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03 August 2011
Treaty making, what is it?
The earliest contact happened on the east coast with the French and English. At first there was warfare as who was to colonize the new world. The English later gained the upper hand, thus began the sequence of Indian policy, as the atmosphere of the era was the “Indian problem” Hereditary Chief Pontiac and his alliance was burning forts around the great lakes. A governing regime needs access to lands in order to govern.
Treaty 1 to Treaty 8 in Alberta came into being with vague promises relating to education, lands etc. The idea remains the same, unfettered access to native lands.
In the Province of B.C. there was one Treaty called the J treaty. For the rest of us, there was no Treaty, however; there was incursion of the traders, the gold rush and the Telegraph trail project, later the escalation of logging in our time 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, thus the “Indian problem continues, hardly a climate for investment in B.C. In 1990, Price Waterhouse calculated the cost of not settling land claims to be $1 billion in lost investment and 1,500 jobs a year in the mining and forestry sectors alone.
Legal Factors
Since 1973 a series of landmark judgements have addressed the issues of aboriginal rights and title. The Delgam’uukxw case is widely seen as a turning point for negotiations. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that aboriginal title is a right to the land itself not just a right to hunt fish and gather. Here we are in 2011, we do not accept the cookie cutter model of land selection. We say the law of the land has to be implemented. The Province and the Federal governments are listening to what they call an Alternative to examine how reconciliation will or can happen with the Gitxsan. Accommodation has to happen on 33,000 sq. km. of pre existing Gitxsan lands. The courts are always wary of their parameters therefore can only address remedies in the best interest of all. We agree and wish us the best in the days to come.
Art Wilson
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