Former Kapyong Barracks reclaimed by First Nations – Winnipeg Sun

May 24, 2023

First Nations leaders and officials gathered on Wednesday for a “land reclamation” ceremony at the site of the former Kapyong Barracks, which will one day be home to the largest urban reserve in Canada.

“It is a really happy day for me to be out here, for us to be walking on our own land, on our own Treaty One jointly held Economic Development Zone, right here in Winnipeg,” Treaty One Chairperson and Brokenhead Ojibway Nation Chief Gordon BlueSky said during a ceremony at the former Kapyong site, which has now been renamed the Naawi-Oodena urban reserve.

The land along Kenaston Boulevard has sat empty since 2004 and was transferred from the City of Winnipeg to the Treaty One Development Corporation last year. The site is now slated to become a massive urban reserve as a joint venture between the Treaty One Development Corporation and Canada Lands Company, a self-financing Crown corporation, which will see approximately 68% of the 168-acre site developed.

An agreement signed last year will also see the city provide all municipal services for the Naawi-Oodena urban reserve “in a scope and manner consistent with the rest of the city.”