About the Numbered Treaties

The Origin of the Numbered Treaties in Canada

Long before Canada was a country, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 to claim ownership  for Britain and the Crown of territory in North America after Britain won the Seven Years War. This pivotal agreement also officially stated that legal title to the land belonged to the Indigenous Peoples who lived there until it was ceded by treaty. This set up inherent complications for the new country of Canada when it wanted and needed to establish itself as a nation from east to west across the continent. The government felt extreme pressure to expand and secure land quickly because of competition from the United States and British Columbia would only join Canada if there was a trans-continental railway connecting it to the rest of the country. The Royal Proclamation meant this legal title had to be confronted and extinguished to facilitate these goals. 

First, the Hudson’s Bay Company was pressured to sell Rupert’s Land and the North West Territories for $1.5 million in 1869. The government then commissioned the then Minister of Public Works and Lieutenant-Governor, the Honourable William McDougall, to administer these two new territories. However, when he went with a number of his administrative officers to Red River they were met by an armed party of Métis who refused him entry.

The Métis and First Nations were concerned by the sale of Rupert’s land and the threat the new controlling government posed to them and their way of life. As a result, a provisional government was created by the Métis at the Red River Colony headed by Louis Riel. Conflict and negotiations followed.

While oral histories and research show that Indigenous people advocated for and requested Treaties with Britain, their understanding of terms was different from what was finalized in the written documents.  The First Nations at the negotiation table were interested in Treaty for the sake of peace relations, to enshrine their inherent rights in their territories and to define a reciprocal relationship with mutual benefit since they recognized that settler people were on the land already and their livelihood was being negatively impacted (indicated by things like the decline of the buffalo, starvation, impact of new illnesses such as smallpox introduced by settlers, and so on).

And thus began the complicated journey of Indigenous Peoples, the Canadian government, and the Numbered Treaties with the Crown and its settler population seeing the Treaties as cede, release, yield up or surrender (the written language found in the Treaties) of land and the First Nations seeing them as agreements to share the land while protecting their way of life and cultural heritage. In present day Canada, we are all Treaty people as we are all affected by the legacy of Treaty and therefore have a responsibility to understand the foundation of these important and controversial agreements.

Season 1 of TREATY ROAD explores the first six Numbered Treaties from the unique perspective of two friends, a Métis descendant of James McKay (a key figure in early Treaty negotiations) and an Indigenous artist, educator and researcher, Saxon de Cocq and Erin Goodpipe. We invite you to join them on this journey and find out where the Treaties stand today.