About Barrenlands

The Barren Lands First Nation inhabits the Brochet Reserve No. 197, situated on the northern shore of Reindeer Lake. The community is 928 kilometres north of Winnipeg and 19 kilometres east of the Saskatchewan border.

The First Nation is signatory to Treaty 10 signed in 1906.

Part of the Barren Lands First Nation separated to become the Northlands First Nation which relocated to Lac Brochet, 70 kilometres north of Brochet I.R. No. 197.

The native languages spoken are Cree and Dene.

According to the regional population statistics of December 2003, the First Nation has an on-reserve population of 422, off-reserve population of 405 and on Crown land population of 51. The total population of the First Nation is 878.

 Address:  P.O Box 40; Brochet, MB; R0B 0B0  Phone:  204-323-2300 Fax:  204-323-2275

Governance

About Education Services

The Education Services Department of KTC provide student & counseling services both in Thompson & Winnipeg and also administers the following programs:

Post Secondary Program:

Student Services continues to administer the INAC funded Post Secondary program for the following First Nations: Northlands, Sayisi Dene, Barrenlands, York Landing, Fox Lake & War Lake. Deadline for Main Intake of Post Secondary applications is May 15th of every year.

Private Home Placement Program:

The PHP program continues to provide financial, academic & personal assistance to KTC (Barrenlands, God’s Lake, York Landing, War Lake) First Nation members to gain access to program/grades towards the completion of a high school program & not available in their community. Deadline for PHP applications is June 15th of every year.

ABORIGINAL SKILLS AND EMPLOYMENT TRAINING STRATEGY (ASETS):

The Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS) is an integrated approach to Aboriginal labour market programming. ASETS links training to labour market demand and ensures that Canada’s Aboriginal people can fully participate in economic opportunities.

Under this strategy, Aboriginal agreement holders design and deliver employment programs and services best suited to the unique needs of their clients. ASETS focuses on three priorities::

• supporting demand-driven skills development;
• fostering partnerships with the private sector and the provinces and territories; and
• HRDC Youth Disabilities
• placing emphasis on accountability and results.

ASETS is designed to help Aboriginal people prepare for and find high-demand jobs quickly, as well as keep them in the long term. All Aboriginal people, regardless of status or location, may access its programs and services, which include:

• skills development;
• training for high-demand jobs;
• job finding;
• programs for youth;
• programs for urban and Aboriginal people with disabilities; and
• access to child care.

The Government of Canada (HRDC) launched the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS) in April 2010 for a period of five years (April 1, 1999 to March 31, 2004), move toward three jurisdictions; First Nations, Metis, and the Inuit. This program is the successor program to the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy (AHRDS), which expired in March 2010.

The Keewatin Tribal Council represents eleven member reserves located in Northern Manitoba . The mandate of KTC is to promote, advance and protect the interests of its eleven member First Nations, and is intended to maintain, strengthen, enhance, lobby for and defend the rights of northern Manitoba First Nations people within its jurisdiction. KTC maintains an office in Thompson with a sub-office in Winnipeg.

The Keewatin Tribal Council consists of the following member First Nations: Barren Lands (Brochet), Fox Lake (Bird), God’s Lake, Manto Sipi (God’s River), Northlands (Lac Brochet), Bunibonibee (Oxford House), Sayisi Dene (Tadoule Lake), Tataskweyak (Split Lake), Shamattawa First Nation, War Lake (Ilford) and York Factory (York Landing). Approximately 10,000 people live in these communities.

KTC was selected as one of six Regional Management Organizations for the First Nations SchoolNet Program, delivered by Industry Canada . As a Regional Management Organizations it continues to provide services to participating schools and will support schools that have yet to be connected.