The start of French and Indian war, which followed the British conquest of North America and the following consequences of Canada territories under a British rule

Canada obtains: Land rights; promise of peace, law, and order, and restricted alcohol use on reserves

Treaty 4 — also known as the Qu'Appelle Treaty — was signed on 15 September 1874 at Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan. In exchange for payments, provisions and rights to reserve lands, Treaty 4 ceded Indigenous territory to the federal government. The majority of Treaty 4 lands are in present-day southern Saskatchewan. Small portions are in western Manitoba and southern Alberta. (See Numbered Treaties.)

In exchange, the Saulteaux would “cede, release, surrender and yield” all rights and title to their land to the Government of Canada. This included an area measuring 14,245,000 hectares (ha). The Saulteaux would still be permitted to hunt and fish on this land until the government required it for other purposes, including settlement, public works and resource extraction. Many Treaty 3 peoples maintain, however, that the signatories only intended to share their land with the government, rather than to surrender it completely.

In the mid-1870s, the Indigenous peoples of the Lake Winnipeg area were interested in making a treaty with the Government of Canada. They had heard about the concessions offered to the Indigenous nations of Treaties 1 to 4 (see Numbered Treaties), and subsequently demanded the government provide similar economic assistance, provisions of tools and protection against the encroachment of outsiders (such as surveyors and settlers) on their territories. The people of the Norway House (located about 30 km north of Lake Winnipeg) were also suffering from starvation, as the lands there were not suitable for farming. This community was looking to relocate from north of the lake to an area in the south that had more suitable agricultural lands.

When Canada acquired the lands of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) in 1869 (see Rupert’s Land), the Plains Indigenous peoples of present-day central Saskatchewan, including the Cree, Ojibwe and Assiniboine, became concerned about the federal government’s intentions with this land and with the Indigenous peoples who lived on it. As early as 1871, Plains Indigenous peoples expressed interest in negotiating a treaty with the Crown that would protect them from the settlement of outsiders on their lands, including the Métis, white settlers and surveyors. They were also concerned about starvation due to the diminishing supply of bison and other large game on which their economy depended.

In 1870, the newly created nation of Canada acquired Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company. Rupert’s Land was an enormous area of land stretching north and west. One year later, British Columbia entered Confederation based in part on the promise that a transcontinental railway would connect it to the rest of Canada within 10 years. In order to construct the railway and encourage future settlement, the government considered it necessary to extinguish Aboriginal title to the land (see Indigenous Territory). Bound by the terms of the Royal Proclamation, Canada was responsible for the protection of its Indigenous people and promised to preserve their rights to unceded (unsurrendered) traditional territories.

The mid-19th century was a time of upheaval for the Indigenous nations that eventually signed Treaty 7. There had been repeated outbreaks of smallpox, and the buffalo herds upon which they had relied began to diminish, in part due to increased competition from Cree and Métis hunters (see Buffalo Hunt). At the same time, settlers from the United States set up trading forts and introduced whiskey into communities, causing significant chaos at trading forts. In 1874, the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) arrived under Colonel James Macleod and put an end to the trade. The First Nations were thankful and, by many accounts, came to trust Macleod. However, the extent to which this trust determined their willingness to sign a treaty has been disputed.

In the 1880s, Cree and Ojibwe peoples in the James Bay region were increasingly concerned about presence of non-Indigenous trappers and prospectors on their traditional lands. The Cree and Ojibwe protested verbally and in petitions to Hudson’s Bay Company traders and to federal and provincial government officials. They were concerned, in particular, with the decline of the local beaver population. They wanted protection for their lands, resources and fur-bearing animals. Many Indigenous leaders and their peoples were aware of treaty activity in neighbouring territories, such as the Robinson-Huron and Robinson-Superior treaties (1850) and the Northwest Angle Treaty, also known as Treaty 3 (1873). A petition from Indigenous leaders for a similar treaty in the summer of 1901 started the treaty-making process.

Due to a precedent set after the signing of Treaty 3, Dominion and provincial officials were involved in the drafting of the terms for Treaty 9. When Treaty 3 was signed in 1873, there was a dispute over the selection, size and location of the reserves. The landmark St. Catherine’s Milling and Lumber case (1887) led to an agreement between Ontario and the Dominion in 1894 that specified, among other matters, “that any future treaties with the Indians in respect of territory in Ontario…shall be deemed to require the concurrence of the Government of Ontario.”

The terms of Treaty 9 were finalized in advance by the Dominion and Ontario governments and then presented to Indigenous leaders as a done deal. Treaty 9 followed the format of the earlier Numbered Treaties; in fact, the provision on hunting and fishing rights was copied verbatim from Treaty 8 (1899). The Province of Ontario, for its part, made four demands. First, one of the three treaty commissioners was to be a provincial appointee. Second, instead of allowing the Indigenous peoples to select their own reserves, those sites were to be determined by the three commissioners. Third, annuity payments and related treaty costs were the responsibility of the Dominion. Finally, no site suitable for the development of water power exceeding 500 horsepower was to be included within the boundaries of any reserve.

Prompted by the discovery of valuable resources in Canada’s north, particularly the Klondike gold rush, the treaty involved First Nations whose social organization was different than those of the Indigenous peoples the government had previously encountered in Numbered Treaties negotiations. As a result of this and other factors endemic to the North, the terms and implementation of Treaty 8 differ importantly from those of previous Numbered Treaties, with long-lasting consequences for the governance and peoples of that area.

As in Treaty 8, signatories were offered either reserves or “land in severalty” — territory for families or individuals who wanted to live off the reserves. This concession was offered because most people in the North did not live as communally as those on the plains. Reserves were sized in proportion to one square mile per family of five, with more or less area given depending on the number and size of families. Individuals or families who preferred to live apart were granted 160 acres per person.

The rights of the signatories to hunt, fish and trap were protected, but subject to government regulation and the need to use certain areas for activities like mining or settlement.

The government offered assistance with both education and agriculture, but in terms less clear than those in some of the other treaties. It agreed to “make such provisions as may from time to time be deemed advisable for the education of the Indian children.” It also agreed to “furnish such assistance as may be found necessary or advisable to aid and assist the Indians in agriculture or stock-raising or other work.”

As was customary, the government also offered money — initially, $32 per chief, $22 per headman and $12 per individual, and a smaller payment every year after. Chiefs and headmen also received medals, flags and suits of clothing.

Similar to the other Numbered Treaties, Treaty 11 provided money, supplies, reserves and other guarantees in exchange for the land. However, the terms laid out in Treaty 11 are somewhat vaguer than others, particularly in relation to agriculture and education. They suggest that the government did not necessarily expect the signatories to adopt a sedentary (non-mobile) lifestyle.

Reserves were to be allotted in proportion to one square mile per family of five, with more or less land provided depending on the size of each family. The government could take parts of these reserves for public works such as roads if necessary, assuming compensation was provided. Signatories had the right to hunt, fish and trap, subject to government regulation and the need to use those lands for settlement or development.

Once reserves were selected, each group was to receive 10 axes, 5 hand-saws, 5 augers, 1 grindstone and files and whetstones to keep the equipment sharp. Each group would also receive $50 per family worth of equipment for fishing, trapping and hunting. They would get $3 worth of twine, ammunition and other necessary supplies annually. If anyone wanted to pursue agriculture, the government was willing to give “assistance as is deemed necessary for that purpose.”

Whereas the ambitions and ideals that flourished at and grew out of the Charlottetown Conference form part of the basis for the nation of Canada;

Whereas the rich heritage of Charlottetown is reflected in the recognition of Province House, where the discussions took place, as a national historic site and in the recognition of other national historic sites in Charlottetown in view of their strong association with the birth of this country;

The Royal Proclamation weakened French power in many ways. First, it made sure that all the governors of Quebec would be British. The governors were chosen by the British Parliament. Secondly, it did not allow Catholics to work for the government unless they pledged (promised) to be loyal to Britain. The French were Catholic and most of them did not want to pledge loyalty to the Protestant British. Therefore, the government would be controlled by the British. Thirdly, the Proclamation did not allow the French to use the type of law they used before.