1. Treaties and Land Claims Numbered Treaties, 1876 - 1921 Nunavut Territory, 1999

2. Cut-Off Lands Reserve Land that had been taken from the government without the permission of the Aboriginal Peoples. Aboriginal leaders wanted to claim this land back.

3. Aboriginal Title is another term for land belonging to the Aboriginal Peoples – Land Claims to areas that their ancestors had for a long time.

4. Specific and Comprehensive Land Claims Specific Land Claims - claims that were made by treaties (through deals with the Canadian government), and their terms have not been kept. i.e. part of reserve land taken away for building of a highway Comprehensive Land Claims – this is usually about land where no treaties have been signed; instead, it’s based on re-claiming land that was traditionally theirs Comprehensive Land Claims – this is usually about land where no treaties have been signed; instead, it’s based on re-claiming land that was traditionally theirs

5. Land Claims in B.C. Most land claims in B.C. are comprehensive because the Aboriginals believe that they have rightful ownership of this land through their ancestors. No treaties to officially give up this land have been signed.

6. Opposition to Land Claims in B.C. Many deny the 1763 proclamation is valid (Aboriginals argue that it gives them right to the land) b/c Royal Proc. Originally stated that any land not purchased or claimed will belong to the “Indians” Parts of the North and B.C. were not known to British at the time Want written records so that First Nations members can show proof of land ownership

7. Nisga’a Treaty Fighting for acknowledgement of the Aboriginal Land title – that their right to lad does exist and needs to be recognized by the gov’t The Nisga’a people signed a treaty with the Cdn. Government. They were given powers of self- government as well as a large plot of land, including resources, fishing and hunting rights, and $190 million million

8. Nisga'a Treaty - 2000 The Nisga'a Treaty is a negotiated agreement between the Nisga'a Nation, the Government of British Columbia (B.C.) and the Government of Canada. The last step needed to give legal effect to the Treaty took place on April 13, 2000, when Parliament passed the Nisga'a Final Agreement Act. As part of the settlement in the Nass River valley nearly 2,000 square kilometres of land was officially recognized as Nisg ̱ a'a, and a 300,000 cubic decameter water reservation was also created. The Bear Glacier Provincial Park was also created as a result of this agreement. The land- claim's settlement was the first formal treaty between a First Nation and the Province of British Columbia since colonial times.

9. Delgamuukw – 1997-98 Gitksan +Wet’suwet’es peoples’ claims Defined aboriginal title – ruled Aboriginal groups could claim ownership of land if they can prove that they occupied the land before the Canadian government claimed sovereignty, and occupied it continuously/exclusively. If government building is next to native reserve – must consult. i.e - effects on reserve- aboriginals claim to have never been consulted.

10. Creation of Nunavut 1999 Sign land claim treaty with Canada –> get power to self-govern Are 29 000 people prepared to handle the governorship of 1.6 million sq. km?

11. Oka Standoff- 1990

12. HISTORICAL CONTEXT While Quebec was looking into the idea of holding a new referendum on sovereignty, the Canadian First Nations were attempting to gain their own recognition as an independent people within Canada. CLIP #1: http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topics/99/ http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topics/99/

13. SUMMARY WHO: Mohawk Nation, Kanesatake Reserve, Quebec WHAT: Dispute over plans to expand a golf course on Native land. WHEN: April 1990- September 1990 (Standoff lasted 11 weeks) HOW: A barricade was erected at Oka. WHY: The land which the mayor of Oka and other citizens of the city were eyeing for the new golf course was being claimed as long-held ancestral land by the Mohawks.

14. The Standoff Begins On July 11, 1990, the police attacked the barricade being guarded by the Natives. Shots were fired and Marcel Lemay, an agent with the Sûreté du Québec (provincial police force), was killed. The conflict took on an entirely new perspective from that moment on. The Mohawk claims were no longer strictly territorial in nature, but rather a demand for recognition of Native independence. CLIP#4 http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topic s/99/ http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topic s/99/

15. Negotiations Fail The government refused to negotiate while the Mohawk barricades were up. They sent in the provincial police to erect its own barricades on the roads leading to the municipality of Oka and the Kanesatake reserve. CLIP #5 http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topics/99/

16. The Showdown The Mohawk were not willing to dismantle their barricades and therefore Robert Bourassa (then Premier) called in the Canadian Armed Forces. The Mohawk were not willing to dismantle their barricades and therefore Robert Bourassa (then Premier) called in the Canadian Armed Forces. Despite the armed presence, negotiations were slow, and it took several weeks before roads were able to reopen to regular traffic. Despite the armed presence, negotiations were slow, and it took several weeks before roads were able to reopen to regular traffic. CLIP #7 CLIP #7 http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topics/99/ CLIP #8 CLIP #8 http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topics/99/

17. Conclusion Twenty days later, on September 26, 1990, the last barricades were taken down and the Warriors gave up the fight. CLIP #10 http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topic s/99/ http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topic s/99/

18. Gustafsen Lake Standoff - 1995 The Gustafsen Lake Standoff was an indigenous land dispute involving the Secwepemc Nation in British Columbia, Canada which began on June 15, 1995, and lasted until September 17, 1995. In June of 1995, Indigenous people from the Secwepemc (Shuswap) and other nations began an occupation of sacred Sun Dance lands at Ts’Peten (pronounced "che-peten"), also known as Gustafsen Lake, near 100 Mile House, British Columbia. The occupation at Ts’Peten followed a long history of attempts to gain recognition of Secwepemc sovereignty by the Canadian Government, and indigenous rights to unceded lands in British Columbia. The standoff began when a previous arrangement from 1989 to hold sun dances on Crown Land under the jurisdiction of BC rancher Lyall James broke down.

19. Gustafsen Lake Standoff Some Natives chose to remain at Gustafsen Lake and continue to hold annual sun dances in defiance of threats of eviction by Lyall James, and to assert indigenous rights to the land. The British Columbia Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh, branded the occupation as strictly a criminal matter, refusing to consider political negotiations. After failed negotiations, the RCMP launched one of the largest police operations in Canadian history, including the deployment of four hundred tactical assault team members, five helicopters, two surveillance planes and nine Armoured Personnel Carriers. 8 land mines were also used. By the end of the 31-day standoff, police had fired over 77,000 rounds of ammunition, one woman had been shot, and a dog had been killed.

20. Gustafsen Lake Standoff Resolution 14 indigenous and 4 non-native people were charged following the siege, fifteen of whom were found guilty and sentenced to jail terms ranging from six months to eight years. The leader of the occupation, William (Wolverine) Jones Ignace, was found guilty of mischief to property, mischief causing danger to life, possession of firearms and explosives, discharging a firearm at police, and using a firearm to assault police officers. 3 of the defendants appealed the verdicts on the grounds that the Canadian courts have no jurisdiction over the lands where the Gustafsen Lake standoff took place, which they claimed remain unceded indigenous land. The Supreme Court of British Columbia refused to hear the appeal. Wolverine

21. Ipperwash Crisis - 1995 land dispute that in Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ontario in 1995. Several members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band occupied the park in order to assert their claim to the land. led to a violent confrontation between protesters and the Ontario Provincial Police, who killed protester Dudley George.

22. Ipperwash Crisis The ensuing controversy was a major event in Canadian politics, and a provincial inquiry, under former Ontario Chief Justice Sidney Linden, investigating the events was completed in the fall of 2006. Dudley Goerge

23. Ipperwash - Return of land On December 20, 2007, the Ontario Provincial government announced its intention to return the 56- hectare Ipperwash Provincial Park to its original owners, the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation. The decision did not take immediate effect, as the land will be "co-managed" by the Province and the Chippewas, with consultation from the surrounding community, for the time being. The decision did not take immediate effect, as the land will be "co-managed" by the Province and the Chippewas, with consultation from the surrounding community, for the time being. According to Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant, the land will be fully returned over an unspecified period of time, until the Chippewas have full control.