A brief historical overview

Based on Chapter 8 of Counterpoints

 

Aboriginal Nations Looking back and comparing to the Indian Act 1876 encouraged Native peoples to give up their language and culture 

Pros Cons

       Provided schools, medical care, hunting, fishing rights, & annual treaty payments       Exempted Aboriginal peoples from paying income and sales tax       Gave “special status” to Aboriginal peoples

       Aboriginal peoples denied the right to own land, & the right to vote in provincial elections       Aboriginal peoples lost their status if they lived off reserves, joined the military, obtained higher education, or married a non-Indian       Traditional activities (potlatch) were outlawed, art & memorabilia was shipped to museums, & reserve lands were consistently made smaller 

•Canada becoming bilingual/ multicultural society,

• more diverse if consider First Nations: original residents of this land.

•1960: Right to vote•did little to improve living conditions on reserves

•poverty, poor health, inadequate housing & education.

•Some tried their luck in cities• often lacked education, job skills, & ability to adapt to urban life, faced hostility & discrimination.

•1968 National Indian Brotherhood

•lobby for Aboriginals on reserves.

•Trudeau’s Liberal gov’t proposed policy outlined in the White Paper of 1969.

•White Paper=a document that a government puts forth for discussion.

•Trudeau & Indian Affairs Minister, Jean Chétien, felt Aboriginal peoples should be treated exactly like other citizens want to abolish special rights on the reserves, eg: no income tax, do more to encourage Aboriginals to leave reserves & work in mainstream Canadian society.

•Aboriginal peoples furious White Paper=attack on maintaining their unique identity.

•National Indian Brotherhood instead of assimilation into “white” society wanted self-government & control over own affairs.

•Present Citizens Plus, or the “Red Paper”a surprised Jean Chétien shelved the White Paperdidn’t offer a new policy.

Educational ConcernsEducational Concerns 

•Residential schools abandoned in 1969.•Aboriginal peoples took over education in “band schools”could study own language and culture.•Secondary education was not available, many students attend government-run “boarding home program” in schools in Vancouver and New Westminster.•In 1990 Phil Fontaine, a prominent Aboriginal chief and lawyer, fought to get compensation for abuses Native children suffered in residential schoolsIn 1998 $350 million healing fund 

Environmental ConcernsEnvironmental Concerns 

•Aboriginal groups concerned hydroelectric & natural gas projects would endanger traditional activities of hunting, fishing, and trapping.•1970’s Inuit, Métis, and Indian Brotherhood (later Dene) of the Yukon and Northwest Territories struggled to halt construction oil & natural gas pipelines that were to run through their lands in the Mackenzie valleylobbied government.•Berger Commission1977: recommended construction of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline be suspended for ten years pending in-depth environmental study & negotiations w/ Aboriginal peoples about financial compensation, self-government, and other issues.•By 2000, Aboriginal peoples were open to idea of a pipeline & stressed control and some ownership of the project.•In 1980’s~1990s Cree residents of Northern Quebec halted a Hydro Project which threatened to flood some of their ancestral territories.

The Path to Self-GovernmentThe Path to Self-Government 

•1980s Assembly of First Nations • represent selves vs federal gov’t.•Pressured gov’t during constitutional negotiations

•Aboriginals entrenched in the Charter of Rights and Freedom•1985 Bill C-31 gave Aboriginal band councils power to decide who had right to live on reserves

•(before=Department of Indian Affairs)

•Question of self-government=control over their resources would allow them to tackle social & health concerns in their communities.

Aboriginal land claims•Specific claims=First Nations’ claims to land based on belief that gov’t did not fulfill its obligations under treaty or other agreement related to money, land, or other assets.•Comprehensive claims=Assertion of right of Aboriginal nations to large tracts of land because their ancestors were the original inhabitants.

Oka ConfrontationOka Confrontation  •Disputed land in Oka, QuebecOka town council wanted to expand a golf course into land Mohawks at nearby Kanesatake reserve considered sacred.•Mohawk warrior society blockaded the land•July 11th, 1990, police advanced on Mohawk lines, gunfire broke out, an officer was killed.•Police blockaded Kanesatake—Mohawks from the neaby Kahnawake reserve barricaded the road to a bridge which ran through their reserve, blocking access to part of Montrealviolent confrontations between Quebeckers, police and Mohawks.•Across Canada, other Aboriginal groups blockaded highways & railways in support.•Robert Bourassa (Premier) called in the Canadian Forces.•Disputed land was purchased by the federal government and given to KanesatakeFirst Nations prepared to fight for their rights. 

Land Claims in British ColumbiaLand Claims in British Columbia  •Land claims in

B.C.=Comprehensive•The Royal Proclamation of 1763 declared that “any lands whatever, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by us, … are reserved to the … Indians.”•Opponents=deny the 1763 proclamation is validoAssert that Canada exercise traditional rights of “discoverers and conquerors.”oThe land ceased long ago to belong to the First Nationswithout written records its difficult for First Nations to prove continuous occupation.         History of land claims go as far back as a centuryo 1887=Nisga’a, original occupants of the Nass Valley, began asserting their land rightso 1992-made a land claim (first group) even when the Indian Act made it illegal to raise funds for land claims     

Nisga’aTerritory

1993 won partial victory when Supreme Court of Canada acknowledged the concept of Aboriginal title (right to land) did indeed exist

oThen, two neighbouring nations, the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en took land claim to court=Delgamuluukw case

o In 1996=Nisga’a offered a settlement entitling them to 8% of their original claimed land, ownership of forests, and partial profits from salmon fisheries and hydro developmentright to develop own municipal government and policing$190 million over fifteen years in compensation for lost land.

o In 1998=Supreme Court defined “Aboriginal title” in ruling on the Delgamullukw case=Aboriginal groups could claim ownership of land if they can prove that they occupied the land before the Canadian government claimed sovereignty, and that they occupied it continuously and exclusively.

o Opponents=feared more expensive land disputes would come about and business feared that future court causes would hurt their investments on the land.

o BC Government decided no vote would be held over the issue because the majority cannot fairly decide on the rights of the minority. 

Gitksan territory

But then Gordon Campbell came into power…

• 2002: New Liberal gov’t holds “mail in” referendum in effort to challenge supreme court’s approval of the Nisga’a treaty

• Outrage amongst many groups in BC: Highly controversial: critics challenge questions, format, legality, implications and purpose.

• Many groups call on people to spoil ballots or send them to First Nations for burning ceremonies

• Only 36% of ballots returned to gov’t, 90% of those ballots that were not spoiled predictably voted “yes”

April 2 to May 15, 2002 • Elections BC mailed 2,127,829 referendums to registered Prov voters. • Additional 16,930 packages mailed to unregistered voters or to voters

who had moved and did not receive their original referendum package.

• 26,702 individuals returned voting materials by the deadline that were not considered during the ballot count because they did not meet the requirements of the Treaty Negotiations Referendum Regulation.

• 763,480 ballots were considered during the count, representing 35.83% of total registered voters. 90% voted in favour of the 8 questions posed in the referendum

1. Private property should not be expropriated for treaty settlements. 2. The terms and conditions of leases and licences should be respected; fair

compensation for unavoidable disruption of commercial interests should be ensured.

3. Hunting, fishing and recreational opportunities on Crown land should be ensured for allBritish Columbians.

4. Parks and protected areas should be maintained for the use and benefit of all British Columbians.

5. Province-wide standards of resource management and environmental protection should continue to apply.

6. Aboriginal self-government should have the characteristics of local government, with powers delegated from Canada and British Columbia.

7. Treaties should include mechanisms for harmonizing land use planning between Aboriginal governments and neighbouring local governments.

8. The existing tax exemptions for Aboriginal people should be phased out

A Powerful Force for ChangeA Powerful Force for Change  The creation of the territory of Nunavut in 1999 resulted from the Largest treaty ever negotiated in Canadao Inuit gained political control of some 1.6 million square kilometers on the Eastern Arctic. o Importance=Aboriginal claims and self-government will continue to be a powerful force for change in shaping the nation into the 21st century.