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VANCOUVER — With fewer than 400 members and a reserve that covers just 458 hectares, the Soowahlie First Nation (SFN) is small. But it’s beautifully situated south of Chilliwack, B.C., next to a provincial park and Cultus Lake, a popular summer resort area packed with attractions, including a waterpark, a golf course and a children’s theme park called Dinotown.

The band has enjoyed good relations with its neighbours, but there have been rough patches, too. Last summer, some SFN members charged motorists $20 each to drive across their reserve, after a storm closed a public road.

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That didn’t go over well; while SFN chief and band manager Brenda Wallace says the incident demonstrated “how we want our privacy and don’t like our space invaded,” she also expressed regret that it happened.

Now this: a fight over real estate, power and race.

There are only 70 houses on the SFN reserve. There will soon be hundreds more, should a 74-year-old white band member, a local property developer and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) have their way.