The Canadian Crown and First Nations, Inuit and Métis

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Her Majesty the Queen of Canada presents a tablet of Balmoral granite with the ciphers of both herself and her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, at the First Nations University of Canada, May 17, 2005.

The Canadian Crown has a long relationship with the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of Canada.

[edit] History

As with the Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand, Canada's First Nations view their treaties as being agreements directly between them and the Crown, not with the ever-changing government of Canada. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 made clear that the First Nations were autonomous political units and affirmed their title to lands. It remains an important document, mentioned in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, outlining the Canadian Crown's responsibility to protect First Nations' territories and maintain the bilateral "nation-to-nation" relationship.^[1]^[2]

An early example of the Crown's protection of First Nations people was during the American Revolution. As a consequence of the Mohawk Nation's alliance with the British, through being a part of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, the Mohawk peoples were forced from their lands in the Mohawk Valley, in present day New York State, by the revolutionaries. As compensation, the British Crown promised land in Canada to those displaced by the war. In 1784 some Mohawks settled in what is now the Bay of Quinte and the Grand River valley where North America's only two Royal chapels, Christ Church Royal Chapel of the Mohawks and Her Majesty's Chapel of the Mohawks in Brantford, were built to symbolize the connection between the Mohawk peoples and the Crown.

Beginning in 1871, the Crown and First Nations signed several treaties known as the Numbered Treaties, as the Royal Proclamation had granted title to the areas within Rupert's Land. Treaty No. 7 was signed by the Blackfoot, Blood, Peigan, Sarcee and Stony Indian tribes in 1877, ceding the praries of Southern Alberta to what was then the British Crown. In 1977, Prince Charles visited Alberta to attend celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the treaty signing. During a subsequent visit by his mother in 1994, a modern demonstration of the relationship between the First Nations and the Crown was seen when the Dene community of the Northwest Territories presented a list of grievances over stalled land claim negotiations to Queen Elizabeth II, rather than to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, while the two were attending an Aboriginal Cultural Festival in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. After speaking with the Chief, the Queen handed the list to the Prime Minister for the Cabinet to address.

There have also been more symbolic gestures to demonstrate the "nation-to-nation" relationship. For instance, to commemorate a diplomatic visit to Queen Anne by the "Four Mohawk Kings", or the three Mohawk and one Mahicanin Chiefs of the Iroquoian Confederacy, in 1710, the portraits of the "Four Indian Kings" were painted by Jan Verelst. After they hung in Kensington Palace for almost 270 years, Queen Elizabeth II donated them to the Canadian Collection at the National Archives of Canada, unveiling them in Ottawa in 1977. Further, a set of silver chaices was given to the Christ Church Royal Chapel of the Mohawks by Queen Anne in 1712, to embody the relationship between the Crown and Mohawk people.^[3] One was lost during the American Revolution, however, in 1984, as a bicentennial gift, Queen Elizabeth II gave a new silver chalice as a replacement. Also, in 1976, during a visit to the Eastern Arctic in northern Canada, the Inuit gave Prince Charles a distinctive title, calling him Attaniout Ikeneego, meaning "The Son of the Big Boss."^[4] Ten years later, Cree and Ojibway students in Winnipeg named Prince Charles "Leading Star."^[5]

In May 2005, the Queen, during a visit to the First Nations University of Canada in Saskatchewan, presented a piece of Balmoral granite engraved with the ciphers of Queen Victoria and herself. The gesture behind the gift was outlined in the Queen's words:

"This stone was taken from the grounds of Balmoral Castle in the Highlands of Scotland — a place dear to my great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. It symbolises the foundation of the rights of First Nations peoples reflected in treaties signed with the Crown during her reign.

"Bearing the cipher of Queen Victoria as well as my own, this stone is presented to the First Nations University of Canada in the hope that it will serve as a reminder of the special relationship between the Sovereign and all First Nations peoples." ^[6]

Nevertheless, First Nations groups complained that their role during the Queen's visit was a purely symbolic one, and were disappointed that neither the provincial nor federal governments granted them a private audience with the Queen to express concerns about treaty violations.^[7]