Peace and Friendship treaties, Numbered treaties and Modern treaties and land claims
It is important to recognize that treaties affect all people living in Canada today – not only First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. According to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada: “The treaties the Crown has signed with Aboriginal peoples since the 18th century have permitted the evolution of Canada as we know it” (CIRNAC, n.d., para 1).
Dru Oja Jay argues that while most people in Canada associate treaties with Indigenous peoples, in fact non-Indigenous people have treaty rights and responsibilities too. He points out that:
“Thanks to treaties, Canadians have the ability to share the land, move freely about, conduct economic activity, govern themselves in the manner they choose, and maintain their culture and spiritual beliefs without fear of persecution…In places where treaties are in effect, every building, business, road, government, or other activity is made possible by a treaty” (Dru Oja Jay, 2013).
Read Dru Oja Jay’s article Know Your Rights: A treaty primer for non-Natives.
Treaty Talk – Sharing the River of Life is a 50-minute documentary produced by Dr. Pat Makokis and directed by Brad Leitch. The film explains our collective responsibility to treaty, with the goal of helping “build understanding, allyship and bridges for better relationship and work together” (Treaty Talk, n.d.). The video combines a traditional Cree tipi talk teaching with local storytelling. It is designed to “model how Indigenous nations and non-Indigenous allies in Canada can come together to transform racism and discrimination at a local and systemic level and to build a future of mutual benefit” (ibid).
Watch Pat Makokis and Brad Leitch’s film: Treaty Talk – Sharing the River of Life.
Aboriginal Rights
Another important component of the relationship between settlers and Indigenous peoples in Canada are Aboriginal rights, which, along with treaty rights, are enshrined in section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. They are supported in law and policy, and reflected in important court decisions like Sparrow, Marshall and Delgamuukw, (Canadian Encyclopedia Articles) the latter of which is relevant to the recent Wet’suwet’en land re-occupation movement that led to a standoff between the RCMP and land defenders, arrests and sparked protests in solidarity across Canada in 2019, garnered international attention and which continues.
Three Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) Decisions Important to Treaty Rights
- Sparrow, (SCC Decision) 1990. Musqueam man Ronald Sparrow was convicted of fishing with a net larger than was allowed to provide for his family. He argued that his ancestral right to fish was protected under section 35 of the Constitution; in other words, his historical right to fish preceded the law by which he was convicted. The SCC finally upheld Sparrow’s appeal.
- Delgamuukw, (SCC Decision) 1997. Delgamuukw, representing the houses of the Gitxsan and the Wet’suwet’en people sued British Columbia for rights and title to their hereditary territory based on their traditions. The BC Supreme Court ruled against them but the SCC notably allowed the use of oral history as evidence, thus recognizing the historical claims.
- Marshall, (SCC Decision) 1999. Donald Marshall Jr., Mi’kmaq leader, was convicted of illegally selling eels in Nova Scotia. His defense argued that the Peace and Friendship Treaties gave him the right to do so but the judge gave a narrow interpretation of the document which specified the right in specific, archaic terminology. On appeal the SCC decision was that treaties remained valid and their meaning should be interpreted in a way that took the interests of the First Nations who had agreed to them into account.
While we do not have time to delve deeper into the complex history of Aboriginal and treaty rights in this course, you can read more about them here at the University of British Columbia’s comprehensive website Indigenous Foundations.
CIRNAC (n.d.). A History of Treaty-Making in Canada. Ottawa: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Available for download here.