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Conference to mark signing of Robinson-Huron Treaty — conference will delve into treaties between Crown and natives
Updated 12 days ago
An upcoming conference will delve into the complex relationships that exist around treaties between the Crown and First Nations.
"I feel the Canadian government and a lot of Canadians don't really understand what these things are and what they mean," said Karl Hele, a Montreal-based professor of first peoples studies, who will coordinate the conference in Sault Ste. Marie.
A long list of speakers -- international scholars, representatives of First Nations, and nonnative experts -- are scheduled to speak at the Aug. 10-13 conference, held to honour the 160th anniversary of the Sept. 9 signing of the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850.
Hele, a member of Garden River First Nation, said he often hears the argument that one part of Canadian society should not have a treaty with another.
"But the treaties were signed so one part of society could settle and actually use the land that the other group already owned," said Hele.
Where there are native rights involved, there are also nonnative treaty rights, said Hele, who will head Concordia University's new first people studies program.
"The (Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850) gave the Canadian government the ability to mine minerals along the North Shore. Without that treaty, they had no right to do so," he said.
Hele will speak at the conference on the implications of recognizing the Robinson Huron treaty as an international document.
"I'm going to argue the 1850 treaty and the other treaties around it, but mainly the 1850 one, confirm international rights for people living on either side of the shore (of the St. Mary's River) because they were involved in the negotiation," said Hele.
The treaty document itself was signed by the community on both sides of the river -- Garden River and Batchewana to the north, and Bay Mills and Sault Tribe to the south -- as well as Metis.
Aside from that, "A lot of the information that went into the treaty was learned by Canadian officials from (their counterparts on) the American side of the river," said Hele.
"Neither the U.S. or Canadian governments ever recognized that really," he said.
The implications are numerous.
The U.S., while it recognizes the Jay Treaty to some extent, should also be taking this more recent treaty into account as it tightens border security post 9/11, said Hele.
"The Canadian government needs to recognize that people in Sault, Mich. have rights in Sault, Canada. That has not been recognized," he said.
This has the potential to affect not only border security issues, but hunting rights, annuities and other cross-border issues, said Hele.
The conference will include an excursion north of Sault Ste. Marie to Mica Bay, on the north shore of Lake Superior. Mica Bay is the site of the historical confrontation, in November 1849, between Quebec and Lake superior Mining Association and the chiefs of Garden River and Batchewana, in the lead-up to the treaties being signed.
The Honourable Justice Stephen O'Neil, who served as legal council for Garden River First Nation for the Highway 17 negotiations, will be guest speaker at a banquet in Garden River. An original play titled Reservations will be performed by TeePeaceTheatreCo., of Garden River.
A delegate from New Zealand will speak at the conference of indigenous treaty issues in that country.
"The Maori, under their treaty, have very successfully asserted rights to be consulted on various issues involving land use, water use, resource use," said Hele.
Other delegates will speak to the harm done by theSoldier's Settlement Act,a First World War decree that confiscated reserve land and granted it to returning soldiers.
"They never farmed it, they just logged it and abandoned it," said Hele.
Chief Isadore Day, of Serpent River First Nation, is expected to speak about that community's efforts to move past the harm done by years of uranium mining.
