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Treaty 7 Elders and Tribal Council, Hildebrandt, W., First Rider, D. and Carter, S., 1996. Chapter Two: Pre-Treaty Life of Treaty 7 First Nations. In: The True spirit and original intent of Treaty 7, McGill-Queen’s native and northern series. [online] Montreal, Montreal [Que.]: McGill-Queen’s University Press. pp.83–110.
Worldview
Jagged Worldviews Colliding
Leroy Little Bear
Little Bear, L., 2000. Jagged Worldviews Colliding. In: M.A. Battiste, ed. Reclaiming indigenous voice and vision. Vancouver: UBC Press. pp.77–85. Berry, S. and Brink, J., 2004. Aboriginal Cultures in Alberta: Five-Hundred Generations. Edmonton, AB: Provincial Museum of Alberta.
Hirini, M., 2013. Theorizing Indigenous Planning. In: R. Walker, T. Jojola and D. Natcher, eds. Reclaiming Indigenous Planning. Montréal: MQUP. pp.3–32.
International Indigenous Design Charter
Canadian Institute of Planners, 2019. Policy on Planning Practice and Reconciliation. Canadian Institute of Planners, Ottawa. Brody, H., 2009. Other Side of Eden: Hunters, Farmers and the Shaping of the World. Vancouver: D & M Publishers.
COPY OF TREATY
AND
SUPPLEMENTARY TREATY
No. 7,
MADE 22ND SEPT., AND 4TH DEC, 1877,
BETWEEN
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
AND THE
BLACKFEET
AND
OTHER INDIAN TRIBES,
AT THE BLACKFOOT CROSSING OF BOW RIVER
AND FORT MACLEOD.
Reprinted from the Edition of 1877 by
ROGER DUHAMEL, F.R.S.C. QUEEN'S PRINTER AND CONTROLLER OF STATIONERY OTTAWA, 1966
Cat. No.: Ci 72-0766
IAND Publicatio n No. QS-0575-000-EE-A
ORDER IN COUNCIL SETTING UP COMMISSION FOR TREATY No. 7
P.C. No. 650
On a Report dated 28th June 1877 from the Honourable the Minister of the Interior stating that it having been decided that a Treaty should be made this year with the Blackfeet and other Indians occupying the unceded territory North of the Boundary Line, East of the Rocky Mountains, and West and South of Treaties Nos. 4 and 6, His Honor Lieut. Governor Laird was in the early part of the year instructed to notify the Indians that Commissioners would be sent in the Fall to negotiate a Treaty with them at such time and place as His Honor might appoint for that purpose.
That His Honor has advised the Department that he has accordingly notified the Indians to assemble at Fort MacLeod on the 13th September next to meet the Commissioners to be appointed to negotiate a Treaty with them. That the necessary funds to meet the expense of the Treaty have been duly provided in the Estimates for the coming year.
That the Territory to be included in the proposed Treaty is occupied by the Blackfeet, Crees, Sarcees and Peigans and may be estimated approximately at about 35,000 Square Miles in area.
The Minister recommends that His Honor the Lieutenant Governor of the North West Territories and Lieut. Colonel James F. Macleod, C.M.G., Commissioner of the Mounted Police, be appointed Commissioners for the purpose of negotiating the proposed Treaty.
The Committee submit the foregoing recommendations for approval.
Signed: A. Mackenzie
Approved 12 July 1877 Signed: Mr. B. Richards Deputy Governor
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ARTICLES OF A TREATY
Made and concluded this twenty-second day of September, in the year of Our
Lord, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, between Her Most
Gracious Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, by Her Commissioners, the Honorable David Laird, Lieutenant-Governor and Indian
Superintendent of the North-West Territories, and James Farquharson
MacLeod, C.M.G., Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, of the one part, and the Blackfeet, Blood, Piegan, Sarcee, Stony and other
Indians, inhabitants of the Territory north of the United States Boundary
Line, east of the central range of the Rocky Mountains, and south and west of Treaties numbers six and four, by their Head Chiefs and Minor
Chiefs or Councillors, chosen as hereinafter mentioned, of the other part.
WHEREAS the Indians inhabiting the said Territory, have, pursuant to an appointment made by the said Commissioners, been convened at a meeting at the "Blackfool Crossing" of the Bow River, to deliberate upon certain matters of interest to Her Most Gracious Majesty, of the one part, and the said Indians of the other;
And whereas the said Indians have been informed by Her Majesty's Commissioners that it is the desire of Her Majesty to open up for settlement, and such other purposes as to Her Majesty may seem meet, a tract of country, bounded and described as hereinafter mentioned, and to obtain the consent thereto of Her Indian subjects inhabiting the said tract, and to make a Treaty, and arrange with them, so that there may be peace and good will between them and Her Majesty, and between them and Her Majesty's other subjects; and that Her Indian people may know and feel assured of what allowance they are to count upon and receive from Her Majesty's bounty and benevolence; And whereas the Indians of the said tract, duly convened in Council, and being requested by Her Majesty's Commissioners to present their Head Chiefs and Minor Chiefs, or Councillors, who shall be authorized, on their behalf, to conduct such negotiations and sign any Treaty to be founded thereon, and to become responsible to Her Majesty for the faithful performance, by their respective Bands of such obligations as should be assumed by them, the said Blackfeet, Blood, Piegan and Sarcee Indians have therefore acknowledged for that purpose, the several Head and Minor Chiefs, and the said Stony Indians, the Chiefs and Councillors who have subscribed hereto, that thereupon in open
Council the said Commissioners received and acknowledged the Head and Minor-
Chiefs and the Chiefs and Councillors presented for the purpose aforesaid; And whereas the said Commissioners have proceeded to negotiate a Treaty with the said Indians; and the same has been finally agreed upon and concluded as follows, that is to say: the Blackfeet, Blood, Piegan, Sarcee, Stony and other
Indians inhabiting the district hereinafter more fully described and defined, do hereby cede, release, surrender, and yield up to the Government of Canada for
Her Majesty the Queen and her successors for ever, all their rights, titles, and privileges whatsoever to the lands included within the following limits, that is to say: Commencing at a point on the International Boundary due south of the western extremity of the Cypress Hills, thence west along the said boundary to the central range of the Rocky Mountains, or to the boundary of the Province of
British Columbia, thence north-westerly along the said boundary to a point due
90195-11/2 3
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west of the source of the main branch of the Red Deer River, thence southwesterly and southerly following on the boundaries of the Tracts ceded by the Treaties numbered six and four to the place of commencement;
And also all their rights, titles and privileges whatsoever, to all other lands wherever situated in the North-West Territories, or in any other portion of the Dominion of Canada:
To have and to hold the same to Her Majesty the Queen and her successors forever:—
And Her Majesty the Queen hereby agrees with her said Indians, that they shall have right to pursue their vocations of hunting throughout the Tract surrendered as heretofore described, subject to such regulations as may, from time to time, be made by the Government of the country, acting under the authority of Her Majesty and saving and excepting such Tracts as may be required or taken up from time to time lor settlement, mining, trading or other purposes by Her Government of Canada; or by any of Her Majesty's subjects duly authorized therefor by the said Government.
It is also agreed between Her Majesty and Her said Indians that Reserves shall be assigned them of sufficient area to allow one square mile for each family of five persons, or in that proportion for larger and smaller families, and that said Reserves shall be located as follows, that is to say:
First.— The Reserves of the Blackfeet, Blood and Sarcee Bands of Indians, shall consist of a belt of land on the north side of the Bow and South Saskatchewan Rivers, of an average width of four miles along said rivers, down stream, commencing at a point on the Bow River twenty miles north-westerly of the Blackfoot Crossing thereof, and extending to the Red Deer River at its junction with the South Saskatchewan; also for the term of ten years, and no longer, from the date of the concluding of this Treaty, when it shall cease to be a portion of said Indian Reserves, as fully to all intents and purposes as if it had not at any time been included therein, and without any compensation to individual Indians for improvements, of a similar belt of land on the south side of the Bow and Saskatchewan Rivers of an average width of one mile along said rivers, down stream; commencing at the aforesaid point on the Bow River, and extending to a point one mile west of the coal seam on said river, about five miles below the said Blackfoot Crossing; beginning again one mile east of the said coal seam and extending to the mouth of Maple Creek at its junction with the South Saskatchewan; and beginning again at the junction of the Bow River with the latter river, and extending on both sides of the South Saskatchewan in an average width on each side thereof of one mile, along said river against the stream, to the junction of the Little Bow River with the latter river, reserving to Her Majesty, as may now or hereafter be required by Her for the use of Her Indian and other subjects, from all the Reserves hereinbefore described, the right to navigate the above mentioned rivers, to land and receive fuel cargoes on the shores and banks thereof, to build bridges and establish ferries thereon, to use the fords thereof and all the trails leading thereto, and to open such other roads through the said Reserves as may appear to Her Majesty's Government of Canada, necessary for the ordinary travel of her Indian and other subjects, due compensation being paid to individual Indians for improvements, when the same may be in any manner encroached upon by such roads.
Secondly—That the Reserve of the Piegan Band of Indians shall be on the Old Man's River, near the foot of the Porcupine Hills, at a place called "Crow's Creek."
And, Thirdly—The Reserve of the Stony Band of Indians shall be in the vicinity of Morleyville.
In view of the satisfaction of Her Majesty with the recent general good conduct of her said Indians, and in extinguishment of all their past claims, she
5
hereby, through her Commissioners, agrees to make them a present payment of twelve dollars each in cash to each man, woman, and child of the families here represented.
Her Majesty also agrees that next year, and annually afterwards forever, she will cause to be paid to the said Indians, in cash, at suitable places and dates, of which the said Indians shall be duly notified, to each Chief, twenty-five dollars, each minor Chief or Councillor (not exceeding fifteen minor Chiefs to the Blackfeet and Blood Indians, and four to the Piegan and Sarcee Bands, and five Councillors to the Stony Indian Bands), fifteen dollars, and to every other Indian of whatever age, five dollars; the same, unless there be some exceptional reason, to be paid to the heads of families for those belonging thereto.
Further, Her Majesty agrees that the sum of two thousand dollars shall hereafter every year be expended in the purchase of ammunition for distribution among the said Indians; Provided that if at any future time ammunition become comparatively unnecessary for said Indians, Her Government, with the consent of said Indians, or any of the Bands thereof, may expend the proportion due to such Band otherwise for their benefit.
Further, Her Majesty agrees that each Head Chief and Minor Chief, and each Chief and Councillor duly recognized as such, shall, once in every three years, during the term of their office, receive a suitable suit of clothing, and each Head Chief and Stony Chief, in recognition of the closing of the Treaty, a suitable medal and flag, and next year, or as soon as convenient, each Head Chief, and Minor Chief, and Stony Chief shall receive a Winchester rifle.
Further, Her Majesty agrees to pay the salary of such teachers to instruct the children of said Indians as to Her Government of Canada may seem advisable, when said Indians are settled on their Reserves and shall desire teachers.
Further, Her Majesty agrees to supply each Head and Minor Chief, and each Stony Chief, for the use of their Bands, ten axes, five handsaws, five augers, one grindstone, and the necessary files and whetstones.
And further, Her Majesty agrees that the said Indians shall be supplied as soon as convenient, after any Band shall make due application therefor, with the following cattle for raising stock, that is to say: for every family of five persons, and under, two cows; for every family of more than five persons, and less than ten persons, three cows; for every family of over ten persons, four cows; and every Head and Minor Chief, and every Stony Chief, for the use of their Bands, one bull; but if any Band desire to cultivate the soil as well as raise stock, each family of such Band shall receive one cow less than the above mentioned number, and in lieu thereof, when settled on their Reserves and prepared to break up the soil, two hoes, one spade, one scythe, and two hay forks, and for every three families, one plough and one harrow, and for each Band, enough potatoes, barley, oats, and wheat (if such seeds be suited for the locality of their Reserves) to plant the land actually broken up. All the aforesaid articles to be given, once for all, for the encouragement of the practice of agriculture among the Indians.
And the undersigned Blackfeet, Blood, Piegan and Sarcee Head Chiefs and Minor Chiefs, and Stony Chiefs and Councillors on their own behalf and on behalf of all other Indians inhabiting the Tract within ceded do hereby solemnly promise and engage to strictly observe this Treaty, and also to conduct and behave themselves as good and loyal subjects of Her Majesty the Queen. They promise and engage that they will, in all respects, obey and abide by the Law, that they will maintain peace and good order between each other and between themselves and other tribes of Indians, and between themselves and others of Her Majesty's subjects, whether Indians, Half Breeds or Whites, now inhabiting, or hereafter to inhabit, any part of the said ceded tract; and that they will not molest the person or property of any inhabitant of such ceded tract, or the
6
property of Her Majesty the Queen, or interfere with or trouble any person, passing or travelling through the said tract or any part thereof, and that they will assist the officers of Her Majesty in bringing to justice and punishment any Indian offending against the stipulations of this Treaty, or infringing the laws in force in the country so ceded.
IN WITNES S WHEREO F HE R MAJESTY'S said Commissioners, and the said Indian Head and Minor Chiefs, and Stony Chiefs and Councillors, have hereunto subscribed and set their hands, at the "Blackfoot Crossing" of the Bow River, the day and year herein first above written.
Signed by the Chiefs and Councillors within named in presence of the following witnesses, the same having been first explained by James Bird,
Interpreter.
A. G. IRVINE, Ass't. Com.,N.W.M.P.
J. MCDOUGALL, Missionary.
JEAN L'HEUREUX . W. WINDER, Inspector. T. N. F. CROZIER, Inspector.
E. DALRYMPLE CLARK, Lieut. &
Adjutant N.W.M.P.
A. SHURTLIFF, Sub Inspector. C. E. DENING, Sub Inspector. W. D. AUTROBUS, Sub Inspector. FRANK NORMAN, Staff Constable.
MARY J. MACLEOD JULIA WINDER JULIA SHURTLIFF E. HARDISTY A. MCDOUGALL. E. A. BARRETT. DAVID LAIRD, Lieutenant-Governor of
North-West Territories, and Special
Indian Commissioner.
JAMES F. MACLEOD, Lieut-Colonel, Com. N.W.M.P., and Special Indian Commissioner.
CHAPO-MEXICO, or Crowfoot, his
Head Chief of the South x Blackfeet. mark.
MATOSE-APIW, or Old Sun, Head Chief of the North Blackfeet.
STAMISCOTOCAR, or Bull Head. Head Chief of the Sarcccs.
MEKASTO, or Red Crow Head Chief of the South Bloods
his x mark.
his x mark. his x mark.
CONSTANTINE SCOLLEN, Priest, witness to signatures of Stonixosak and those following.
CHARLES E. CONRAD. THos J BOGG. his
NATOSE-ONISTORS, or Medicine x
Calf mark.
his
POKAPIW-OTOIAN, or Bad Head x mark. his SOTENAH, or Rainy Chief, x
Head Chief of the North mark. Bloods.
his TAKOYE-STAMIX, or Fiend Bull. x mark. his
AKKA-KITCIPIMIW-OTAS, or many x spotted horses. mark. his
ATTISTAH-MACAN, or Running x
Rabbit. mark.
7
PITAH-PEKIS, or Eagle Rib.
SAKOYE-AOTAN, or Heavy Shield, Head Chief of the Middle Blackfeet.
ZOATZE-TAPITAPIW, o r Settin g on an Eagle Tail. Head Chief of the North Piegans
AKKA-MAKKOYE, or Many Swans
APENAKO-SAPOP, or Morning
Plume
MAS-GWA-AH-SID, or Bear's Paw
CHE-NK-KA, or John,
KI-CHI-PWOT, or Jacob,
STAMIX-OSOK, or Bull Backfat,
EMITAH-APISKINNE, or White Striped Dog,
MATAPI-KOMOTZIW, or the Captive or Stolen Person,
APAWAWAKOSOW, or White Antelope,
MAKOYE-KIN, or Wolf Collar,
AYE-STIPIS-SIMAT, or Heavily Whipped,
KISSOUM, or Day Light,
PITAH-OTOCAN, or Eagle Head,
APAW-STAMIX, or Weasel Bull,
OMSTAM-POKAH, or White Calf, his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark. his x mark.
NETAH-KITEI-PI-MEW, his or Only Spot, x mark.
AKAK-OTOS, his or Many Horses, x mark.
STOKIMATIS, his or The Drum x mark.
PlTAH-ANNES his or Eagle Robe x mark.
PITAU-OTISKIN, his or Eagle Shoe, x mark.
STAMIXO-TA-KA-PIW, his or Bull Turn Round x mark.
MASTE-PITAH, his or Crow Eagle, x mark. his
JAMES DIXON, x mark. his
ABRAHAM KECHEPWOT, X mark. his
PATRICK KECHEPWOT, X mark. his
GEORGE MOY-ANY-MEN, X mark. his
GEORGE CRAWLOR, X mark.
EKAS-KINE, his or Low Horn, x mark.
KAYO-OKOSIS, his or Bear Shield, x mark.
PONOKAH-STAMIX, his or Bull Elk, x mark.
OMAKSI SAPOP, his or Big Plume, x mark.
ONISTAH, his or Calf Robe, x mark.
PlTAH-SlKSINUM, his or White Eagle, x mark.
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We the members of the Blackfoot tribe of Indians having had explained to us the terms of the Treaty made and concluded at the Blackfoot Crossing of the Bow River, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven;
Between Her Majesty the Queen, by Her Commissioners duly appointed to negotiate the said Treaty and the Blackfeet, Blood, Piegan, Sarcee, Stony and other Indian inhabitants of the country within the limits defined in the said Treaty, but not having been present at the Councils at which the articles of the said Treaty were agreed upon, do now hereby, for ourselves and the Bands which we represent, in consideration of the provisions of the said Treaty being extended to us and the Bands which we represent, transfer, surrender and relinquish to Her Majesty the Queen, Her heirs and successors, to and for the use of Her Government of the Dominion of Canada, all our right, title, and interest whatsoever which we and the said Bands which we represent have held or enjoyed of in and to the territory described and fully set out in the said Treaty; also, all our right, title, and interest whatsoever to all other lands wherever situated, whether within the limits of any other Treaty heretofore made or hereafter to be made with Indians, or elsewhere in Her Majesty's territories, to have and to hold the same unto and for the use of Her Majesty the Queen, Her heirs and successors forever;
And we hereby agree to accept the several benefits, payments, and Reserves promised to the Indians under the Chiefs adhering to the said Treaty at the Blackfoot Crossing of the Bow River, and we solemnly engage to abide by, carry out and fulfil all the stipulations, obligations and conditions therein contained on the part of the Chiefs and Indians therein named, to be observed and performed and in all things to conform to the articles of the said Treaty, as if we ourselves and the Bands which we represent had been originally contracting parties thereto and had been present at the Councils held at the Blackfoot Crossing of the Bow River, and had there attached our signatures to the said Treaty.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, James Farquharson MacLeod, C.M G., one of Her Majesty's Commissioners appointed to negotiate the said Treaty, and the Chief of the Band, hereby giving their adhesion to the said Treaty, have hereunto subscribed and set their hands at Fort MacLeod, this fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand and eight hundred and seventy-seven.
APAW-ONISTAW, his or Weasel Calf, x mark.
ATTISTA-HAES, his or Rabbit Carrier, x mark.
PITAH, his or Eagle, x mark.
PlTAH-ONISTAH, his or Eagle White Calf, x mark.
KAYE-TAPO, his or Going to Bear, x mark.
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Signed by the parties hereto in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, the same having been explained to the Indians by the said James Farquharson MacLeod, one of the Commissioners appointed to negotiate the said Treaty, through the interpreter, Jerry Potts, in the presence of
JAMES F. MACLEOD, LIEUT.COL., Special Indian Commissioner.
MEANXKISTOMACH his or Three Bulls x mark.
A. G. IRVINE,
Assistant Commissioner.
E. DALRMYMLE CLARK,
Lieutenant and Adjutant N.W.M.P.
CHARLES E. CONRAD, W. WINDER,
Inspector.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
This report is in the public domain. Anyone may, without charge or request for permission, reproduce all or part of this report.
2015
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2012 1500–360 Main Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3Z3 Telephone: (204) 984-5885 Toll Free: 1-888-872-5554 (1-888-TRC-5554) Fax: (204) 984-5915 E-mail: info@trc.ca Website: www.trc.ca
1
Calls to Action
In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes the following calls to action.
Legacy
Child welfare
1. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and
Aboriginal governments to commit to reducing the number of Aboriginal children in care by:
i. Monitoring and assessing neglect investigations.
ii. Providing adequate resources to enable Aboriginal communities and child-welfare organizations to keep Aboriginal families together where it is safe to do so, and to keep children in culturally appropriate environments, regardless of where they reside.
iii. Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the history and impacts of residential schools.
iv. Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the potential for
Aboriginal communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing.
v. Requiring that all child-welfare decision makers consider the impact of the residential school experience on children and their caregivers.
2. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, to prepare and publish annual reports on the number of Aboriginal children (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) who are in care, compared with non-Aboriginal children, as well as the reasons for apprehension, the total spending on preventive and care services by child-welfare agencies, and the effectiveness of various interventions.
3. We call upon all levels of government to fully implement
Jordan’s Principle.
4. We call upon the federal government to enact Aboriginal child-welfare legislation that establishes national standards for Aboriginal child apprehension and custody cases and includes principles that:
i. Affirm the right of Aboriginal governments to establish and maintain their own child-welfare agencies.
ii. Require all child-welfare agencies and courts to take the residential school legacy into account in their decision making.
iii. Establish, as an important priority, a requirement that placements of Aboriginal children into temporary and permanent care be culturally appropriate.
5. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate parenting programs for Aboriginal families.
Education
6. We call upon the Government of Canada to repeal
Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
7. We call upon the federal government to develop with Aboriginal groups a joint strategy to eliminate
2 | Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
educational and employment gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.
8. We call upon the federal government to eliminate the discrepancy in federal education funding for First
Nations children being educated on reserves and those
First Nations children being educated off reserves.
9. We call upon the federal government to prepare and publish annual reports comparing funding for the education of First Nations children on and off reserves, as well as educational and income attainments of
Aboriginal peoples in Canada compared with non-
Aboriginal people.
10. We call on the federal government to draft new
Aboriginal education legislation with the full participation and informed consent of Aboriginal peoples. The new legislation would include a commitment to sufficient funding and would incorporate the following principles:
i. Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation.
ii. Improving education attainment levels and success rates.
iii. Developing culturally appropriate curricula.
iv. Protecting the right to Aboriginal languages, including the teaching of Aboriginal languages as credit courses.
v. Enabling parental and community responsibility, control, and accountability, similar to what parents enjoy in public school systems.
vi. Enabling parents to fully participate in the education of their children.
vii. Respecting and honouring Treaty relationships.
11. We call upon the federal government to provide adequate funding to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking a post-secondary education.
12. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs for
Aboriginal families.
Language and culture
13. We call upon the federal government to acknowledge that Aboriginal rights include Aboriginal language rights. 14. We call upon the federal government to enact an
Aboriginal Languages Act that incorporates the following principles:
i. Aboriginal languages are a fundamental and valued element of Canadian culture and society, and there is an urgency to preserve them.
ii. Aboriginal language rights are reinforced by the
Treaties.
iii. The federal government has a responsibility to provide sufficient funds for Aboriginal-language revitalization and preservation.
iv. The preservation, revitalization, and strengthening of Aboriginal languages and cultures are best managed by Aboriginal people and communities.
v. Funding for Aboriginal language initiatives must reflect the diversity of Aboriginal languages.
15. We call upon the federal government to appoint, in consultation with Aboriginal groups, an Aboriginal
Languages Commissioner. The commissioner should help promote Aboriginal languages and report on the adequacy of federal funding of Aboriginal-languages initiatives.
16. We call upon post-secondary institutions to create university and college degree and diploma programs in
Aboriginal languages.
17. We call upon all levels of government to enable residential school Survivors and their families to reclaim names changed by the residential school system by waiving administrative costs for a period of five years for the name-change process and the revision of official identity documents, such as birth certificates, passports, driver’s licenses, health cards, status cards, and social insurance numbers.
Health
18. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and
Aboriginal governments to acknowledge that the current state of Aboriginal health in Canada is a direct result of previous Canadian government policies, including residential schools, and to recognize and implement the health-care rights of Aboriginal people as identified in international law, constitutional law, and under the
Treaties.
19. We call upon the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal peoples, to establish measurable goals to identify and close the gaps in health outcomes
between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities, and to publish annual progress reports and assess longterm trends. Such efforts would focus on indicators such as: infant mortality, maternal health, suicide, mental health, addictions, life expectancy, birth rates, infant and child health issues, chronic diseases, illness and injury incidence, and the availability of appropriate health services.
20. In order to address the jurisdictional disputes concerning Aboriginal people who do not reside on reserves, we call upon the federal government to recognize, respect, and address the distinct health needs of the Métis, Inuit, and off-reserve Aboriginal peoples.
21. We call upon the federal government to provide sustainable funding for existing and new Aboriginal healing centres to address the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harms caused by residential schools, and to ensure that the funding of healing centres in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories is a priority.
22. We call upon those who can effect change within the
Canadian health-care system to recognize the value of Aboriginal healing practices and use them in the treatment of Aboriginal patients in collaboration with
Aboriginal healers and Elders where requested by
Aboriginal patients.
23. We call upon all levels of government to:
i. Increase the number of Aboriginal professionals working in the health-care field.
ii. Ensure the retention of Aboriginal health-care providers in Aboriginal communities.
iii. Provide cultural competency training for all healthcare professionals.
24. We call upon medical and nursing schools in Canada to require all students to take a course dealing with
Aboriginal health issues, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, and Indigenous teachings and practices. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.
Justice
25. We call upon the federal government to establish a written policy that reaffirms the independence of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate crimes in which the government has its own interest as a potential or real party in civil litigation.
26. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to review and amend their respective statutes of limitations to ensure that they conform to the principle that governments and other entities cannot rely on limitation defences to defend legal actions of historical abuse brought by Aboriginal people.
27. We call upon the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to ensure that lawyers receive appropriate cultural competency training, which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–
Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.
28. We call upon law schools in Canada to require all law students to take a course in Aboriginal people and the law, which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights,
Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations.
This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and antiracism.
29. We call upon the parties and, in particular, the federal government, to work collaboratively with plaintiffs not included in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement
Agreement to have disputed legal issues determined expeditiously on an agreed set of facts.
30. We call upon federal, provincial, and territorial governments to commit to eliminating the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in custody over the next decade, and to issue detailed annual reports that monitor and evaluate progress in doing so.
31. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to provide sufficient and stable funding to implement and evaluate community sanctions that will provide realistic alternatives to imprisonment for
Aboriginal offenders and respond to the underlying causes of offending.
32. We call upon the federal government to amend the
Criminal Code to allow trial judges, upon giving reasons, to depart from mandatory minimum sentences and restrictions on the use of conditional sentences.
Calls to Action| 3
4 | Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
33. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to recognize as a high priority the need to address and prevent Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), and to develop, in collaboration with Aboriginal people, FASD preventive programs that can be delivered in a culturally appropriate manner.
34. We call upon the governments of Canada, the provinces, and territories to undertake reforms to the criminal justice system to better address the needs of offenders with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), including:
i. Providing increased community resources and powers for courts to ensure that FASD is properly diagnosed, and that appropriate community supports are in place for those with FASD.
ii. Enacting statutory exemptions from mandatory minimum sentences of imprisonment for offenders affected by FASD.
iii. Providing community, correctional, and parole resources to maximize the ability of people with
FASD to live in the community.
iv. Adopting appropriate evaluation mechanisms to measure the effectiveness of such programs and ensure community safety.
35. We call upon the federal government to eliminate barriers to the creation of additional Aboriginal healing lodges within the federal correctional system.
36. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to work with Aboriginal communities to provide culturally relevant services to inmates on issues such as substance abuse, family and domestic violence, and overcoming the experience of having been sexually abused.
37. We call upon the federal government to provide more supports for Aboriginal programming in halfway houses and parole services.
38. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and
Aboriginal governments to commit to eliminating the overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth in custody over the next decade.
39. We call upon the federal government to develop a national plan to collect and publish data on the criminal victimization of Aboriginal people, including data related to homicide and family violence victimization. 40. We call on all levels of government, in collaboration with Aboriginal people, to create adequately funded and accessible Aboriginal-specific victim programs and services with appropriate evaluation mechanisms.
41. We call upon the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal organizations, to appoint a public inquiry into the causes of, and remedies for, the disproportionate victimization of Aboriginal women and girls. The inquiry’s mandate would include:
i. Investigation into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls.
ii. Links to the intergenerational legacy of residential schools.
42. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to commit to the recognition and implementation of Aboriginal justice systems in a manner consistent with the Treaty and Aboriginal rights of Aboriginal peoples, the Constitution Act, 1982, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, endorsed by Canada in November 2012.
Reconciliation
Canadian Governments and the United nations
declaration on the rights of indigenoUs PeoPle
43. We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation.
44. We call upon the Government of Canada to develop a national action plan, strategies, and other concrete measures to achieve the goals of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Royal Proclamation and Covenant of Reconciliation
45. We call upon the Government of Canada, on behalf of all Canadians, to jointly develop with Aboriginal peoples a Royal Proclamation of Reconciliation to be issued by the Crown. The proclamation would build on the Royal
Proclamation of 1763 and the Treaty of Niagara of 1764, and reaffirm the nation-to-nation relationship between
Aboriginal peoples and the Crown. The proclamation would include, but not be limited to, the following commitments:
i. Repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius.
ii. Adopt and implement the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation.
iii. Renew or establish Treaty relationships based on principles of mutual recognition, mutual respect, and shared responsibility for maintaining those relationships into the future.
iv. Reconcile Aboriginal and Crown constitutional and legal orders to ensure that Aboriginal peoples are full partners in Confederation, including the recognition and integration of Indigenous laws and legal traditions in negotiation and implementation processes involving Treaties, land claims, and other constructive agreements.
46. We call upon the parties to the Indian Residential
Schools Settlement Agreement to develop and sign a Covenant of Reconciliation that would identify principles for working collaboratively to advance reconciliation in Canadian society, and that would include, but not be limited to:
i. Reaffirmation of the parties’ commitment to reconciliation.
ii. Repudiation of concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples, such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius, and the reformation of laws, governance structures, and policies within their respective institutions that continue to rely on such concepts.
iii. Full adoption and implementation of the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples as the framework for reconciliation.
iv. Support for the renewal or establishment of
Treaty relationships based on principles of mutual recognition, mutual respect, and shared responsibility for maintaining those relationships into the future.
v. Enabling those excluded from the Settlement
Agreement to sign onto the Covenant of
Reconciliation.
vi. Enabling additional parties to sign onto the
Covenant of Reconciliation. 47. We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous peoples and lands, such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius, and to reform those laws, government policies, and litigation strategies that continue to rely on such concepts. Calls to Action| 5
Settlement Agreement Parties and the United
nations declaration on the rights of indigenoUs PeoPles
48. We call upon the church parties to the Settlement
Agreement, and all other faith groups and interfaith social justice groups in Canada who have not already done so, to formally adopt and comply with the principles, norms, and standards of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a framework for reconciliation. This would include, but not be limited to, the following commitments:
i. Ensuring that their institutions, policies, programs, and practices comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
ii. Respecting Indigenous peoples’ right to selfdetermination in spiritual matters, including the right to practise, develop, and teach their own spiritual and religious traditions, customs, and ceremonies, consistent with Article 12:1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples.
iii. Engaging in ongoing public dialogue and actions to support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
iv. Issuing a statement no later than March 31, 2016, from all religious denominations and faith groups, as to how they will implement the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
49. We call upon all religious denominations and faith groups who have not already done so to repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty over
Indigenous lands and peoples, such as the Doctrine of
Discovery and terra nullius.
Equity for Aboriginal People in the Legal System
50. In keeping with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal organizations, to fund the establishment of Indigenous law institutes for the development, use, and
6 | Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
understanding of Indigenous laws and access to justice in accordance with the unique cultures of Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
51. We call upon the Government of Canada, as an obligation of its fiduciary responsibility, to develop a policy of transparency by publishing legal opinions it develops and upon which it acts or intends to act, in regard to the scope and extent of Aboriginal and Treaty rights.
52. We call upon the Government of Canada, provincial and territorial governments, and the courts to adopt the following legal principles:
i. Aboriginal title claims are accepted once the
Aboriginal claimant has established occupation over a particular territory at a particular point in time.
ii. Once Aboriginal title has been established, the burden of proving any limitation on any rights arising from the existence of that title shifts to the party asserting such a limitation.
National Council for Reconciliation
53. We call upon the Parliament of Canada, in consultation and collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to enact legislation to establish a National Council for
Reconciliation. The legislation would establish the council as an independent, national, oversight body with membership jointly appointed by the Government of Canada and national Aboriginal organizations, and consisting of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members.
Its mandate would include, but not be limited to, the following:
i. Monitor, evaluate, and report annually to Parliament and the people of Canada on the Government of
Canada’s post-apology progress on reconciliation to ensure that government accountability for reconciling the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Crown is maintained in the coming years.
ii. Monitor, evaluate, and report to Parliament and the people of Canada on reconciliation progress across all levels and sectors of Canadian society, including the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.
iii. Develop and implement a multi-year National
Action Plan for Reconciliation, which includes research and policy development, public education programs, and resources. iv. Promote public dialogue, public/private partnerships, and public initiatives for reconciliation.
54. We call upon the Government of Canada to provide multi-year funding for the National Council for
Reconciliation to ensure that it has the financial, human, and technical resources required to conduct its work, including the endowment of a National Reconciliation
Trust to advance the cause of reconciliation.
55. We call upon all levels of government to provide annual reports or any current data requested by the National
Council for Reconciliation so that it can report on the progress towards reconciliation. The reports or data would include, but not be limited to:
i. The number of Aboriginal children—including Métis and Inuit children—in care, compared with non-
Aboriginal children, the reasons for apprehension, and the total spending on preventive and care services by child-welfare agencies.
ii. Comparative funding for the education of First
Nations children on and off reserves.
iii. The educational and income attainments of
Aboriginal peoples in Canada compared with non-
Aboriginal people.
iv. Progress on closing the gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in a number of health indicators such as: infant mortality, maternal health, suicide, mental health, addictions, life expectancy, birth rates, infant and child health issues, chronic diseases, illness and injury incidence, and the availability of appropriate health services.
v. Progress on eliminating the overrepresentation of
Aboriginal children in youth custody over the next decade.
vi. Progress on reducing the rate of criminal victimization of Aboriginal people, including data related to homicide and family violence victimization and other crimes.
vii. Progress on reducing the overrepresentation of
Aboriginal people in the justice and correctional systems.
56. We call upon the prime minister of Canada to formally respond to the report of the National Council for
Reconciliation by issuing an annual “State of Aboriginal
Peoples” report, which would outline the government’s plans for advancing the cause of reconciliation.
Professional Development and Training for Public Servants
57. We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to provide education to public servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and
Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skillsbased training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.
Church Apologies and Reconciliation
58. We call upon the Pope to issue an apology to Survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic
Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and
Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools. We call for that apology to be similar to the 2010 apology issued to Irish victims of abuse and to occur within one year of the issuing of this Report and to be delivered by the Pope in Canada.
59. We call upon church parties to the Settlement
Agreement to develop ongoing education strategies to ensure that their respective congregations learn about their church’s role in colonization, the history and legacy of residential schools, and why apologies to former residential school students, their families, and communities were necessary.
60. We call upon leaders of the church parties to the
Settlement Agreement and all other faiths, in collaboration with Indigenous spiritual leaders,
Survivors, schools of theology, seminaries, and other religious training centres, to develop and teach curriculum for all student clergy, and all clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal communities, on the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right, the history and legacy of residential schools and the roles of the church parties in that system, the history and legacy of religious conflict in Aboriginal families and communities, and the responsibility that churches have to mitigate such conflicts and prevent spiritual violence.
61. We call upon church parties to the Settlement
Agreement, in collaboration with Survivors and representatives of Aboriginal organizations, to establish permanent funding to Aboriginal people for:
i. Community-controlled healing and reconciliation projects. ii. Community-controlled culture- and languagerevitalization projects.
iii. Community-controlled education and relationshipbuilding projects.
iv. Regional dialogues for Indigenous spiritual leaders and youth to discuss Indigenous spirituality, selfdetermination, and reconciliation. Calls to Action| 7
Education for reconciliation
62. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in consultation and collaboration with
Survivors, Aboriginal peoples, and educators, to:
i. Make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.
ii. Provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions to educate teachers on how to integrate
Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms.
iii. Provide the necessary funding to Aboriginal schools to utilize Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in classrooms.
iv. Establish senior-level positions in government at the assistant deputy minister level or higher dedicated to
Aboriginal content in education.
63. We call upon the Council of Ministers of Education,
Canada to maintain an annual commitment to
Aboriginal education issues, including:
i. Developing and implementing Kindergarten to
Grade Twelve curriculum and learning resources on Aboriginal peoples in Canadian history, and the history and legacy of residential schools.
ii. Sharing information and best practices on teaching curriculum related to residential schools and
Aboriginal history.
iii. Building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
iv. Identifying teacher-training needs relating to the above.
64. We call upon all levels of government that provide public funds to denominational schools to require such schools to provide an education on comparative religious studies, which must include a segment on
8 | Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and practices developed in collaboration with Aboriginal Elders.
65. We call upon the federal government, through the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, post-secondary institutions and educators, and the National Centre for
Truth and Reconciliation and its partner institutions, to establish a national research program with multi-year funding to advance understanding of reconciliation.
Youth Programs
66. We call upon the federal government to establish multiyear funding for community-based youth organizations to deliver programs on reconciliation, and establish a national network to share information and best practices.
Museums and Archives
67. We call upon the federal government to provide funding to the Canadian Museums Association to undertake, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, a national review of museum policies and best practices to determine the level of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to make recommendations.
68. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, and the Canadian Museums
Association to mark the 150th anniversary of Canadian
Confederation in 2017 by establishing a dedicated national funding program for commemoration projects on the theme of reconciliation.
69. We call upon Library and Archives Canada to:
i. Fully adopt and implement the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples’ inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why, with regard to human rights violations committed against them in the residential schools.
ii. Ensure that its record holdings related to residential schools are accessible to the public.
iii. Commit more resources to its public education materials and programming on residential schools.
70. We call upon the federal government to provide funding to the Canadian Association of Archivists to undertake, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, a national review of archival policies and best practices to: i. Determine the level of compliance with the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples and the United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher
Principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples’ inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why, with regard to human rights violations committed against them in the residential schools.
ii. Produce a report with recommendations for full implementation of these international mechanisms as a reconciliation framework for Canadian archives.
Missing Children and Burial Information
71. We call upon all chief coroners and provincial vital statistics agencies that have not provided to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada their records on the deaths of Aboriginal children in the care of residential school authorities to make these documents available to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
72. We call upon the federal government to allocate sufficient resources to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to allow it to develop and maintain the National Residential School Student Death
Register established by the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of Canada.
73. We call upon the federal government to work with churches, Aboriginal communities, and former residential school students to establish and maintain an online registry of residential school cemeteries, including, where possible, plot maps showing the location of deceased residential school children.
74. We call upon the federal government to work with the churches and Aboriginal community leaders to inform the families of children who died at residential schools of the child’s burial location, and to respond to families’ wishes for appropriate commemoration ceremonies and markers, and reburial in home communities where requested.
75. We call upon the federal government to work with provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, churches, Aboriginal communities, former residential school students, and current landowners to develop and implement strategies and procedures for the ongoing identification, documentation, maintenance, commemoration, and protection of residential school cemeteries or other sites at which residential school children were buried. This is to include the provision of
appropriate memorial ceremonies and commemorative markers to honour the deceased children.
76. We call upon the parties engaged in the work of documenting, maintaining, commemorating, and protecting residential school cemeteries to adopt strategies in accordance with the following principles:
i. The Aboriginal community most affected shall lead the development of such strategies.
ii. Information shall be sought from residential school
Survivors and other Knowledge Keepers in the development of such strategies.
iii. Aboriginal protocols shall be respected before any potentially invasive technical inspection and investigation of a cemetery site.
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
77. We call upon provincial, territorial, municipal, and community archives to work collaboratively with the
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to identify and collect copies of all records relevant to the history and legacy of the residential school system, and to provide these to the National Centre for Truth and
Reconciliation.
78. We call upon the Government of Canada to commit to making a funding contribution of $10 million over seven years to the National Centre for Truth and
Reconciliation, plus an additional amount to assist communities to research and produce histories of their own residential school experience and their involvement in truth, healing, and reconciliation.
Commemoration
79. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Survivors, Aboriginal organizations, and the arts community, to develop a reconciliation framework for
Canadian heritage and commemoration. This would include, but not be limited to:
i. Amending the Historic Sites and Monuments Act to include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis representation on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of
Canada and its Secretariat.
ii. Revising the policies, criteria, and practices of the
National Program of Historical Commemoration to integrate Indigenous history, heritage values, and memory practices into Canada’s national heritage and history. iii. Developing and implementing a national heritage plan and strategy for commemorating residential school sites, the history and legacy of residential schools, and the contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canada’s history.
80. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.
81. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Survivors and their organizations, and other parties to the Settlement Agreement, to commission and install a publicly accessible, highly visible, Residential Schools
National Monument in the city of Ottawa to honour
Survivors and all the children who were lost to their families and communities.
82. We call upon provincial and territorial governments, in collaboration with Survivors and their organizations, and other parties to the Settlement Agreement, to commission and install a publicly accessible, highly visible, Residential Schools Monument in each capital city to honour Survivors and all the children who were lost to their families and communities.
83. We call upon the Canada Council for the Arts to establish, as a funding priority, a strategy for Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to undertake collaborative projects and produce works that contribute to the reconciliation process. Calls to Action| 9
Media and Reconciliation
84. We call upon the federal government to restore and increase funding to the CBC/Radio-Canada, to enable
Canada’s national public broadcaster to support reconciliation, and be properly reflective of the diverse cultures, languages, and perspectives of Aboriginal peoples, including, but not limited to:
i. Increasing Aboriginal programming, including
Aboriginal-language speakers.
ii. Increasing equitable access for Aboriginal peoples to jobs, leadership positions, and professional development opportunities within the organization.
iii. Continuing to provide dedicated news coverage and online public information resources on issues of concern to Aboriginal peoples and all Canadians,
10 | Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
including the history and legacy of residential schools and the reconciliation process.
85. We call upon the Aboriginal Peoples Television
Network, as an independent non-profit broadcaster with programming by, for, and about Aboriginal peoples, to support reconciliation, including but not limited to:
i. Continuing to provide leadership in programming and organizational culture that reflects the diverse cultures, languages, and perspectives of Aboriginal peoples.
ii. Continuing to develop media initiatives that inform and educate the Canadian public, and connect
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.
86. We call upon Canadian journalism programs and media schools to require education for all students on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–
Crown relations.
Sports and Reconciliation
87. We call upon all levels of government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, sports halls of fame, and other relevant organizations, to provide public education that tells the national story of Aboriginal athletes in history.
88. We call upon all levels of government to take action to ensure long-term Aboriginal athlete development and growth, and continued support for the North American
Indigenous Games, including funding to host the games and for provincial and territorial team preparation and travel.
89. We call upon the federal government to amend the
Physical Activity and Sport Act to support reconciliation by ensuring that policies to promote physical activity as a fundamental element of health and well-being, reduce barriers to sports participation, increase the pursuit of excellence in sport, and build capacity in the Canadian sport system, are inclusive of Aboriginal peoples.
90. We call upon the federal government to ensure that national sports policies, programs, and initiatives are inclusive of Aboriginal peoples, including, but not limited to, establishing:
i. In collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, stable funding for, and access to, community sports programs that reflect the diverse cultures and traditional sporting activities of Aboriginal peoples.
ii. An elite athlete development program for Aboriginal athletes.
iii. Programs for coaches, trainers, and sports officials that are culturally relevant for Aboriginal peoples.
iv. Anti-racism awareness and training programs.
91. We call upon the officials and host countries of international sporting events such as the Olympics,
Pan Am, and Commonwealth games to ensure that
Indigenous peoples’ territorial protocols are respected, and local Indigenous communities are engaged in all aspects of planning and participating in such events.
Business and Reconciliation
92. We call upon the corporate sector in Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving
Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources. This would include, but not be limited to, the following:
i. Commit to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before proceeding with economic development projects.
ii. Ensure that Aboriginal peoples have equitable access to jobs, training, and education opportunities in the corporate sector, and that Aboriginal communities gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects.
iii. Provide education for management and staff on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and
Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.
Newcomers to Canada
93. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with the national Aboriginal organizations, to revise the information kit for newcomers to Canada and its citizenship test to reflect a more inclusive history of the diverse Aboriginal peoples of Canada, including
information about the Treaties and the history of residential schools.
94. We call upon the Government of Canada to replace the
Oath of Citizenship with the following:
I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada including Treaties with Indigenous Peoples, and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen. Calls to Action| 11
The Ethical Space of Engagement
WILLIE ERMINE∗
I INTRODUCTION
II ETHICS
III THE STATUS QUO
IV THE UNDERCURRENT 194
195
196
197
V INDIGENOUS GAZE 199
VI EMERGENT RULES OF ENGAGEMENT 200
VII RECONCILIATION 201
The “ethical space” is formed when two societies, with disparate worldviews, are poised to engage each other. It is the thought about diverse societies and the space in between them that contributes to the development of a framework for dialogue between human communities. The ethical space of engagement proposes a framework as a way of examining the diversity and positioning of Indigenous peoples and Western society in the pursuit of a relevant discussion on Indigenous legal issues and particularly to the fragile intersection of Indigenous law and Canadian legal systems. Ethical
∗ M.Ed., Ethicist / Researcher with the Indigenous Peoples Health Research Centre (“IPHRC”), and Assistant Professor with the First Nations University of Canada. Willie is Cree and is from the Sturgeon Lake First Nation in the north central part of Saskatchewan where he lives with his family. As faculty with the First Nations University of Canada, he lectures in subject areas of Cree Literature, and Indigenous systems of religion and philosophy. Willie has published numerous academic articles, including a widely read academic paper entitled “Aboriginal
Epistemology” through UBC Press, and contributed recent reports to the Tri Council Panel on
Research Ethics, and is a member of the Panel on Research Ethics Technical Advisory
Committee on Aboriginal Research (“PRE TACAR”). His primary focus as an Ethicist /
Researcher is to promote ethical practices of research involving Indigenous peoples with particular interest in the conceptual development of the “ethical space”—a theoretical space between cultures and worldviews.
Indigenous Law Journal/Volume 6/Issue 1/2007 193
194 Indigenous Law Journal Vol. 6
standards and the emergence of new rules of engagement through recent Supreme Court rulings call for a new approach to Indigenous-Western dealings. The new partnership model of the ethical space, in a cooperative spirit between Indigenous peoples and Western institutions, will create new currents of thought that flow in different directions of legal discourse and overrun the archaic ways of interaction.
I INTRODUCTION
I’d like to share with you an idea that I think is relevant to the current discussion on Indigenous legal issues and particularly to the fragile intersection of Indigenous law and Canadian legal systems. The idea is called ethical space and is borne out of the philosophical musings of Roger Poole in his book Towards Deep Subjectivity.1 This idea is further developed here to create the analogy of a space between two entities, as a space between the Indigenous and Western thought worlds. The space is initially conceptualized by the unwavering construction of difference and diversity between human communities. These are the differences that highlight uniqueness because each entity is moulded from a distinct history, knowledge tradition, philosophy, and social and political reality. With the calculated disconnection through the contrasting of their identities, and the subsequent creation of two solitudes with each claiming their own distinct and autonomous view of the world, a theoretical space between them is opened. The positioning of these two entities, the autochthonous and the West, divided by the void and flux of their cultural distance, and in a manner that they are poised to encounter each other, produces a significant and interesting notion that has relevance in the discourse of Indigenous and Canadian law.
According to the writings of Poole, “there are two sorts of space because there are two sorts of intentions. The intentions structure the space in two different ways. When the two sets of intentions … confront each other … then ethical space is set up instantaneously.”2 In Roger Poole’s description of ethical space, a photograph dating to the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia is presented. In the picture, two men are sitting on a park bench looking at each other. One man is dressed in army fatigues and is clearly representative of the dominant and occupying force, while the other man, dressed in civilian, peasant clothing, clearly represents one of the “occupied.” The space between them is what intrigued Poole. On the
1. R. Poole, Towards Deep Subjectivity (London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press, 1972). 2. Ibid. at 5.
No. 1 The Ethical Space of Engagement 195
surface, the presence of the other is acknowledged, but it is space between people, at the unstated, unseen level of thought and feeling that is overwhelming in the picture. Poole directs our focus to that space and invites us to reflect on the electrifying nature of that area between entities that we thought was empty. It is the contention here that this similar schismatic ambience is created between peoples and cultures, and in particular whenever and wherever the physical and philosophical encounter of Indigenous and Western worlds takes place. At the superficial level of encounter, the two entities may indeed acknowledge each other but there is a clear lack of substance or depth to the encounter. What remains hidden and enfolded are the deeper level thoughts, interests and assumptions that will inevitably influence and animate the kind of relationship the two can have. It is this deeper level force, the underflow-become-influential, the enfolded dimension that needs to be acknowledged and brought to bear in the complex situation produced by confronting knowledge and legal systems.
II ETHICS
The word ethics is defined here as the capacity to know what harms or enhances the well-being of sentient creatures. To speak about the harms or enhancements to humanity inevitably launches our discussion into the arena of morality and the edifice of our civilization. Additionally, ethics entertains our personal capacity and our integrity to stand up for our cherished notions of good, responsibility, duty, obligations, etc. With our ethical standards in mind, we necessarily have to think about the transgression of those standards by others and how our actions may also infringe or violate the spaces of others. Therefore, a discourse on ethics also includes the serious reflection of those crucial lines we draw to delineate our personal autonomous zones and demarcation of boundaries others should not cross. Each of us knows our own boundaries, the contours of our sacred spaces that we claim for ourselves as autonomous actors in the universe. These are our basic personal boundaries, the moral thresholds that we will not cross and we are equally sensitive to others infringing or imposing on those spaces. We also think about boundaries that are imposed by family, perhaps our clan systems or our extended families that have become the spaces of our retreat. We have certain moral architectures built by our families that are taboo to cross lest we create dishonour. There are also boundaries imposed by our cultural imperatives such as the community ethos in each of our communities. In Indigenous societies, the Elders and the oral traditions provide us with the codes of conduct as human beings within our communities. Additionally, there are those ethical boundaries established by collective principles, such
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as our knowledge systems, the autonomy of our human communities, or our treaties. This is a heritage from our past that not only informs us of our roots to antiquity and the rights to traditions entrusted to our people, but it also reminds us of what is important in life as we collectively negotiate the future. The spirit of that existence is inviolable, particularly by the actions of other human communities. The sacred space of the ethical helps us balance these moral considerations as we discuss issues that are trans-cultural, or trans-boundary in nature. The discourse surrounding the intersection of Indigenous and Canadian law needs perspectives that create clarity and ethical certainty to the rules of engagement between diverse human communities. With this notion of ethics, and juxtaposed on the broader collective level, we come to the inescapable conclusion about our own agency in the kind of civilization we create to live in.
III THE STATUS QUO
A schism still exists in understanding between Indigenous peoples and Western society. It is a time-lagged issue because the protracted matter of divergence and mal-adaptation had its genesis in first contact and the ensuing time span of relations has not alleviated the condition to any perceptible degree of comfort on either side. A general and broad glance at the historical interaction of Indigenous and Western societies will serve to highlight the precarious nature of this co-existence. Although more complex than presented here, the historical dimension of these relations can be envisioned as a repeating pattern of connect and disconnect, of engagement and disengagement, of union and rupture. How this pattern develops over time is illustrated by the following examples.
Prior to contact, the two societies generally identified as Indigenous and Western peoples, were literally disengaged, continents apart, in the physical sense. In the North American context, Indigenous societies resided in North America and Europe had its own societies of people. With contact and the advent of the fur trade in this country, the two societies were locked in a frenzy of economic interaction and were then considered “engaged” by this wheeling and dealing relationship. The breach of interaction happened in the waning days of the fur trade and the two entities disengaged and resorted to their respective programs of political, economic and social nature. Following this era, land for settlement became a big issue and treaty negotiations and bargaining took on fervor in the face of unfolding political and social realities in the dominion. With the signing of treaties, an agreement to interact now existed that, again, would engage Indigenous peoples and the Canadians in a new frontier of promised national and parallel existence.
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Unfortunately, meanings and interpretations to the agreements were divergent and as distanced as the worldviews and philosophies that informed them. The promise of amiable confluence turned to a rift. Thus, the parties became philosophically disengaged. More recently, Indigenous peoples experienced a forced reengagement into mainstream Canadian culture. An imposition represented by the forceful and violent ways of the residential school system, state policy, and other forms of coercion brought home the cruel reality of colonialism for Indigenous peoples. These acts of state produced the sordid and cumulative conditions of sociopolitical entanglement, an irritable bond of communities and trans-cultural confusion at its worst that is now the Canadian experience. We are now so badly entangled in our political and social lives that the principles of our existences as autonomous human communities have become blurred in that intercultural confusion. We no longer know what informs each of our identities and what should guide the association with each other. The ideas from our knowledge bases are so entangled and enmeshed with the other that we now find it compelling to decipher Indigenous thought from European thought. So we continue stumbling about trying to create clarity of the transcultural issues that confront us without any thought given to what the rules of engagement might be between these two human communities. The archaic practices of dominance obfuscated boundaries and repeatedly influenced the rupture of relations between peoples. The anguished pattern in the history of Indigenous-West relations tells us that we have continued to do the same thing over and over again even as we pursued co-existence. So we continue the posturing and the status quo remains as it always has because we lack clear rules of engagement between human communities and have not paid attention to the electrifying space that would tell us what the other entity is thinking across the park bench.
IV THE UNDERCURRENT
There are compelling reasons why Indigenous dealings with the Western world have been accompanied by anxiety. From a minority position, the monolithic presence of Western society poses great challenges and these challenges have been discoursed though the critical work of many thinkers and writers, including Indigenous scholars. They have contributed to the socio-cultural analysis of existing power structures and social inequalities, and have sought to end the privileged position of Euro-centrism and create parity in modern thought. Among the challenges is to understand and confront the hidden interests, attitudes, and bedrock assumptions that animate Western dealings with Indigenous peoples. The “undercurrent” is an
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analogy used to describe these subsurface interests and attitudes that continually influence communication and behaviors between individuals, organizations and nations. P. McIntosh, a feminist writer, has stated that “to redesign social systems we need first to acknowledge their colossal unseen dimensions.”3 For Indigenous peoples, the thought world of Western society represents this undercurrent, the colossal unseen dimension that influences Indigenous-Western relations.
One of the festering irritants for Indigenous peoples, in their encounter with the West, is the brick wall of a deeply embedded belief and practice of Western universality. Central to the issue of universality is the dissemination of a singular world consciousness, a monoculture with a claim to one model of humanity and one model of society. This is the claim to a God’s eye view on humanity and that this perspective is appropriately located in the West. This is an ingrained belief, an enfolded consciousness recreated through systems, institutions and processes in mainstream Canadian society. This mono-cultural existence suggests one public sphere and one conception of justice that triumphs over all others. It is to be supposed that a society built and predicated on these narcissistic beliefs would lack the frameworks by which the experiences and reality of other cultures can be justly named, described and understood because the same terms of reference for understanding Euro-centric life are not applicable to the great majority of people, including Indigenous peoples. This is the realization that diverse human communities do not share a common moral vocabulary, nor do they share a common vision of the nature of human beings as actors within the universe. In the West, this notion of universality remains simmering, unchecked, enfolded as it is, in the subconscious of the masses and recreated from the archives of knowledge and systems, rules and values of colonialism that in turn wills into being the intellectual, political, economic, cultural, and social systems and institutions of this country.
Institutionalized monoculture creates the unfounded belief that there is a consensus about society and that the status quo of Indigenous-Western relations is the “norm” in this country. This norm becomes so embedded that the danger exists of a society believing that the social inequities and dominant/subordinate relationships between human communities are authorized under the laws of nature or that they are the will of God.4 However, the legacies of dominance and social inequity, borne out of policy
3. P. McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” in S. Rothenburg, ed.,
Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study (New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1998) 165 at 168. 4. L. Noël, Intolerance: A General Survey (Montreal; Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 1994).
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and legal apparatus, are human constructions. Humans create the order of society and create the laws that will govern that society. Presently, the norm of Western existence, the norm of its governance, becomes so pervasive in its immediacy, so entrenched in mass consciousness, that the foundations of its being become largely invisible to itself.5 Within this norm, minority populations such as Indigenous peoples, women, the aged, and the handicapped are imaginatively created for a caged existence and remain invisible and powerless when compared to the mythical norms established in the Western society. The danger for Indigenous peoples is that because their image is created through Western systems and institutions, this same image can also be controlled and manipulated to suit Western interests. As Indigenous peoples, we have lost our most precious of all human rights—the freedom to be ourselves. Our existence is reduced to a meaningless and marginal part of broader Canadian life to be silent and ultimately controllable. Presently, trans-cultural communication, the dialogue of nations, or simply, the conversation between equals continues to be undermined by the persistence of these interests and attitudes borne in the hype and glory of European colonialism. Continuing breaches and ruptures between Indigenous peoples and the state is in large part a result of the continuing influence of this established undercurrent of values, interests and assumptions brought to the encounter between the human communities. The rules of Western dominance we have experienced in this country are archaic and have impeded the fullest development of our humanity.
V INDIGENOUS GAZE
Indigenous humanity along with its experience and awareness of struggle in this country now represents a “gaze” upon the Western world. This gaze projects from the memory of a people and is, in essence, the continuum of a story and a history. It is the social, political and historical consciousness about existence, and a place in the universe that is valid and imbued with purpose and hence our cultural/political claims revolve around identity and issues of knowledge and power. This is a mindful gaze informed by values, a moral structure, and a sincere interest for justice. As Chow states, “this is not the gaze of the [N]ative-as-subject, nor the gaze of the anti-imperialist critic; rather it is a simulation of the gaze that witnessed the [N]ative’s oppression prior to her becoming image.”6 Gregory Cajete has suggested that “the
5. M. Battiste & J.Y. Henderson, Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage: A Global
Challenge (Saskatoon: Purich, 2000); Noël, ibid. 6. R. Chow, Writing Diaspora: Politics of Intervention in Contemporary Cultural Studies (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993) 27 at 51.
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community is the place where the forming of the heart and face of the individual as one of the people is most fully expressed.”7 The Indigenous community is the primary expression of a natural context and environment where exists the fundamental right of personhood to be what one is meant to be. Movement within this community context allows individuals to discover all there is to discover about one’s self. This is a gaze that remembers a time before colonialism and one that reflects a belief in itself as a human community.
Currently, the situation, and very often the plight of Indigenous peoples, should act as a mirror to mainstream Canada. The conditions that Indigenous peoples find themselves in are a reflection of the governance and legal structures imposed by the dominant society. Indeed, what the mirror can teach is that it is not really about the situation of Indigenous peoples in this country, but it is about the character and honor of a nation to have created such conditions of inequity. It is about the mindset of a human community of people refusing to honor the rights of other human communities. The gaze staring out from the mirror is the mindful look of Indigenous humanity standing as it is with substantial heritage. This heritage acts as the standpoint from which Indigenous peoples gauge and view the unfolding of the Canadian state. Philosophically, there is an expectation from our children and grandchildren that we resolve these issues and to leave them a better world than the one we found.
VI EMERGENT RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
We have in this country attempted to follow some measure of international protocol and honour among nations through treaty-making. The treaties between the First Nation and the Crown are historical models of how negotiation can happen between nations as the representations of diverse human communities. These treaties are nation-to-nation dialogues, between one human community and another, with each party supported and informed by their own autonomy and their respective political and cultural systems. The parties negotiated the terms of treaty, and agreements to interact on a nation-to-nation basis were concluded. The treaties still stand as agreements to co-exist and they set forth certain conditions of engagement between Indigenous and European nations.
Constitutional recognition and recent Supreme Court rulings have provided some measure of guidance and vision in the pursuit of Indigenous-
7. G. Cajete, Look to the Mountains (Colorado: Kivaki Press, 1994) at 164.
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Western co-existence in this country. First, the recognition and affirmation of Aboriginal and treaty rights in the Constitution Act, 1982, remind us of unfinished business in our trans-cultural affairs. Aboriginal and treaty rights in Section 35, Constitution Act, 1982, create an order of justice, and the treaty order must now be understood as the supreme law in this country.8 This recognition necessitates the definition of Aboriginal rights. As Battiste and Henderson stated, “the court, in R. v. Van der Peet (1996), requires that these rights arise before contact with Europeans and be integral to a distinctive Indigenous order. The Supreme Court acknowledged that these cultural rights arise within the system of beliefs, social practices, and ceremonies of the Aboriginal peoples.”9 In essence, Aboriginal rights must be informed by and asserted through Indigenous knowledge.
The duty to consult and the honour of the Crown are other recent legal principles articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada, and they stipulate that the Crown must act with honour and integrity and in the best interests of Aboriginal groups. With these and other recent developments, we are reminded of the need for expanded legal discourse that includes a resolution and reconciliation of the bigger unresolved issues that impact IndigenousWestern co-existence in this country. There is also the added pressure from human rights legislation and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. What these legal instruments recognize is that Indigenous peoples are not the enemies of Canadian civilization, but are, and have always been, essential to its very possibility. The compelling legal task is to enable processes so that rights are justly named, described and understood.
VII RECONCILIATION
How do we reconcile worldviews? For example, how do we reconcile the oral tradition with the writing tradition, the two embedded traditions that we confront and must reconcile? That is the fundamental problem of cultural encounters. Shifting our perspectives to recognize that the Indigenous-West encounter is about thought worlds may also remind us that frameworks or paradigms are required to reconcile these solitudes. The theory of the ethical space is one such framework and configuring ethical/moral/legal principles in cross-cultural cooperation, at the common table of the ethical space, will be a challenging and arduous task.
8. J.Y. Henderson, “Implementing the Treaty Order” in R. Grosse, J.Y. Henderson & R. Carter, eds., Continuing Poundmaker & Riel’s Quest: Presentations Made at a Conference on
Aboriginal Peoples and Justice (Saskatoon: Purich, 1994) at 53. 9. Battiste & Henderson, supra note 5 at 212.
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In its finest form, the notion of an agreement to interact must always be preceded by the affirmation of human diversity created by philosophical and cultural differences. Since there is no God’s eye view to be claimed by any society of people, the idea of the ethical space, produced by contrasting perspectives of the world, entertains the notion of a meeting place, or initial thinking about a neutral zone between entities or cultures. The space offers a venue to step out of our allegiances, to detach from the cages of our mental worlds and assume a position where human-to-human dialogue can occur. The ethical space offers itself as the theatre for cross-cultural conversation in pursuit of ethically engaging diversity and disperses claims to the human order. The dimension of the dialogue might seem overwhelming because it will involve and encompass issues like language, distinct histories, knowledge traditions, values, interests, and social, economic and political realities and how these impact and influence an agreement to interact. Initially, it will require a protracted effort to create a level playing field where notions of universality are replaced by concepts such as the equality of nations. In the Canadian context, the immediate necessity is a protracted effort by the legal community to enable processes at the broader level that start the definition of Aboriginal rights. This must be done in a cooperative spirit between Indigenous peoples and Western institutions. Initially, the emphasis will be to enable, through funding and national commitment, Indigenous institutions and community to do memory work on knowledge that would inform the rights agenda. This also means enabling Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, in concert with Indigenous lawyers and allies, many of whom are already committed to the challenge, to articulate, assert and define Aboriginal rights. This concerted effort at nurturing the Aboriginal knowledge base will set the conditions in place for a detailed examination of how the rights must be accommodated. Only then can the full meaning of Aboriginal rights be realized. Only then will there be a level and ethical playing field in Indigenous-West jurisprudence.
The idea of an ethical space, produced by contrasting perspectives of the world, entertains the notion of “engagement.” Engagement at the ethical space triggers a dialogue that begins to set the parameters for an agreement to interact modeled on appropriate, ethical and human principles. Dialogue is concerned with providing space for exploring fields of thought and attention is given to understanding how thought functions in governing our behaviours.10 It is a way of observing, collectively, how hidden values and intentions can control our behaviour, and how unnoticed cultural differences
10. D. Bohm, On Dialogue (New York: Routledge, 1996).
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can clash without our realizing what is occurring. Attentive work on these issues has not occurred in Indigenous-West relations, nor has there been a framework that enables this discussion to happen. It is argued that the ethical space, at the field of convergence for disparate systems, can become a refuge of possibility in cross-cultural relations and the legal order of society, for the effect of shifting the status quo of an asymmetrical social order to a partnership model between world communities. The new partnership model of the ethical space, in a cooperative spirit between Indigenous peoples and Western institutions, will create new currents of thought that flow in different directions and overrun the old ways of thinking.
It is now my hope that my grandson enters law school and that by then we will have created a solid inclusive path of reconciliation based on humanity, based on respect, based on natural contexts, so that my grandson will feel proud about being a lawyer and about being an Indigenous person and an Aboriginal person in this country.
