About Aboriginal and Treaty RightsWhat are Aboriginal Rights?Aboriginal Peoples in Canada have Aboriginal rights which derive from their historical presence as self-governingpeoples who asserted sovereignty over the land before the European colonization of Canada. Some Aboriginal rightsinclude Aboriginal title to the land and water, hunting, fishing, or trapping rights that are not addressed in a Treaty, notto be subject to taxes or custom duties, and the right to self-determination.Aboriginal rights and Aboriginal title are ‘collective rights’ held by the First Nation or Inuit Peoples and existingAboriginal rights are protected under Canada’s constitution.What are Treaty Rights?While Aboriginal rights are considered to be “inherent” rights, rights that Aboriginal Peoples have held since ‘timeimmemorial’, Treaty rights are derived from negotiations between the First Nations and Inuit Peoples and the Europeannations. These rights are set out in a treaty document outlining the specific rights of both the Aboriginal Peoples andthe Crown.However, there is disagreement regarding many Treaty rights because there are differences between what wasnegotiated orally and the promises made by the representatives of the Crown, and the complex legal written text of theTreaties. The principal issues are regarding sovereignty to the land and the authority of the British (now FederalCrown) over First Nations and Inuit Peoples. The Supreme Court of Canada is now accepting other historical evidenceother than the written versions of the treaties, and is taking into account the First Nations and Inuit perspectives of whatwas negotiated in the treaties.There are several different types of treaties that have been signed with the First Nations and Inuit Peoples over time inCanada. Initially, Treaties of Peace and Friendship were negotiated between the Europeans and the First Nationsfor the purposes of commerce, trade and military alliances.The British finally seized control from France over much of North America in 1763. The Royal Proclamation of1763 was issued by King George III. This Proclamation attempted to address self-determination issuesregarding religion, language and culture raised by the conquered French colonialists living in the area knownas Quebec and the First Nation peoples concerns raised regarding military alliances and territorial matters,specifically the encroachment of European settlers into their territory. - Note -(the war commonly calledPontiac’s Rebellion is usually stipulated as the cause for the RP of 1763 –The French did not cause the RP 1763, theChief known as Pontiac and his ‘uprising’ did. The French were soon to be defeated in North America but were still athreat because of alliances with the Odawa, Seneca and other nation)..The Royal Proclamation of 1763 established a formal and legal process where only the British (now federal)Crown would be able to acquire land from First Nations Peoples. Note - (It is noted that the First NationPeople were not being treated fairly with crooked deals and the First Nation People would complain and thatis why it was decided that no private deals should occur). These new types of treaties, now known asHistoric Indian Treaties, were considered by the Crown to be forms of ‘real estate deals’ and werenegotiated between 1764 and 1930. In general, First Nations peoples would ‘surrender’ their lands in returnfor money, annuity payments (Treaty money), reserves, and protection from the European settlers.Additional Treaty rights include health care (a medicine chest), agricultural equipment, livestock, ammunition,clothing, establishment and maintenance of schools on reserves (Residential and Day <strong>School</strong>s), and the retention ofhunting, fishing, and trapping rights. Every Treaty is unique and not all First Nations or Inuit Peoples are part of aTreaty.<strong>Educating</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Educators</strong> – <strong>Educating</strong> <strong>Our</strong> Aboriginal StudentsRevised <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>44
Many treat the Royal Proclamation of 1763 as a unilateral declaration of the Crown's sovereignty over FirstNations and Inuit Peoples and their land. However, the Royal Proclamation is only a part of the Treaty ofNiagara, a treaty that was negotiated between 24 First Nations and the Crown in1764.While the British Crown’s representative presented written words to the First Nations Peoples, the wordsspoken at the Niagara Treaty negotiations were preserved in belts of wampum, woven of hundreds of shellbeads. The Wampum Belts bore symbols that had become familiar to the Nations: the figure of a humanwas the sign of a Nation: humans holding hands meant friendship or common purpose; a diamond orhexagon symbolized a council fire of a nation; a white line was the symbol of the straight path of peace orcommunication.The Covenant Chain Wampum Belt preserves the Treaty of Niagara of 1764 that ratified the RoyalProclamation of 1763. The Covenant Chain belt bore symbols of two men holding hands, with the links of achain at each end, and the year 1764 worked into the design. Note - The design specifically represents anEnglishman and a First Nation person not just any two people.The Annual Presents Wampum Belt depicts the twenty-four nations holding hands, with a rock BritishNorth America (Canada) at one end (right) of the belt and a ship at the other end (left). The promise“spoken” into the belt was that the British would always deliver the presents from the King each year; thatshould they forget, the Nations would reach across the ocean and pull the ship by its cable to (Canada).The Two Row Wampum Belt symbolizes the Treaty of 1613, that was renewed 1764 at Niagara. When theHaudenosaunee first came into contact with the European nations, treaties of peace and friendship weremade. Each was symbolized by the Two Row Wampum Belt. There is a bed of white wampum whichsymbolizes the purity of the agreement. There are two rows of purple, and those two rows have the spirit ofthe ancestors of the Haudenosaunee, First Nation, and European Peoples. There are three beads ofwampum separating the two rows and they symbolize peace, friendship and respect. These two rowssymbolize two paths or two vessels, traveling down the same river together. One, a birch bark canoe will befor the Indian people, their laws, their customs and their ways. The other, a ship, will be for the white peopleand their laws, their customs, and their ways. Each will travel the river together, side by side, but in our ownboats. Neither will try to steer the other's vessel.<strong>Educating</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Educators</strong> – <strong>Educating</strong> <strong>Our</strong> Aboriginal StudentsRevised <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>45