Keewatin v. Minister of Natural Resources

Part 4. Euro-Canadian History 1758-1871 12pertinent to whether they deliberately mentioned the Dominion Government in the HarvestingClause at least in part to protect Treaty Harvesting Rights.[80] Milloy also provided background about the history of British/Indian relations in BritishNorth America, including the American colonies prior to the American Revolution. He said theImperial government deliberately placed the administration of Indian Affairs under centralizedcontrol and kept it out of the hands of local colonists. It was a firmly established Imperial policy,informed by various factors and circumstances that he outlined during his evidence.[81] He said that at the beginning of the Seven Years War, to further its North Americanmilitary interests the British Imperial Government created a department in 1756 to cultivate goodrelations with the Indians. It had learned that the Indians would align with the French if theywere treated poorly by the British. (Milloy, October 9, 2009.)[82] Even after Quebec and Montreal fell in 1759 and 1760 and the British became militarilydominant in what had been New France, the defence of North America continued to be fraughtwith difficulty. Due to ongoing hostilities on the frontier, Indian Superintendent Sir WilliamJohnson met with Indian tribes at Detroit in 1761, in an unsuccessful attempt to broker a peacearrangement. In 1763, Indian massacres of civilians and soldiers and attacks over several monthson Forts Niagara, Pitt and Detroit, among others were causing panic across the frontier.2011 ONSC 4801 (CanLII)[83] The Board of Trade, the advisor to the Imperial Government on colonial matters,suggested that Britain's continuing difficulty in managing and recruiting North American Indiansas allies was stemming from interference by local settlers and governments. It rejected a militaryapproach, favouring "conciliating the minds of the Indians by the mildness of His Majesty'sGovernment," and recommended that the Imperial Government interpose itself between theIndians and colonial governments/merchants/traders. It should manage its relationships with theIndians from the top, i.e., directly from Whitehall. Prevention of local interference in Indianmatters, together with the recognition of Indian tenure to unceded lands and their preservation asIndian hunting grounds, would be the cornerstone of conciliation.The Royal Proclamation of 1763[84] The Royal Proclamation of 1763 that resulted from that recommendation included thefollowing:And whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our Interest, and the Security of our Colonies,that the several Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected, and who live under ourProtection, should not be molested or disturbed in the Possession of such Parts of Our Dominions andTerritories as, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are reserved to them, or any of them, astheir Hunting Grounds -- We do therefore, with the Advice of our Privy Council, declare it to be ourRoyal Will and Pleasure, that no Governor or Commander in Chief in any of our Colonies … dopresume, upon any Pretence whatever, to grant Warrants of Survey, or pass any Patents for Landsbeyond the Bounds of their respective Governments… that no Governor or Commander in Chief inany of our other Colonies or Plantations in America … until our further Pleasure be known, to grantWarrants of Survey, or pass Patents for any Lands beyond the Heads or Sources of any of the Riverswhich fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the West and North West, or upon any Lands whatever,