haida Gwaii belongs to you," he said to thunderous applause.
After the signing ceremony and a community dinner, Alsop presented Trudeau with a copper pendant, a copper shield and a small carving in the shape of Haida Gwaii. He said two Haida leaders had previously broken a piece of copper on the steps of Parliament in Ottawa, symbolizing what they felt was disrespect and a break in the relationship between the Crown and Indigenous Peoples.
"I thought this would be important to recognize how far we've come from that time, 2014, 2015, to where we are today," Alsop said.
Trudeau thanked Alsop and said wearing the copper pendant would help him "be a little more me than I've been able to be as prime minister."
Trudeau was later gifted a traditional Haida headpiece, which was placed upon his head, as well as a scarf.
The prime minister said his government was only able to move forward on reconciliation "because Canadians decided it was time."
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree told Monday's ceremony that it was a moment where history was being made.
In an earlier interview, he said the agreement kicks off a five-year transition period and will require legislation to iron out all the details about its application in practice.
It is the first time the federal government has recognized Aboriginal title through negotiations, Anandasangaree said.
About 15 per cent of Haida Gwaii is owned, managed or used by the federal government, including a national park reserve and Haida heritage site.
A further two per cent are owned by other parties.
The agreement follows similar recognition by the B.C. government last year, and it resolves a four-decade-long fight that began with a logging blockade and became an intensely fought legal battle.
It comes more than two decades after the Council of the Haida Nation launched a legal challenge against Canada and the province, seeking a declaration of Aboriginal title.
The federal ministry said the three parties have been negotiating since 2021 to "incrementally negotiate" matters that would otherwise have to be litigated.
It said Canada provided $59 million in funding to the Haida in an "advance capital transfer" to boost the nation's "governance capacity building."
Alsop has called the new law in B.C. a "step toward peaceful coexistence" with the province. In April he said that the nation planned on taking control of Haida Gwaii's economy according to its values and traditions, taking a sustainable rather than exploitive approach to the land and the sea.
The provincial Opposition B.C. Conservative Party has criticized the agreement, saying it puts private landowners "at the mercy of Haida (and) future Haida Indigenous law."
But the First Nations Leadership Council in B.C. has said the agreement does not affect private property rights.
Anandasangaree dismissed the concerns about impacts on landowners as a "lot of noise."
"One of the key elements of this agreement is that private title will not be impacted in any way," he said. "Your ability to get a mortgage, or ability to get the property encumbered for construction for putting on a lien — all of those will continue."
The federal Haida Nation Recognition Act was passed last year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2025.
— With files from Kyle Duggan in Ottawa
Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press