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In the recently published final report for the IPinCH-supported project, , Michael Asch (Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta), Allyshia West, Neil Vallance, Aimee Craft, and Kelsey Wrightson look at historical treaty relationships as a potential tool for solving current issues between Indigenous groups and settlers.
The key problem addressed by the report is the federal and provincial government鈥檚 claim of jurisdiction over First Nations heritage, including the 鈥渁rtifacts, cultural remains, and human remains of people who were here long before the state ever existed.鈥�
The idea for the research project came from the insistence of the Supreme Court of Canada that鈥攃ontrary to conventional beliefs鈥攖he commissioners involved in the historic British Columbia treaties had been truthful to First Nations, and that the treaties had not been made under dishonest pretenses. Asch and colleagues worked with this premise, developing a new method in which they compared First Nations鈥� oral accounts of the treaties to primary historical documents written by Commissioner Alexander Morris and his contemporaries. As Asch explains, 鈥渞ather than saying that the written [treaties] represent our position鈥鈥檓 saying what the commissioners said represents our position. The [treaties] just memorialize it, maybe incompletely.鈥�
The team analyzed six treaties and documents associated with them, including the Manitoulin Island Treaties (Treaty 45; 1836 & 1862); Vancouver Island Treaties (also known as the Douglas Treaties; 1850-1854); the Stone Fort Treaty (Treaty 1); Treaty 4; Treaty 6; and Treaty 11.
Asch argues that there was a sense of mutual respect in the development of these historical treaties, and that the goal was not to 鈥渢ake things away from people. It was to work with them, for the betterment of all of us.鈥�
The report also highlights a narrative that is often forgotten: that of the settlers who attempted to make fair deals with First Nations. Understanding this side of history is important, Asch says, because 鈥渦nless you have a sense of your own history, and [you] can say 鈥榟ere鈥檚 who I am and here鈥檚 how I understand things鈥�, then you鈥檙e not a reliable ally.鈥�
Photo: M. Albano ()
Alexa Walker is an M.A. Candidate in the Department of Archaeology at 51社区黑料, and the Research Assistant for the IPinCH Bioarchaeology WG.