First Nations counting vote on historic settlement

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The results of a historic vote by members of the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba are being counted to determine if a land claims settlement offered by the Canadian government will be accepted.

Ottawa has offered $126 million in exchange for the abandonment of a 50,000-acre land claim in the Selkirk area where the First Nation's St. Peter's Reserve - the band's traditional home - is located.

More than 4,000 were eligible to vote. Estimates indicate that about 1,000 voted on Saturday, with many more mail-in ballots received.

The land was lost a century ago in an illegal land surrender. Negotiations have taken place between the Peguis First Nation and the Canadian government for 10 years.