CBC reporter Mike Rudyk explores 50 years of Yukon land claim history in new documentary

People in Yukon this week have been celebrating a significant anniversary. Tuesday marks 50 years since a group of Indigenous leaders from the territory went to Ottawa to effectively begin land claim negotiations. They did so with a detailed position paper, Together Today for our Children Tomorrow.

It would take 20 years before Yukon's Umbrella Final Agreement (UFA) was signed. Individual land claims and self-governing agreements would follow for 11 of the 14 First Nations in Yukon.

Longtime CBC North reporter and videographer Mike Rudyk prepared a video documentary to mark this week's anniversary. It explores the complicated path from Together Today to the UFA.

Rudyk spoke to Yukon Morning host Elyn Jones about his documentary, which you can watch above.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell us more about what you've been working on to mark this anniversary.

I was talking to our [CBC Yukon] station manager Karen Vallevand, and she was saying wouldn't it be great if we could do a piece that represents the whole period of land claims from 1973 to the final agreements, which were in 1993. And I said, "Yeah that'd be great, I think that'd be a really good project." It's a big project. So I was kind of like, 'voluntold.'

It was something I thought about over the years, that it would be really neat to go down to the basement of the CBC, our archives, and look at all the old tapes. We have a lot of archival footage of those times. I thought I could just go through those tapes and show people what it was like during that time.

You're a longtime videographer here in the Yukon, and you went to a lot of these general assemblies and where these meetings were happening. So what kind of memories did it bring back for you?

It brought back a lot. Because, you know, going through some of the footage I see my colleague and one of my best friends, [CBC Yukon videographer] Wayne Vallevand, and he's in the middle ... he would plunk the camera right in the middle and then you would sort of do a 360 shoot of the people speaking.  

I was younger, a lot younger then, and I didn't really understand a lot about the land claims. I really understand what the land claims are about today. But back then, you know, we were sort of young and we were just, "This is a shoot like any other shoot and we're going to cover it and document it."

And so the significance today is like, oh my God, it's so incredible. And I'm so glad that I was part of it and also Wayne and all the other videographers during the time. We were able to document this historic event, you know, over the last 20 years, 50 years.

So going through all those tapes, what did you decide to focus on?

I wanted to do a history of the land claims, so starting in 1973 when Elijah Smith and the 12 chiefs went to Ottawa and then I wanted to talk about the journey from then. 

It was about three or four years after that they had their first agreement and it was really, it was like the federal government going, "Well, see if they want to bite at this." It was a really low-ball offer. I can't remember the exact amount, but it was like $10 million and 100 square kilometres of land for each of the 12 First Nations in the Yukon. 

The 1984 agreement in principle was a lot more money. That was $620 million over 20 years, and 20,000 square kilometres of land. And, you know, we had some of the ministers come in, like [Indian Affairs Minister] John Munro, and he's like, "This is the best deal that you're going to get. This is a great deal." And it was funny watching because, you know, for the Yukon First Nations, it's never been about the money. It was always about the future generations.

One of the things that they put in this [1984] agreement that killed it was the extinguishment clause. In this documentary, one of the people I got to speak to that I'm really proud of is [lawyer and former chief negotiator for the Council of Yukon First Nations] Dave Joe, and he explained what extinguishment is — you know, losing your Aboriginal rights.

There were obviously First Nations that wanted the [1984] agreement because it had been so long. Finally there's this agreement on the table and it's like, "We should take it, we should take it."

But the extinguishment clause ... four of the First Nations just didn't think that that was a good thing to do for our people and so they blocked it. They needed 10 out of the 12 First Nations to vote on this for it to go forward, and it never did. As Dave said, it was basically the deal breaker.

So I covered all that, and then we get into the Umbrella Final Agreement that was the land claims agreement that we all know about today. The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Teslin Tlingit Council, the Nacho Nyak Dun First Nation and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation were the first four to sign the agreement. And from there, other First Nations were able to sign on their own during the next six to seven years. There's a lot of history there.

This is also personal for you — you're a citizen of Champagne and Aishihik First Nations. So what does this mean for you?

The land claims have been a very important part of my life. I've seen our First Nation grow. In the documentary, I talk to our past chief, Steve Smith, and he was saying we have over 500 people that work for our First Nation now.

And you know, I see a lot of people benefiting from our First Nations. One of the biggest things for our First Nation is a lot of our young people are going to school — like, there's a path to follow and our First Nation is supporting that path for going to university, and these young people are coming back and working for our First Nation. And you know, education has always been a major thing in this land claims document, Together Today for our Children Tomorrow. Education has always been in the forefront and I'm starting to see that now. I'm super-proud.

In the next 50 years, we're going to have a lot of educated First Nations, and a lot of healthy First Nations, and I think it's going to be a lot better place for us. Our elders who created the land claims, you know like Elijah Smith, Dave Joe, Paul Birckel — there's so many names to be thankful for, these people who've dedicated their lives to make our lives better.