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1868 First Nations Were Never Consulted About Rupert's Land Act and The North-Western Territory Order.(In Progress)
BLOG POST posted on Octobre 9, 2012 by Craig
Blog posts are the work of individual contributors, reflecting their thoughts, opinions and research.
"Not all dealings between the Canadian state and Aboriginal peoples in the 19th Century were amicable. In 1869-70, as the young government of Canada prepared for the handover of Rupert’s Land and the Northwest to its jurisdiction, it neglected to consult the existing inhabitants, either the First Nations or the mixed-heritage Métis community in the Red River region."(*1)
" This Act may be cited as "Rupert's Land Act, 1868........7. For the purpose of the present agreement, the Fertile Belt is to be bounded as follows: --On the south by the United States' boundary; on the west by the Rocky Mountains; on the north by the northern branch of the Saskatchewan; on the east by Lake Winnipeg, the Lake of the Woods, and the waters connecting them......That the colonization of the fertile lands of the Saskatchewan, the Assiniboine, and the Red River districts; the development of the mineral wealth which abounds in the regions of The NorthWest; and the extension of commercial intercourse through the British possessions in America from the Atlantic to the Pacific.......And furthermore, that, upon the transference of the territories in question to the Canadian Government, the claims of the Indian tribes to compensation for lands required for purposes of settlement will be considered and settled in conformity with the equitable principles which have uniformly governed the British Crown in its dealings with the aborigines...(The Senate, Tuesday, December 17, 1867.)" (*2)
Notes:
(*1) http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/pub/boo-bro/abo-aut/chapter-chapitre-04-eng.asp"
(*2)http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/rlo_1870.html
(*3) (Map 1870) http://postalhistorycorner.blogspot.ca/2010/11/1966-northwest-territories-and-yukon.html
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