The Cheam First Nation has purchased an eco-tourism lodge in B.C.’s eastern Fraser Valley for $18.1 million.

The Fraser River Lodge is located near the Cheam’s reserve lands, close to Aggasiz, B.C., on the Lower Mainland. The First Nation said it used its own revenues and worked with banking partners to secure the funds to buy the lodge from a private owner-operator.

No funds were provided from the province, federal government or other outside funding bodies.

The Cheam people view the acquisition as an example of how they are taking taking steps to rebuild their community and increase the much needed land base for their future, according to a news release. The Indigenous group also sees a sustainable, prosperous future in eco-cultural tourism, eco-system-based agriculture, sustainable land development, and building world-class holistic health systems for their people and all neighbours in the region.

The Cheam also recently purchased two parcels of farmland on the north side of the Fraser River near their reserve lands. These lands and the Cheam’s existing agricultural lands are creating a base for an ecosystem-based farming initiative that the First Nation started this year.

“Our people, our land and our culture are the most important assets in our world,” said Cheam Chief Darwin Douglas. “Many of our elders and our people have been doing work to heal from intergenerational traumas, and to rebuild themselves into healthy strong members of our community. We have more work to do in this regard, but it’s happening.

“Our land and environment have also faced traumas from colonialism and the over-harvesting of many resources. We want to find ways to protect our land and environment and to help it heal so that future generations of our people, all British Columbians and Canadians can have a sustainable future in this beautiful land. We see tourism and the other initiatives that we are undertaking as a way to facilitate this.”

The Cheam are also working on another eco-cultural tourism project within their territory in the Eastern Fraser Valley, the $70-million Cascade Skyline sightseeing gondola development. The Pelólxw Tribe co-owns the project.

The two Indigenous groups called on the B.C. government to approve the long-delayed project as soon as possible.