Land of Promise

On this week’s show, an investigation into land, money and power that has gripped the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan. For decades, a small group of band members has been leasing huge swaths of land owned by the community and personally pocketing millions in rental fees When a new band council decided to fix the issue, there was a pushback that included threats and confrontations with farmers. In his documentary, Land of Promise, investigative journalist Geoff Leo traces this complex story back to 1992. That’s when federal and provincial governments laid the groundwork for this situation with a land deal they thought would correct an injustice done to First Nations — which lead instead to accusations of injustice amongst band members themselves.Reported by Geoff Leo, produced by Joan Webber and story edited by Liz Hoath. The documentary originally aired on The Current. Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit