Loss of First Nations LAND and Right to Self-Govern Treaties Loss of First Nations LAND and Right to Self-Govern

Treaties a formal agreement between Europeans and First Nations to establish peace, trade, alliance, neutrality and military support. But it became about acquiring LAND and RESOURCES (ex. the basic materials we get from: Forestry, Fishing, Farming and Mining).

Treaties: Based on MISUNDERSTANDING :/ Cultural Barriers (concept of “land”): The European tradition of private land ownership could not be understood by First Nations who felt that no one could own land (because it was a means to survival and humans were guardians of the land; not owners).

Language Barriers: First Nations didn’t fully understand the terms of agreement (treaty). They didn’t realize they were ‘selling’ their land (since it wasn’t theirs). Instead, they understood a treaty as a ‘sharing of resources’ (ex. animals, trees, etc) and getting compensated for that. But for Europeans, the treaty was LAND SURRENDER and the first step in assimilation.

Motives for treaty-making on both sides: EUROPEAN FIRST NATIONS Peacefully take over First Nations land and resources to make room for European settlement   Most treaties were signed between the late 1700s and early 1900s during a time of major hardships for many First Nations groups (ex. collapse of Fur Trade, Buffalo extinction, disease, starvation, and increase of European settlement on First Nations territory). So it was advantageous for them to sign agreements that defined their rights (ex. land, hunting, etc.) and European rights and responsibilities

First Nations involved Treaties: Late 1700-1900s Treaty Dates First Nations involved Location Terms of Agreement Peace and Friendship 1725-1779 Mi’kmaq East Coast / Atlantic   For Britain= First Nations neutrality or military assistance For First Nations= continue to practice traditional ways of life (hunting, trapping and fishing)

Your Task: Complete the rest of the organizer for the remaining treaties Answer the questions (1-3)

#1 Cultural barriers Language barriers Vulnerable position

#2 In some treaties, land came in exchange for money and supplies – starting a cycle of dependency on the government to support them Also giving up their land also meant giving up the ownership of the resources on that land too.

BROKEN PROMISES Often the Crown (or British government represented by Queen Victoria) did not fulfill treaty promises: Treaties # 1 and 2 – promised farming assistance and extra money, but the government never provided them Rights to hunting and fishing were often cut back or broken Treaties # 1 to 7 – the government lost count of the First Nations populations and could not accurately give annual cash distributions

Banning First Nations ceremonies (ex. Pow Wows, Potlatch, Smudging, etc.) - therefore, interfering with First Nations traditional culture and way of life.

FIRST NATIONS TAKE ACTION Organizations, like the League of Indians of Canada formed to protest broken treaties in the early 1900s and tried to make legislative recommendations to the government. These legal disputes still continue to today.