The Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation has received a long awaited written offer of eighty million dollars from the federal government to settle their 1903 land claim dispute. Roseau River lost 60% of their land, or about 8,000 acres in 1903. Chief Terrance Nelson, who has been fighting for the settlement for eight years, says the offer is nearly twenty million dollars less than the verbal offer they received two years ago. However, he will advise the community to take it. He says there will be a per capita payout and the priority will be to spend the interest from the money on things like housing and education, keeping the capital in the bank for many, many years to come. The next step is to hold a community referendum to either reject or accept both the offer and the trust agreement. Nelson says it will take at least until March, 2011 to have the money in the bank.