Intergovernmental Relations
Treaties
Treaties in Canada began with the
peace
and friendship treaties of the eighteenth century.
These treaties were not about the surrender of land. They were
negotiated to obtain First Nations' economic and military
cooperation. By 1830, the administration
of Indian affairs was
under civilian control. The goal of the colonial government's
Indian policy was to assimilate Aboriginal people, who were
expected to become Christian and give up their distinctive
cultural practices. In 1850, the negotiation of land cession and
surrender treaties began in Upper Canada. From 1871 through 1921, numbered
treaties
1 through 11 were concluded across the Canadian West and in parts
of the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The contemporary
comprehensive
land claims (treaty) process began with the 1975 James Bay
and Northern Quebec Agreement.
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(left) Copy of Treaty No. 6, 1876
CMC E 78 C2 T73 no. 6
Land cession and surrender treaties numbers 1 to 11 were signed
between 1871 and 1921. They were based on a pattern established
in 1850 in present-day Ontario. Treaty No. 6 (1876) included
famine, pestilence and medicine chest provisions, an indication
of the precarious conditions experienced by Native peoples at
the time.
Early "peace and friendship" treaties tried to establish
equal relations between colonial and Aboriginal governments.
After Confederation, numbered treaties dealt with the surrender
of Aboriginal land title to the Dominion of Canada. Today's
comprehensive land claims are modern treaties with ideals similar
to those expressed in the peace and friendship treaties.
(right) Medal
1975
Government of Canada
Metal, pasteboard, acrylic and laminated wood
Canadian Museum of Civilization, I-A-1036 a,b, D2002-013318, CD2002-346
This medal was awarded to Cree and Inuit leaders who signed the
1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, the first
comprehensive land claim agreement, or modern treaty, of the
contemporary era. It recalls the tradition of awarding medals to
Native leaders in the days of peace and friendship treaties (the
1700s).
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