peace and friendship treaty by Leah Ferrill

Peace and friendship treatytimeline

lefe1169 — 2025-05-28 12:35:37 UTC

1725-1726

lefe1169 — 2025-05-28 12:35:46 UTC

The 1725-26 treaty was one of the earliest Peace and Friendship Treaties.The 1725 treaty officially ended Dummer’s War (1722–25). Later on ithe 1725–6 Treaties now included the Mi’kmaq, who had not previously signed a peace agreement with Britain.

1749

lefe1169 — 2025-05-28 12:39:30 UTC

peace was short-lived as the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik allied with France against Britain during King George’s War. After the war, Governor Edward Cornwallis of Nova Scotia wanted to secure land and loyalty to the Crown by inviting the two Indigenous nations to sign a new treaty. Most Mi’kmaq leaders refused to attend the 1749 peace talks because they opposed the founding of Halifax. Concerns over increasing British military presence and settlement jeopardized Mi’kmaq communities and resources. Only the Chignecto Mi’kmaq joined the Wolastoqiyik in signing a treaty on August 15, which renewed the Boston Treaty of 1725 without new terms.

1752

lefe1169 — 2025-05-28 12:39:40 UTC

Governor Edward Cornwallis punished the rest of the Mi’kmaq for refusing to engage in treaty making by posting a reward of ten guineas for any Mi’kmaw captured or scalped in the regionAcadian militiamen, unsuccessfully attempted to expel British colonists from traditional Wabanaki homelands. Fighting ceased temporarily in 1752 with the signing of a treaty at Halifax on 22 November by Jean-Baptiste Cope, chief of the Shubenacadie (Sipekne’katik).

1760-1761

lefe1169 — 2025-05-28 12:41:28 UTC

The Anglo-Micmac War resumed when the Wabanaki Confederacy allied with France during the Seven Years War. After France lost territory to Britain in 1760, the Wabanaki signed peace treaties with the British. On February 22, 1760, the Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy agreed to stop trading with Britain’s enemies, which led to a trading post. Other Mi’kmaq groups joined later, resulting in treaties signed on June 25 and October 12, 1761, ensuring their rights to engage in traditional activities. Belcher’s Proclamation in 1762 aimed to protect their land rights. Nova Scotia celebrates Treaty Day on October 1 to honor these agreements.

1788-1789

lefe1169 — 2025-05-28 12:42:31 UTC

During the American Revolution starting in 1775, the British aimed to strengthen their relations with Indigenous allies in Eastern Canada. On September 24, 1778, delegates from the Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq signed an agreement to remain neutral and continue their hunting and fishing peacefully. The next year, more Mi’kmaq groups signed a similar peace treaty with the British. This 1779 Treaty ensured their rights to hunt and fish without interference from British troops or subjects.

Post 1780

lefe1169 — 2025-05-28 12:43:06 UTC

The arrival of Loyalists in the 1780s changed the relationship between the Crown and First Nations. Settler governments started to ignore the Peace and Friendship Treaties. As Loyalists moved in and reserves were created, Indigenous peoples were pushed onto much smaller lands than they traditionally occupied. However, the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik peoples remembered these treaties and continued to use them to assert their rights to hunt, fish, and use the land.