Treaty 8 And The Douglas Treaties

There were no treaties signed in most of British Columbia because it was too costly and the federal government lost interest in the First Nations land. Europeans did not reach British Columbia until the late 1700s, after the signing of the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Most of the First Nations communities in B.C. did not sign treaties with the Crown. There were only two treaties that were signed with the Crown, Treaty 8 which “covers northern alberta and part of the nwt, stretches over the northeastern corner of bc” (Kulchyski 68), and the Douglas Treaties on Vancouver Island. The fur trade was a major moment at this time, and the Hudson’s Bay Company took part in it. James Douglas was the chief of the HBC and he had the responsibility for colonising

He wrote to the main office in London asking to support him in colonising B.C. by paying for the treaties. The British agreed with the policy, but they did not want to pay for the treaties. Due to the British not wanting to pay for the treaties, Douglas refused negotiating treaties with the First Nations. He did not want to have to raise the taxes, and because of that, First Nations in British Columbia (except for those who signed Treaty 8 and the Douglas Treaties) did not have to surrender their Aboriginal title to the land. Soon after, Douglas started to make reserves for the First Nations on their traditional settlements. British Columbia became a part of Canada in 1871, and the federal government assumed authority for the First Nations and their land “in accordance with the british north America act of 1867” (Kulchyski 69). Reserves were supposed to be the land held for the First Nations by the crown; these reserves were not a part of the treaty process in B.C. due to having no treaties. The province had control of the crown lands and the federal government did not fight for the B.C. Aboriginal titles because they lost interest in the

has title to the land owing to the fact that the Canada did not own the land in the first place and how Canada forgets about the land and the people on it. British Columbia has a history of Aboriginal political struggle. It began in the 19th century when the Aboriginals began to push the government for treaties and land claims. They investigated these problems and David Mackay spoke for the Nisga’a people saying “what we don’t like about the government is their saying this: ‘we will give you this much land.’ how can they give it when it is our own? we cannot understand it” (Kulchyski 101). The Nisga’a people were the predominant group of people that fought for their land rights; they took it to petition, however it failed. There was a second royal commission, and Gideon Minesque spoke for the Nisga’a people once again, talking about how the Europeans are dreaming that the land belongs to them while in reality, it actually belongs to the Nisga’a people. This land issue affected everyone greatly to the point where a new organization was created for intense lobbying; they were called the Allied Tribes of British Columbia. Canada also forgot about the land that they actually owned. They had forgotten about Lubicon Lake Cree (part of Treaty 8) as they did not get a reserve. The government realized that the Lubicon Lake Cree people were entitled to their reserve in 1930, however, they