Treaty Federalism Indigenous Peoples Flashcards
First Nations
-Legally referred to as Indians
-registered under the Indian Act (or could register to it)
Inuit
-Indigenous peoples located in the Arctic
-never registered under the Indian Act
Metis
-Red River Settlement 19th century
-never registered under the Indian Act
RCAP
royal commission on aboriginal peoples
Kanesatake Resistance/Oka Crisis
Municipality in Quebec (oka) had a golf course. Developers wanted to expand. Mayor agreed. Mohawk didn’t want that, land was an ancestral graveyard. So they resisted. Blocked the road. Police were there. FN from all over came to support. Stand off for 78 days.
Proc’d the RCAP
4 hx stages: stage 1: separate worlds
-Before the 16th century
-Unknown unknowns on either side of the Atlantic
-variety of political organizations and life styles impacted by surrounding environment
-existence of confederal political arrangements
4 hx stages: stage 2: nation to nation relations
-16th to early 19th century
1. Mutual curiosity and apprehension
2. An exchange of goods (fundamentally unfair)
3. Trade deals, friendships, intermarriage
4. Military and trade alliances
Royal Proclamation of 1763
-Defines the rules that governed British dealing with FN
-FN are not to be “molested or disturbed” on their lands
-balance and shared sovereignty
4 hx stages: stage 3: respect gives way to domination
-1800 to 1970s
-by 1812 immigrants outnumbered FN 10:1
-dying fur trade, no need of old economic partnership
-new economy needs land, not labor, from FN
-timber, minerals, agriculture
-British didnt need FN as allies anymore
-idea that FN would be better off if assimilated
3 key features of ideology of moral and civilizational superiority
1: FN inferior and unable to govern themselves, CDN knows best
2: special relationship of respect and sharing enshrined in the treaties was a historical anomaly with no more force or meaning (disregard for treaties)
3: European ideas about progress and self development were self-evidently correct and could be imposed on FN without valuing their opinions and rights
BNA Act 1867
-“Indians and Lands reserved for the Indians” are for the federal government to deal with
-federal laws replaced traditional FN government with band councils who had minimal power
-fed government took over resources and reserve finances
Residential schools
-cultural genocide
-children taken as young as 6
-forbidden from speaking their language
-forced to reject culture
-deprivation, abuse
4 hx stages: stage 4: renewal and renegotiation
-1970s-today
White paper
-1969
-End the indian act, Indians are invited to become fully CDN
-End of distinction status
-dissolution of the department of Indian affairs
Repeal the Indian act
Calder vs Attorney General of British Columbia
-“the fact is that when the settlers came, the Indians were there, organized in societies and occupying the land as their forefathers had done for centuries. This is what Indian title means…”
-rejection of terra nullius
-the existing aboriginal and Treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed
What are the 4 key principles as a basis of a renewed relationship?
Recognition
Respect
Sharing
Responsibility
Why recognition?
-recognize FN are OGs
-Distinctive rights and responsibilities
-non FN are also of this land now
-see each as partners
Why respect?
-positive mutual regard between FN and settlers
-dissuasion from one dominating over the other
-FN culture holds value
Why sharing?
-giving and receiving benefits in fair measure
-basis that Canada was founded on
-central to the treaties
Why responsibility?
-hallmark of a mature relationship
-be accountable
Treaty federalism
Treaties are an integral part of the constitutional order
-FN are equal partners
-a concept that allows FN to retake control of their lives
Treaty Federalism basic rationale
-the premise that FN are self determining policies with their own distinctive legal and political orders
-crown and FN have established mechanisms to coordinate their respective spheres of jurisdiction
-mutually agreed upon boundaries of self rule and shared rule
How do Modern treaties work?
-FN signatories agree to cede, release, suspend, or modify their aboriginal rights and titles in the claimed area
-in exchange, they receive monetary compensation and legal ownership on a specific clearly delineated territory
-hunting and trapping rights
-regional Governance system
-sometimes revenue sharing formulas if resources extraction is involved
