The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court decision restoring about four hectares (10 acres) of Kitsilano land to the Squamish Indian Band, 116 years after it was expropriated for use by the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The land, part of the ancestral home of the Squamish people, now is under the shadow of the Burrard Street Bridge and adjacent to the Molson Brewery.

An appraisal in 1990 put its value at about $20 million.

Squamish Chief Gibby Jacob said Wednesday the unanimous decision by five justices of the B.C. Court of Appeal restoring the land to the band is "marvellous."

He said it is premature to discuss what the band will do with the land, as the court battle could continue if the CPR seeks leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

When the last legal hurdles are cleared away, Jacob said, the band must deliberate on how best to use the land for the benefit of its members.

"We have not done any of that kind of thing yet: it has been a long struggle to get the land back," Jacob said when asked of the band's plans.

The land was expropriated from the the Squamish band in two portions, the first in 1886 and the second in 1902, so that it could be used by the CPR. But when the CPR attempted to sell the land in the late 1980s, the Squamish people insisted that, according to the original agreements, it should be returned to them.

Jacobs said he is uncertain about the current value of the land, now bordered by condominiums, park and commercial boat moorages. The land is also a popular refuge for many of Vancouver's homeless.

But he said the return of the land to the Squamish people after more than a century is "worth more to us than any money."

He also praised former hereditary chief Joe Mathias, who worked toward resolving many Squamish land issues before his death in March 2000.

In June 2000, the Squamish band reached a $92.5-million out-of-court settlement with the federal government to settle claims to former reserves in Kitsilano, North Vancouver, Squamish and more than a dozen other parcels of land.

The band is still attempting to negotiate a settlement with the federal and provincial governments to resolve its comprehensive land claims.

Before his death, Mathias said "local politicians and businessmen took it upon themselves to get rid of the Indians" because they saw the Kitsilano Indian village as an eyesore and a blight on future development.

CPR spokesman Len Cocclicchio was unable to say Wednesday whether the CPR will seek leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.