1. Aboriginal Peoples after Confederation
Cluster 3: Becoming a Sovereign Nation

2. Peace and Friendship Treaties
The nature of the early relationship between Europeans and First Nations can be seen in the Peace and Friendship Treaties.
To ensure peace, the British entered into treaties with the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy First Nations.
These treaties were signed between 1725 and and became known as the Peace and Friendship Treaties.
These treaties did not ask First Nations to surrender their land-there were agreements to share the land in a state of peaceful, autonomous coexistence.
The growth of the fur trade and expansion of European activity across North America would not have been possible without the cooperation of First Nations and Métis people. From first contact until the mid-19th century, relations between Europeans and First Nations were founded on a variety of trade and military alliances. Some alliances were formally recognized through treaties.
In the 18th century, Britain wanted to encourage trade and settlement, and peaceful relations with First Nations helped further these goals.

3. Aboriginal Title and Immigration
The decline of the fur trade in the 19th century, along with increasing European settlement, fundamentally changed the relationship between First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples and Europeans.
As a result of new settlement and colonial policies, First Nations in post-Confederation Canada became increasingly marginalized and were no longer treated as equals and allies, but as inferiors, dependents, and impediments to civilization.

4. With the changing relationship came a change in the type of treaties negotiated with First Nations.
Unlike the Peace and Friendship Treaties, which were mutually beneficial, treaties in the 19th century became unbalanced in favour of immigrants and the Canadian government.
With the goal of opening more land for immigrant farmers, the Canadian government began to use treaties to extinguish First Nations title to the land and resources upon which they had traditionally lived.

5. Métis and Inuit Peoples
The Canadian government focused its treaty negotiations and legislation on First Nations, in part because First Nations people were the majority of the population across the West.
Inuit land was not in demand for agricultural settlements, so Inuit peoples were not part of the treaty process or many other government policies until the 1940s.

6. The government tended to treat Metis people as though they would either assimilate into Euro-Canadian culture or join First Nations.
After the conflict at Red River during the Confederation of Manitoba, the government recognized that it needed to somehow address Metis claims to territory.
However, government policies generally dealt with Metis people's claims as individuals, not as communities or as a nation.

7. Why do you think the Canadian government did not want to continue to create treaties that were similar to the Peace and Friendship Treaties?

8. The Numbered Treaties
Between 1871 and 1921, the Government of Canada entered into eleven treaties with First Nations across the West.
These treaties, known as the Numbered Treaties, covered vast areas of present-day northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and parts of British Columbia, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories.
Over time, First Nations that were not present at the original treaty signings or that initially refused to sign a treaty were added at a later date. This type of change is known as a treaty adhesion.

10. The government's purpose for negotiating the Numbered Treaties was to open up land for immigrant settlement and ensure peaceful relations between First Nations and the newcomers.
During this time period, the United States had been spending millions of dollars on wars with Native Americans of the Great Plains. Prime Minister Macdonald wanted to avoid such wars with First Nations in Canada and decided that treaties would be the solution.

11. As the government negotiated the treaties, Métis people were sometimes offered the opportunity to "take treaty" and be considered as First Nations people by the government.
In 1883, the government amended the Dominion Lands Act to include provision for Métis claims to land in the Northwest Territories.
Beginning in 1885, scrip commissions travelled through areas in which treaties had been concluded to offer scrip to Métis people.
However, land speculators often travelled with the scrip commissions, and many Metis people sold or were defrauded of their scrip.

14. Terms of the Numbered Treaties
Payment upon signing the treating (amounts varied $3-$12)
Annual payment of $3-$5
Reserve land to live on
Establishment of schools on reserve land
Continued hunting/fishing rights on land not ceded for settlement, lumber or mining
Suit of clothing for chiefs every 3 years plus a payment of $25
Medal and flag for each chief
Basic agricultural equipment and supplies
Although the Numbered Treaties are not identical, most have a few similar terms of agreement. In agreeing to "cede, release, surrender, and yield up" their land, First Nations were promised
In exchange for these payments, First Nations had to promise to keep peaceful relations with immigrants and to maintain order according to Canadian laws.

15. Why did the First Nations sign the Treaties?
As hunting and food supplies became scarce, Aboriginal peoples became more dependent on food rations from the government, trade with the new immigrants, and agriculture.
Treaties promised reserve lands, hunting and fishing rights, money, annual payments, and assistance with education, medical care, and agricultural machinery.
Not all promises were respected.

16. Creation of Reserves
The concept of giving First Nations a parcel, or reserve, of land was introduced by Europeans during the early years of colonization in North America.
The Jesuits attempted to encourage First Nations people to settle on parcels of land in the hopes that they would adopt European ways of life, such as farming.
Many years later, when the Numbered Treaties were signed, the basic purpose of the reserve remained the same: for First Nations to adopt a more European style of living.

17. Relevance of the Numbered Treaties Today
The Numbered Treaties are still legally binding under the Canadian Constitution. Although the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba states that "Treaties are the building blocks for the future of the relationship between First Nations and the rest of Canada," the Numbered Treaties had a number of problems:

18. Most reserves were too small to continue traditional ways of life and the reserve lands were often poor for agriculture, which made it difficult for First Nations to create a strong economic base for their communities.

19. Oral promises made by the government during treaty negotiations were not always recorded on the treaty documents. According to First Nations oral traditions, these oral promises should have been honoured, but European traditions of treaty making upheld only written treaty terms.

20. Today, because of lack of clarity and different understandings of the terms, many First Nations have ongoing disputes with the federal government over treaty rights, land-use rights, fishing and hunting rights, use of natural resources, and respect for traditional territories.
The enforcement of treaty rights for First Nations has also been an ongoing concern, especially in regard to hunting and fishing rights. Hunting and fishing continue to be significant activities in many First Nations communities. The right to hunt and fish for food on unoccupied land was a critical part of many of the Numbered Treaties, and also goes back to the Royal Proclamation of However, since the signing of the treaties, some provinces and even the federal government have introduced legislation that place restrictions on the hunting and fishing rights of First Nations.

21. Although there have been many negative effects from the Numbered Treaties, the process of negotiating treaties with First Nations continues.
A number of First Nations are currently in negotiations with the federal government to create modern-day treaties known as land claim agreements.
Land-claim agreements occur between specific Aboriginal communities, the Government of Canada, and the provincial governments in areas where Aboriginal rights have not been addressed by treaty or other legal means.

22. Why might First Nations’ understanding of the Numbered Treaties differ from the Canadian government’s understanding?

23. What ethical questions arise concerning the fact that the Numbered Treaties were written in English and many First Nations chiefs could not speak or write English?

24. The Indian Act, 1876
Although it was presented as a simple consolidation of existing legislation, the Indian Act in fact added many powers to the federal government and its ability to control First Nations people.
The goal of assimilation was highly Eurocentric: it reflected a worldview in which European-based cultures and traditions are viewed as superior to other cultures and traditions.
Since the Royal Proclamation of 1763, colonial governments had developed a variety of laws concerning First Nations. Some originated with British colonial governments and others with the Canadian government. After Confederation, and with the planned expansion west, the Canadian government wanted a single framework from which to deal with all First Nations. In 1876, it consolidated all previous legislation concerning First Nations in the Indian Act.

25. Colonial governments, as well as most Canadians at the time, believed that the best future for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people would be one in which they gave up their own cultures in favour of European-based traditions.
However, in the view of William Lathlin of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, "assimilation is legislated genocide.
Assimilation is the Indian Act, the Indian Act is government legislation, and government policies from this act are used to keep First Nations people from advancing and being part of Canada."

26. The Indian Act's powers were so far-reaching that the Canadian government could make changes to the act without consultation with or obtaining permission from First Nations.
These far-reaching powers contrasted sharply with the spirit and intent with which the Numbered Treaties were being negotiated. In its approach to dealing with First Nations, the Indian Act is paternalistic.
Paternalism is the policy or practice of governing a group of people by providing for their needs without giving them any rights, as a father might deal with his children.

27. For much of its history, the act had three main goals:
to assimilate First Nations people through enfranchisement
to manage First Nations communities and their reserves
to define who could and could not be classified as a First Nations person
Video: The Indian Act Explained (2 min)

28. Main Provisions of the Indian Act
First Nations became wards of the government (children or minors) do not have the same rights as Canadian citizens.
First Nations government and leadership were discouraged instead band counsels were encouraged
Women and Elders were not allowed to participate in band counsels
Defined who had “Indian Status”, they were eligible for the provisions under the act
Women who married non-First Nations or non-Status men lost their status as did their children
People who obtained a University Degree, joined the military of the clergy gave up their status

29. could not be mortgaged or taxed
Government controlled the financial institutions on reserves especially the sale and rent of reserve lands.
could not be mortgaged or taxed
could also not be sold without the majority approval of band members and could be sold only to the government.
Children were required to attend residential schools
Manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol was banned
Some traditional First Nations ceremonies were banned
Indian Agents, who were federal government employees, had authority to manage reserves and enforce provisons.
Because of the amount of control the Indian Act gave the government over First Nations, the act affected almost every aspect of First Nations people's lives and cultures.

30. Status Card
One of the sweeping powers the Indian Act took was the ability to define who could and could not have Indian status. All status Indians were recorded as "Registered Indians" of Canada. The federal government, not individual First Nations, still has the authority to decide who may and may not be registered.

31. Pass System

32. In what ways do you think the pass system affected the lives of First Nations people? What long-term consequences might the pass system have had?

33. Policies of Assimilation: Residential Schools
Many treaties included provisions for the government to provide schooling for First Nations youth.
First Nations hoped that access to education would support the survival of their culture, while enabling their children to read, write, and interact with Euro-Canadian settlements.
One of the central methods the government used to encourage the assimilation of First Nations people into Euro-Canadian culture was through education. Schools for First Nations people existed prior to the Numbered Treaties. Mission schools, or day schools, had been introduced soon after European contact and were a significant reason for missionary immigration to Nouvelle-France. Students attended mission schools during the day and then returned to their families at night. The mission schools encouraged First Nations students to give up their traditional beliefs for Christianity and to learn European styles of living. But by the early nineteenth century, ideas about the purpose of First Nations schools began to change.

34. The Canadian government, however, had different ideas about the purpose of educating First Nations youth.
Even as early as 1847, Egerton llyerson, the chief superintendent of education for Upper Canada, stated, "The education of Indians consists not merely of training the mind but of weaning from the habits and feelings of their ancestors and the acquirements of the language, arts, and customs of a civilized life."

35. In 1920, an amendment to the Indian Act made it compulsory for First Nations youth to attend residential schools.
In the schools, children were separated from their siblings, given European-style clothing, and allowed to speak in English only.
If First Nations youth were caught speaking their traditional language or talking to family members, they were punished.
By discouraging First Nations languages, educators hoped that the oral stories providing the foundation of First Nations cultures would die.
Children as young as six were transported away from their families to residential schools, which were often established at a distance from First Nations communities to remove students from their families' influence.

38. Consequences of Residential Schools
First Nations people felt guilty for being aboriginal
Years of punishment/abuse (mental and physical) and having their heritage/culture taken away
Feeling of inferiority
Taken from their families, not allowed to speak their own language
In some situations, children raised in these conditions in turn raised their own children in the same
Inferior education was provided to the students which made it extremely difficult for them to survive in society

39. Policies of Assimilation: Suppression of Cultural Traditions
The government policy of assimilation involved suppressing and attempting to slowly extinguish First Nations languages and cultural traditions.
Much of this assimilation was attempted in the residential school system. However, efforts were also made to abolish specific cultural rituals within First Nations communities.
For example, amendments to the Indian Act forbade First Nations people from wearing traditional clothing off reserves and from practicing traditional ceremonies such as the potlatch and sun dance.

41. Policies of Assimilation: Enfranchisement
Until 1951, the Indian Act defined a person as "an individual other than an Indian."
To become a "person" as defined by the act, First Nations people had to enfranchise, giving up their status under the Indian Act.
The Canadian government believed that the offer of enfranchisement would encourage First Nations people to give up their Indian status.
Cultural suppression was one tool of assimilation, but the main instrument of assimilation, for many years, was enfranchisement.

42. Most First Nations people refused to give up their status and First Nations identity voluntarily.
Between 1859 and 1920, only about 250 First Nations people became enfranchised. That number increased after 1920, when the government allowed First Nations people living off reserves to vote if they accepted enfranchisement.
However, the idea of enfranchisement was not often looked upon as a viable option by the majority of First Nations people.
However, like many government attempts at assimilation, voluntary enfranchisement did not work the way the government had hoped.

43. Policies of Assimilation: Aboriginal Participation in World War I
Despite the sacrifices they made to fight for Canada in the First World War, the Canadian government excluded First Nations, Metis, and Inuit veterans from any of the post-war programs they established for other soldiers.
For example, First Nations veterans did not qualify to receive farmland as other First World War veterans did.
In addition, many First Nations veterans could not return to live on their reserves because they had been forced to give up their Indian status when they enlisted.
The hardships many veterans faced upon their return to Canada forced some men to become politically active and fight for better rights for First Nations people in Canada.
During the First World War ( ), many Aboriginal people volunteered for military service. The exact number who volunteered is not known, but it is estimated that more than 4000 First Nations people fought for Canada during the First World War. It is not known how many Metis and Inuit people joined Canadian forces. A number of Aboriginal women volunteered as nurses in the war, as well.