Indigenous Studies Assignment 2 – modes of interpreting treaties between Indigenous peoples and the Crown

In the first section of Unit 2, we trace the development of the debate over Aboriginal rights from the fifteenth century, when European powers began exploring the Western Hemisphere. Those involved were European monarchs, religious leaders, biblical scholars, philosophers, and jurists who sought grounds on which to base their treatment of the peoples indigenous to what are now North and South America. We also present an outline of the historical development of the treaty system in the part of North America that later became Canada, from the eighteenth century.

Section 2 begins with a discussion of the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The Proclamation was the primary document that established procedures for negotiating the elimination of Aboriginal title to land, but it is also viewed by many Indian people as the “Magna Carta”of their rights. The article by Robert Surtees introduces the process by which land surrenders were negotiated in Upper Canada in the early nineteenth century. As Surtees notes, these surrenders contained the embryonic features of standard treaties negotiated with Indian people from 1850 onward. An article by Alexander Morris introduces the Robinson Huron and Robinson Superior treaties as the basis of the treaties signed in Manitoba and the then North-West Territories.

Section 3 of the unit is devoted to a consideration of the interpretation of treaties in the courts. The reading by Delia Opekokew gives a legal interpretation of the treaties from an Indigenous perspective, which stands in sharp contrast to the European interpretation offered by certain scholars, the Canadian federal government, and the courts.

In Section 4, we consider the numbered treaties, beginning with a reading by John Andrew Kerr on the treaties of 1876. Articles by Peter Barkwell and David Knoll allow us to consider the importance of judicial decisions and legislation pertaining to aspects of the numbered treaties in various jurisdictions in Canada.

Finally, in Section 5, we consider how Indigenous people understand the meaning and intent of treaties. The article by Harold Cardinal interprets treaties as sacred and inviolable agreements that promote a special relationship between Her Majesty and First Nations peoples. This view reflects the oral tradition passed on by Elders about the meaning and the spirit of the treaties, as understood by the Indian people who signed them. In the material presented by Richard Price, this tradition is demonstrated in several transcripts of interviews given by Indian Elders whose forebears negotiated treaties in Alberta.

Outcomes:

When you have completed Unit 2, you should be able to

1. analyse the theories advanced by European governments to justify imposition of colonial rule on Indigenous people.
2. analyse the main historical documents which formed the foundations of the Indian treaty system in British North America, and later, Canada.
3. compare the “peace and friendship treaties” of pre-Confederation British and French North American colonies with the numbered treaties of post-Confederation Canada.
4. distinguish among the various legal and political interpretations of the meaning and spirit of Indian treaties.
5. assess the importance of the so-called “unwritten promises” in the numbered post-Confederation treaties.
6. outline the legal interpretations of the “medicine chest” and “hunting and fishing” rights clauses in the Maritime peace and friendship treaties, the Robinson-Superior and Robinson-Huron treaties, and the numbered treaties.
7. describe, briefly, the economic and trading relationships between Indigenous peoples and Europeans before treaties were negotiated with the Crown.
8. assess the various interpretations and descriptions of the treaty-making processes that took place between Indigenous peoples and the Crown.
9. describe the impact of Canadian legal interpretations of treaty and Indigenous rights on Indigenous peoples’ exercise of those rights.