Parts of the Treaties & Land Acknowledgements page of this guide have been adapted from the KPU Indigenous Studies & Resources created by Cindy McLellan under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.
A land acknowledgment is a formal declaration recognizing the original indigenous people of the land, which is made at the start of public events. The practice of land acknowledgments is a centuries-old tradition in many indigenous cultures.
In the article What Do Land Acknowledgements Really Mean?, Jenessa Joy Klukas talks about the importance of land acknowledgements and their significance, while drawing on their historic origins. An excerpt from the article is as follows:
"Land acknowledgements are a practice used in some Indigenous cultures to recognize other nations’ homelands. They’ve been adapted to fit a mainstream purpose.
They have risen in popularity since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action came out in 2015. While the calls to action don’t directly address the need for land acknowledgements, they’ve become common as a show of support and as a decolonizing action in the wake of the TRC.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls also found that responsibility, accountability and acknowledgement are important and necessary to promote further change in Canada.
The City of Vancouver first recognized that Vancouver was on unceded lands via land acknowledgement in 2014. Similarly, the City of Toronto began implementing land acknowledgements in 2014; the language was most recently updated in 2019, after discussion with their Aboriginal Advisory Committee."
Here, you will find a list of resources that describe treaties, their history, their impact, and the legislations covering them. These resources also function as a starting point in your exploration and research.
Online text of the Jay Treaty (November 19, 1794) between the United States and Great Britain, which states that Canadian born Native Americans can travel freely across the U.S./Canadian border
Section 35 recognizes and affirms Aboriginal treaty rights in Canada.
Contains information on Section 35 of the Constitution Act.
A collection of resources about treaties, the Indian Act, land rights, natural resources, and others.
A resource related to treaty making. This includes Historic Treaties (the Douglas Treaties), the Nisga’a Treaty, and the BC treaty process.
An article by Gretchen Albers, which is a part of a larger collection that contains information related to land claims.
Describes how treaties are interpreted by members of the First Nations, historians, and members of legal systems.
The thesis by Lorna June McCue's is now available through UBC Open Collections.
Treaties and treaty processes were already in place long before Europeans arrived. An example of this is the Great Act of Peace, which was signed by five different nations.
A brief history of the following: Treaties of Peace and Neutrality (1701-1760), Peace and Friendship Treaties (1725-1779), Upper Canada Land Surrenders and the Williams Treaties (1781-1862/1923), Robinson Treaties and Douglas Treaties (1850-1854), The Numbered Treaties (1871-1921).
Treaty transcripts from mid 1700's to the early 1900's.
Justin Trudeau's Indigenous Rights, Recognition and Implementation Framework. The framework was published on February 14, 2018.
A Government of Canada initiative to end racism, discrimination and violence against Indigenous communities in Canada.
ISC works in partnership with partners to enhance access to quality services for Indigenous people, Inuit people, Métis people and others.
Contains records related to the treaties in Canada.