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Non-Insured Health Benefits - First Nations, Inuit and Aboriginal Health hc-sc.gc.ca | The First Nations/Inuit/M?tis Health Initiative rcpsc.medical.org |
The relationship between the Canadian Crown and Aboriginal peoples of Canada stretches back to the first interactions between European colonialists and North American indigenous peoples. Over centuries of interaction, treaties were established concerning the monarch and aboriginal tribes. Canada's First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples have, like the Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand,[1] come to generally view these agreements as being not between they and the ever-changing Cabinet, but instead with the continuous Crown of Canada, as embodied in the reigning sovereign.[2] These agreements with the Crown of Canada are administered by Canadian Aboriginal law and overseen by the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.[3][4]
[edit] Relations
Canada's aboriginal peoples have been described as "strongly supportive of the monarchy,"[6][7][8] – having a strong sense of "kinship" with the institution that takes on familial aspects[9] – based on the history and substance of the relationship between them and the Crown, and the latter's inherent stability and continuity, as opposed to the transitory nature of populist whims.[10][11][12] [edit] Nature and definitionThe affiliation between the Aboriginal peoples of Canada and that country's reigning monarch is said to be a mutual one; "cooperation will be a cornerstone for partnership between Canada and First Nations, wherein Canada is the short-form reference to Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada."[13] Governing this are the various treaties signed by aboriginal leaders and agents of the Crown, wherein aboriginal rights are defined and their sovereignty is reconciled with that of the monarch for "as long as the sun shines, grass grows and rivers flow."[13][14] The main guide for relations between the monarchy and Canadian First Nations is King George III's Royal Proclamation of 1763,[15] which is regarded by First Nations as their Magna Carta and remains a part of the Canadian constitution,[16] though it is regarded by aboriginals as still binding on both the Canadian and British Crowns.[17] The document set parts of the King's North American realm aside for colonists and reserved others for the First Nations, thereby affirming native title to their lands and making clear that, though under the sovereignty of the Crown, the aboriginal bands were autonomous political units in a "nation-to-nation" association with non-native governments,[18] with the monarch as the intermediary.[19] This created not only a "constitutional and moral basis of alliance" between indigenous Canadians and the Canadian state as personified in the monarch,[15] but also a fiduciary affiliation in which the Crown is constitutionally charged with providing certain guarantees to the First Nations,[18][15] as affirmed in Sparrow v. The Queen,[20] meaning that the "honour of the Crown" is at stake in dealings between it and First Nations leaders.[13] The monarch may not always seen by First Nations leaders as supreme; in a speech given sometime between 1812 and 1817, Chief Peguis of the Ojibwa stated that even King George III, though he was called the Great Father, was below the Great Spirit and could not claim the lands of the spirit as his own.[21] Nor has the nature of the legal interaction between Canadian sovereign and First Nations leaders always been supported: The 1969 White Paper proposed that aboriginal peoples in Canada be recognised by the Crown in the same fashion as non-native Canadians; a notion that was opposed by Status Indians, though it was later supported by the Reform Party, which viewed the special treaty rights as racist.[15]  Given the "divided" nature of the Crown, the sovereign may be party to relations with aboriginal Canadians distinctly within a provincial jurisdiction. For instance, while section VI.91.24 of the Constitution Act, 1867, gives responsibility for "Indians and lands reserved for the Indians" to the monarch in right of Canada,[22] the 1929 Manitoba Natural Resources Transfer Agreement shifted to the monarch in right of Manitoba some of the aforementioned responsibility for setting aside provincial Crown Land to satisfy the sovereign's treaty obligations.[23] This sometimes lead to a lack of clarity regarding which of the monarch's jurisdictions would administer his or her duties towards indigenous peoples. The Constitution Act, 1867, gave the Crown in right of Quebec authority over lands and resources within the boundaries of the province, subject to "interest other than that of the province in the same," and it was commonly held that First Nations' title was such an interest. Yet, as early as 1906, federal treaty negotiators were explaining to Algonquin in Quebec that it was the Crown in right of Canada that only could ratify treaties. Consequently, since Confederation, the Queen of Canada-in-Council has permitted the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec-in-Council to guide settlement and development of Algonquin lands. This arrangement has led to criticism from First Nations leaders of the sovereign's exercise of her duties in Quebec.[19] The connection between monarchy and aboriginal people has been in evidence on more than a few occasions, such as when, in 1860, First Nations put on displays, expressed their loyalty to Queen Victoria, and presented concerns about misconduct on the part of the Indian Department to Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, when he toured Upper Canada that year.[24] In 1970, Queen Elizabeth II's presence at The Pas, Manitoba, provided an opportunity for the Opaskwayak Cree Nation to publicly express their perceptions of injustice meted out by the government;[25] three years later, the Queen assured native chiefs in Alberta that "her government recognized the importance of full compliance with the spirit and intent of treaties";[26] and, in 1994, while the Queen and her then Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien, were attending an aboriginal cultural festival in Yellowknife, the Dene community of the Northwest Territories presented a list of grievances over stalled land claim negotiations. Similarly, the Queen and Chrétien visited in 1997 the community of Sheshatshiu in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the Innu people of Quebec and Labrador presented a letter of grievance over stagnant land claim talks. On both occasions, instead of giving the documents to the Prime Minister, as he was not party to the treaty agreements, they were handed by the Chiefs to the Queen, who, after speaking with the them, then passed the list and letter to Chrétien for he and the other ministers of the Crown to address and advise the Queen or her viceroy on how to proceed.[27] A similar scene took place at British Columbia's Government House, when in 2009 Shawn Atleo, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, presented Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, with a letter of complaint about the Crown's fulfillment of its treaty duties, and requested a meeting with the Queen.[26] It has been said that aboriginal people in Canada cherish this ability to present grievances directly to the sovereign before the witness of national and international cameras;[28] Innu leader Mary Pia Benuen said in 1997: "The way I see it, she is everybody's queen. It's nice for her to know who the Innu are and why we're fighting for our land claim and self-government all the time."[16] Prince Charles in 2009 added another dimension to the relationship between the Crown and First Nations when, in a speech in Vancouver, he drew a connection between his own personal interests and concerns in environmentalism and the cultural practices and traditions of Canada's First Nations.[29] [edit] Ceremonial expressions
The associations between the monarchy and aboriginal peoples is frequently demonstrated in tangible manners, such as meetings, the presentation of gifts, or other ceremonies. As early as 1710, aboriginal leaders were visiting personally with the British monarch; in that year, Queen Anne held audience at St. James Palace with three Mohawk – Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow of the Bear Clan, called Peter Brant, King of Maguas; Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row of the Wolf Clan, called King John of Canojaharie; and Tee Yee Ho Ga Row, or "Double Life", of the Wolf Clan, called King Hendrick Peters – and one Mahicanin Chief – Etow Oh Koam of the Turtle Clan, called Emperor of the Six Nations. The four – dubbed the Four Mohawk Kings – were received in London as diplomats, being transported through the streets in royal carriages and visiting the Tower of London and St. Paul's Cathedral; but their business for being there was to request military aid for defence against the French, as well as missionaries for spiritual guidance.[31] The latter request was passed by Anne to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Tenison, and a chapel was eventually built in 1711 at Fort Hunter, near present day Johnstown, New York, along with the gift of a reed organ and a set of silver chalices the following year.[32] Later, Nahnebahwequay of the Ojibwa secured in 1860 an audience with Queen Victoria,[33] and Squamish Nation Chief Joe Mathias was amongst the Canadian dignitaries who were invited to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London in 1953.[34] Like her predecessors, the Queen also received First Nations delegations at Buckingham Palace, such as the group of Alberta Aboriginal Chiefs who held audience with the monarch there in 1976.[25] Portraits of the Four Mohawk Kings that had been commissioned while the aboriginal leaders were in London had then hung at Kensington Palace for nearly 270 years, until Queen Elizabeth II in 1977 donated them to the Canadian Collection at the National Archives of Canada, unveiling them personally in Ottawa. That same year, the Queen's son, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, visited Alberta to attend celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 7, and, as a bicentennial gift in 1984, Elizabeth II gave to the Christ Church Royal Chapel of the Mohawks a silver chalice to replace that which was lost from the 1712 Queen Anne set during the American Revolution.[32] In 2003, Elizabeth's other son, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, opened the Regina, Saskatchewan, campus of the First Nations University of Canada, where the Queen made her first stop during her 2005 tour of Saskatchewan and Alberta and presented the university with a commemorative granite plaque.[30]  Various First Nations and Inuit groups have also coined for the monarch and other members of the Royal Family names that reflect the Crown's position as an overreaching power. For instance, the Ojibwa referred to George III as the Great Father,[21] and Queen Victoria was dubbed as the Great White Mother.[14] Also, in 1976, the Inuit gave Prince Charles the title of Attaniout Ikeneego, meaning The Son of the Big Boss,[35] and, in 1986, Cree and Ojibwa students in Winnipeg named Charles Leading Star.[36] In 2001, Charles was also named Pisimwa Kamiwohkitahpamikohk, or, The Sun Looks at Him in a Good Way, by an elder in a ceremony at Wanuskewin Heritage Park, during the Prince's first visit to Saskatchewan. [edit] History[edit] French and British crowns While treaties were signed between European monarchs and First Nations in North America as far back as 1676, the only ones that survived the American Revolution are those in Canada, which date to the beginning of the 18th century. The Great Peace of Montreal was in 1701 signed by the Governor General of New France, representing King Louis XIV, and the chiefs of 39 First Nations. Later, the Treaty of 1725 established the relationship between King George III and the "Maeganumbe... tribes Inhabiting His Majesty's Territories," and acknowledged the King's title to the provinces of Nova Scotia and Acadia in exchange for the guarantee that the indigenous people "not be molested in their persons... by His Majesty's subjects."[37] The Royal Proclamation of 1763 became the main document governing the parameters of the relationship between the sovereign and his aboriginal subjects in North America. At the same time, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), after its founding in 1670, served as a vehicle for establishing Crown dealings with aboriginal inhabitants of British North American territory; as the HBC fur traders and outposts spread westward across the continent, they introduced the concept of a just, paternal monarch to "guide and animate their exertions," to inspire loyalty, and promote peaceful relations.[14] They also brought with them images of the British monarch, such as the medal that bore the effigy of King Charles II, founder of the HBC, and which was presented to native chiefs as a mark of distinction; these medallions were passed down through the generations of the chiefs' descendants,[38] and those who wore them received particular honour and recognition at HBC posts.[39] Both British and French monarchs viewed their lands in North America as being held by them in totality, including those occupied by First Nations. The French kings did not admit claims by aboriginals to lands in New France, granting the natives only reserves for their exclusive use; for instance, from 1716 onwards, land north and west of the manorials on the Saint Lawrence River were designated as the pays d'enhaut (upper country), or Indian country, and were forbidden to settlement and clearing of land without the expressed authorisation of the King.[19] Both sovereigns also sought alliances with the First Nations; the Iroquois siding with Georges II and III and the Algonquin with Louis XIV and XV. These arrangements left questions about the treatment of aboriginals in the French territories once the latter were ceded in 1760 to George III. Article 40 of the Capitulation of Montreal, signed on 8 September 1760, inferred that First Nations peoples who had been subjects of King Louis XV would then become the same of King George: "The Savages or Indian allies of his most Christian Majesty, shall be maintained in the Lands they inhabit; if they chose to remain there; they shall not be molested on any pretence whatsoever, for having carried arms, and served his most Christian Majesty; they shall have, as well as the French, liberty of religion, and shall keep their missionaries..."[19] Yet, two days before, the Algonquin, along with the Hurons of Lorette and eight other tribes, had already ratified a treaty at Fort Lévis, making them allied with, and subjects of, the British king, who instructed General The Lord Amherst to treat the First Nations "upon the same principals of humanity and proper indulgence" as the French, and to "cultivate the best possible harmony and Friendship with the Chiefs of the Indian Tribes."[19] The retention of civil code in Quebec, though, caused the relations between the Crown and First Nations in that jurisdiction to be viewed as dissimilar to those that existed in the other Canadian colonies. In 1763, George III issued a Royal Proclamation that acknowledged the First Nations as autonomous political units and affirmed their title to their lands. The King thereafter ordered Sir William Johnson to make the proclamation known to the aboriginal nations under the King's sovereignty, and by 1766 its provisions were already put into practical use when the Imperial Privy Council endorsed a grant of 20,000 acres (81 km2) to Joseph Marie Philibot at a location of his choosing, but Philibot's request for land on the Restigouche River was denied by the Governor of Quebec on the grounds that "the lands so prayed to be assigned are, or are claimed to be, the property of the Indians and as such by His Majesty's express command as set forth in his proclamation in 1763, not within their power to grant."[19] In the prelude to the American Revolution, native leader Joseph Brant took the King up on this offer of protection and voyaged to London between 1775 and 1776 to meet with George III in person and discuss the aggressive expansionist policies of the American colonists.[40] [edit] After the American Revolution During the course of the American Revolution, First Nations had assisted King George III's North American forces, which ultimately lost the conflict. As a result of the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783 between George III and the American Congress of the Confederation, British North America was divided into the United States and The Canadas, though this created a new international border that ran through some lands set apart by the Crown for First Nations, and completely immersed others within the new republic.[15] As a result, some aboriginal tribes felt betrayed by the King, and their service to the monarch was detailed in oratories that called on the Crown to keep its promises,[41] especially after nations that had allied themselves with the British sovereign were driven from their lands by Americans.[42][43] New treaties were drafted and those indigenous nations that had lost their territories in the United States, or simply wished to not live under the United States government, were granted land in Canada by the King. The Mohawk Nation was one such group, which abandoned its Mohawk Valley territory, in present day New York State, after Americans destroyed the natives' settlement, including the chapel that had been donated by Queen Anne following the visit to London of the Four Mohawk Kings. As compensation, the King promised land in Canada to the Six Nations, and in 1784 some Mohawks settled in what is now the Bay of Quinte and the Grand River Valley, where North America's only two Chapels Royal – Christ Church Royal Chapel of the Mohawks and Her Majesty's Chapel of the Mohawks – were built to symbolise the connection between the Mohawk people and the Crown.[42][43] Thereafter, the treaties with aboriginals across southern Ontario were dubbed the Covenant Chain, and ensured the preservation of First Nations' rights not provided elsewhere in the Americas.[44]   This treatment encouraged the loyalty of the aboriginal peoples to the Canadian sovereign, and, as allies of the King, the First Nations aided in defending his North American territories, especially during the War of 1812.[10] Once the Dominion Crown purchased what remained of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company and colonial settlement expanded westwards, more treaties were signed between 1871 and 1921, wherein the Crown brokered land exchanges that granted the aboriginal societies reserves and other compensation, such as livestock, ammunition, education, health care, and certain rights to hunt and fish.[45] This situation under the Crown was regarded by the First Nations as better than that which had befallen their brethren in the United States.[46] The treaties did not ensure peace: as evidenced by the North-West Rebellion of 1885, sparked by Métis people's concerns over their survival and discontent on the part of Cree people over perceived unfairness in the treaties signed with Queen Victoria. [edit] Independent CanadaFollowing Canada's legislative independence from the United Kingdom – codified by the Statute of Westminster, 1931 – relations – both statutory and ceremonial – between sovereign and First Nations continued unaffected as the British Crown in Canada morphed into a distinctly Canadian monarchy. Indeed, during the 1939 tour of Canada by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth – an event intended to express the new independence of Canada and it's monarchy[47][48][49] – First Nations journeyed to city centres like Regina, Saskatchewan, and Calgary, Alberta, to meet with the King and present gifts and other displays of loyalty. In the course of the Second World War that followed soon after George's tour, more than 3,000 aboriginal and Metis Canadians fought for the Canadian Crown and country,[50] some receiving personal recognition from the King, such as Tommy Prince, who was presented with the Military Medal and, on behalf of the President of the United States, the Silver Star by the King at Buckingham Palace.[51] When George's daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, toured Canada twenty years later, similar interactions took place: In Labrador, Elizabeth was greeted by the Chief of the Montagnais and given a pair of beaded moose-hide jackets; at Gaspé, Quebec, the Queen and her husband were presented with deerskin coats by two local aboriginal people; and in Ottawa, a man from the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory passed to officials a 200 year old wampum as a gift for Elizabeth. It was during that journey that the Queen became the first member of the Royal Family to meet with Inuit representatives, doing so in Stratford, Ontario, and the royal train stopped in Brantford, Ontario, so that the Queen could sign the Six Nations Queen Anne Bible in the presence of Six Nations leaders. Across the prairies, First Nations were present on the welcoming platforms in numerous cities and towns, and at the Calgary Stampede, more than 300 Blackfoot, Tsuu T'ina, and Nakoda performed a war dance and erected approximately 30 teepees, amongst which the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh walked, meeting with various chiefs. In Nanaimo, British Columbia, a longer meeting took place between Elizabeth and the Salish, wherein the latter conferred on the former the title of Mother of all People, and, following a dance of welcome, the Queen and her consort spent 45 minutes – 20 more than allotted – touring a replica First Nations village and chatting with some 200 people. Still, at the same time, aboriginal people were not always granted the personal time with the Queen that they desired; the meetings with First Nations and Inuit tended to be purely ceremonial affairs wherein treaty issues were not officially discussed. For instance, when Queen Elizabeth arrived in Stoney Creek, Ontario, five chiefs in full feathered headdress and a cortege of 20 braves and their consorts came to present to her a letter outlining their grievances, but were prevented by officials from meeting with the sovereign.[52] [edit] Constitutional patriationIn the prelude to the patriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982, First Nations leaders campaigned for and against the proposed move,[9] many asserting that the federal ministers of the Crown at that time had no right to advise the Queen that she sever, without consent from the First Nations, the treaty rights she and her ancestors had long granted to aboriginal Canadians. Worrying to them was the fact that their relationship with the monarch had, over the preceding century, come to be interpreted by Indian Affairs officials as one of subordination to the government – a misreading on the part of non-aboriginals of the terms Great White Mother and her Indian Children.[40] The indigenous Canadians' position was confirmed by Master of the Rolls The Lord Denning, who ruled that the relationship was indeed one between sovereign and First Nations directly, clarifying further that, since the Statute of Westminster, passed in 1931, the Canadian Crown had come to be distinct from the British Crown, though the two were still held by the same monarch, leaving the treaties sound.[15] Some 15 years later, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was called by Governor General Roméo LeBlanc, on the advice of his Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien, to address a number of concerns surrounding the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people in Canada. After 178 days of public hearings, visits by 96 communities, and numerous reviews and reports, the central conclusion reached was that "the main policy direction, pursued for more than 150 years, first by colonial then by Canadian governments, has been wrong," focusing on the previous attempts at cultural assimilation. It was recommended that the nation-to-nation relationship of mutual respect be re-established between the Crown and First Nations.[53] It was argued by Tony Hall, a professor of Native American studies at the University of Lethbridge, that the friendly relations between monarch and indigenous Canadians must continue as a means to exercise Canadian sovereignty.[10] Still, as recently as 2005, First Nations were complaining that, during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Alberta and Saskatchewan that year, they were relegated to a merely ceremonial role, being denied by federal and provincial ministers any access to the Queen in private audience.[54] First Nations leaders have also raised concerns about what they see as a crumbling relationship between their people and the Crown, fuelled by the failure of the federal and provincial cabinets to resolve land claim disputes, as well as a perceived intervention of the Crown into aboriginal affairs.[55] Formal relations have also not yet been founded between the monarchy and a number of First Nations around Canada; such as those in British Columbia who are still engaged in the process of treaty making. [edit] Viceroys and the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis
As the representatives in Canada and the provinces of the reigning monarch, governors, both general and lieutenant, have been closely associated with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. This dates back to the colonial era, when the sovereign did not travel from Europe to Canada, and so dealt with aboriginal societies through his viceroy. After the American Revolution, a tradition was initiated in eastern Canada of appealing to the viceregal representatives for redress of grievances,[41] and later, after returning from a cross-country tour in 1901, during which he met with First Nations in the Yukon, Governor General The Earl of Minto urged his ministers to redress the wrongs he had witnessed in the north and to preserve native heritage and folklore.[56] Federal and provincial viceroys also met with First Nations leaders for more ceremonial occasions, such as when in 1867 Canada's first Governor General, The Viscount Monk, met with a native chief, in full feathers, amongst some of the first guests at Rideau Hall.[57] The Marguess of Lansdowne smoked a calumet with aboriginal people in the Prairies,[58] The Marquess of Lorne was there named Great Brother-in-Law,[59] and The Lord Tweedsmuir was honoured by the Kainai Nation through being made a chief of the Blood Indians and met with Grey Owl in Saskatchewan.[60] The Earl Alexander of Tunis was presented with a totem pole by Kwakiutl carver Mungo Martin, which Alexander erected on the grounds of Rideau Hall, where it stands today with the inukshuk by artist Kananginak Pootoogook that was commissioned in 1997 by Governor General Roméo LeBlanc to commemorate the second National Aboriginal Day.[61] Governor General The Viscount Byng of Vimy undertook a far-reaching tour of the north in 1925, during which the he met with First Nations and heard their grievances at Fort Providence and Fort Simpson.[62] Later, Governor General Edward Schreyer was in 1984 made an honorary member of the Kainai Chieftainship, as was one his viceregal successors, Adrienne Clarkson, who was made such on 23 July 2005, along with being adopted into the Blood Tribe with the name Grandmother of Many Nations.[63] Clarkson was an avid supporter of Canada's north and Inuit culture, employing students from Nunavut Arctic College to assist in designing the Clarkson Cup and creating the Governor General's Northern Medal.[63]  Four persons from First Nations have been appointed as the monarch's representative, all in the provincial spheres. Ralph Steinhauer was the first, having been made Lieutenant Governor of Alberta on 2 July 1974; Steinhauer was from the Cree nation.[64] The first Lieutenant Governor of Ontario of aboriginal heritage was James Bartleman, who was appointed to the position on 7 March 2002. A member of the Mnjikaning First Nation, Bartlemen listed the encouragement of indigenous young people as one of his key priorities, and, during his time in the Queen's service, launched several initiatives to promote literacy and social bridge building, travelling to remote native communities in northern Ontario, pairing native and non-native schools, and creating the Lieutenant Governor's Book Program, which collected 1.4 million books that were flown into the province's north to stock shelves of First Nations community libraries.[65] On 1 October 2007, Steven Point, from the Skowkale First Nation, was installed as Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia,[66] and Graydon Nicholas, born on the Tobique Indian Reserve, was made Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick on 30 September 2009.[67] [edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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