Canada pays historic settlement to Siksika Nation

$1.3 billion agreement reached over illegal land grabs.

"We're gathered today to right a wrong from the past."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed a historic land claim settlement with the Siksika First Nation on Thursday, in which the government has agreed to compensate the indigenous Siksika for illegally taking almost half of their territory in 1910. 

The settlement, which reached 1.3 billion Canadian dollar (just over 1 billion USD), is one of the largest of its kind in Canada.

"We're gathered to give ourselves a chance to start rebuilding trust between us, nation to nation," Trudeau said during the signing ceremony, where he was accompanied by Siksika Chief Ouray Crowfoot and other community members.

The arrangement is meant to compensate the Siksika Nation for the Canadian government's violation of the Blackfoot Treaty in 1910, wherein Canada took some 465 square kilometers (115,000 acres) of Siksika land and used it for its own economic development.

While Chief Crowfoot said the settlement didn't undo the wrongs of the past, it will help provide new opportunities. "I do see the tide turning for Siksika…. I see us becoming a thriving nation," he said.