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

2. 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).

3. 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).

4. 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.

5. 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

6. First Nations involved
Treaties: Late s
Treaty
Dates
First Nations involved
Location
Terms of Agreement
Peace and Friendship
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)

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

8. #1
Cultural barriers
Language barriers
Vulnerable position

9. #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.

10. 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

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

12. 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.