15 Facts
The Great Law of Peace of the People of the Longhouse is one
of the earliest recorded treaties negotiated between Aboriginal tribes. It
predates the year 1450, and covered 117 articles governing customs and
relationships between the Seneca, Mohawk and Cayuga tribes, among others. It
was passed on orally from generation to generation, and was written down for
the first time in 1880.
Despite the covenant chain and its promises of neutrality,
four of the six Iroquois nations fought on the side of the British during the
American Revolution. After the Revolution was over, the non-Loyalist Iroquois
that did not fight were excluded from the chain.
The so-called Gunshot Treaty gave the British land rights
stretching along Lake Ontario from just west of present-day Toronto east to the
Bay of Quinte. The Aboriginals gave up their land rights extending north of the
Great Lake within the sound of a gunshot - almost 20 kilometers - in exchange
for annual gifts.
When the Jay Treaty was signed, it angered the French as it
allowed the British to seize French goods off American ships. The French pulled
their minister from the U.S. and began seizing American ships on the Atlantic.
The American government spent around $20 million annually to
forcibly remove Aboriginal settlers living on the U.S. plains during bloody
conflicts of the 1870's. In comparison, the Canadian government spent slightly
more than $730,000 between 1875 and 1905 on costs related to its Aboriginal
treaties. There was also comparatively little bloodshed in Canada during this
period.
Some Aboriginal nations would not sign these treaties at
first, but would wish to be added on at a later date. This is called an
adhesion.
Following the 1876 Indian Act, Aboriginals who lived on
reserves were forced to carry an identity card, like a passport, every time
they stepped off reserve land
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the federal government
was paying about three-quarters of its spending on Aboriginals to those living
on the Prairies, even though they made up only about one-quarter of the total
Aboriginal population in Canada.
Comprehensive land claim settlements deal with areas of
Canada where Aboriginal people's claims to Aboriginal rights have not been
addressed by treaties, or other legal means. The first of these modern-day
treaties was the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, signed in 1975. To
date, the federal government has settled 24 self-government and comprehensive
land claim areas (two are stand-alone self-government) with Aboriginal people in
Canada.
Between 1871 and 1921, the Crown entered into treaties with
various First Nations that enabled the Canadian government to actively pursue
agriculture, settlement and resource development of the Canadian West and the
North. Because they are numbered 1 to 11, the treaties are often referred to as
the "Numbered Treaties." The Numbered Treaties cover Northern
Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and parts of the Yukon, the Northwest
Territories and British Columbia.
Between 1760 and 1923, the British Crown signed 56 land
treaties with Aboriginal Peoples. Part of the protocol was to award a medal to
the chiefs who signed certain treaties. On one side of the medal was a bust of
Queen Victoria; on the other, a British officer and a native chief shaking
hands.
For Michael Anderson, this handshake symbolizes the profound
meaning of historic treaties. Anderson is research director of Manitoba
Keewatinowi Okimakanak, an organization that defends the political interests of
the some 30 groups that signed treaties 4, 5, 6 and 10.
Canada’s Constitution Act, 1867(2) does not explicitly
delineate federal or provincial authority with respect to the conduct of
international affairs. In 1867, Canada
was still a colony of the British Empire, and the British Parliament delegated
the power to represent the Dominion of Canada internationally to the British
Crown. However, although the British
Crown had the authority to enter into treaties with foreign countries on
Canada’s behalf, the Canadian federal government was granted responsibility for
implementing those treaties in Canada under section 132 of the Constitution
Act, 1867
Treaty making process: Negotiations, Signature, Ratification
and Implementation, Coming Into Force
Treaties 8-11 were signed between 1899 and 1921, largely in
the northwest, with the exception of Treaty Number 9, which dealt with lands in
northern Ontario
