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Copyright/Source
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1867 - 1870: British North America Act, 1867 and
Sale of Selkirk Treaty Lands (1869)
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Following Confederation, Aboriginal
treaties were no longer negotiated by representatives of the British
Colonial Office, they were negotiated by representatives of the
Canadian government. With this new era came old - and some new -
problems. In 1869, the Métis
and Aboriginal allies resisted the transfer of land covered in the
Selkirk Treaty
back to the federal government.
Topics in this section:
The British North America Act, 1867
Sale of Selkirk Treaty Lands, 1869
The British North America Act, 1867
Canada, 1867
Under Section
91 of the British
North America Act, 1867, the newly created federal government
had constitutional responsibility and authority over Aboriginals
and any land that was to be reserved for them. Responsibility for
treaty making was ultimately given to the Prime Minister, although
the cabinet,
the Privy
Council, the Secretary of State for the Provinces and the Minister
of the Interior would also have important roles to play during any
future negotiations.
The Canadian government sought to remove Aboriginals from their
land in large blocks and place them in smaller reserves
in order to enfranchise
them, and eventually assimilate
them into white society. This stance was taken to quickly and cheaply
clear the west for anticipated European settlement.
There is evidence that the government tried to act on the behalf
of all Aboriginal people in fairness and good faith during negotiations.
However, some Aboriginals and many Métis people soon came
to distrust the government's motives after it bought land they lived
on from the Hudson's
Bay Company without their input.
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The American government spent around
$20 million annually to forcibly remove Aboriginal
settlers living on the U.S. plains during bloody
conflicts of the 1870s. In comparison, the Canadian
government spent slightly more than $730,000 between
1875 and 1905 on costs related to its Aboriginal
treaties. There was also comparatively little
bloodshed in Canada during this period.
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Sale of Selkirk Treaty Lands,
1869
Copyright/Source
In 1869, the Hudson's Bay Company sold land to the federal government
of Canada that had been covered by the Selkirk
Treaty of 1817. This angered Aboriginal nations who had
signed the treaty - including the Métis, whom had never secured
any rights to the land despite being half-Aboriginal. This was one
of the leading causes of the Red
River Rebellion.
This sowed the seeds of deep distrust among many Prairie Aboriginals.
Many began to fear that any treaties they signed in the future would
be meaningless. Some Aboriginals were so upset that they began to
block settlers and railway surveyors from crossing into their territorial
land. It was in this climate that the federal government would have
to negotiate its Numbered
Treaties.
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