British – Dakota Pre-Confederation Treaties

British – Dakota Pre-Confederation Treaties

© Dr. Leo J. Omani, PhD. Chief of Wahpeton Dakota Nation

August 11th, 2014

British Pre-Confederation Treaties

• Specific to Pre-Confederation Treaties, “[t]reaties made with the British Crown before Confederation [in 1867] are now considered to be treaties with the Crown in right of Canada” R. v. Secretary of State, [1981] 4 C.N.L.R. 86 (Eng. C.A.); as cited in Thomas Isaac (2004, p. 72), Aboriginal Law: Commentary, Case and Materials (3rd ed.): Purich Publishing Limited, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.


• For clarity, Isaac (2004) commented this applies to: (1) the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850; (2) the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850; (3) the Manitoulin Island Treaty of 1862; (4) the Murray Treaty of September 1760; and (5) the Peace, Friendship, and Trade Treaties, as this pertains to military alliance between the British Crown and the Aboriginal First Nations (p. 72).


• Further, with respect to the Peace, Friendship and Trade Treaties, it was noted by Isaac (2004), “these treaties did not involve the cession of land and did not expressly extinguish Aboriginal title” (pp. 72-73), as a result “Aboriginal rights and Aboriginal title may co-exist with treaty rights” (p. 72), for which the term “treaty-protected aboriginal rights” has been applied pertaining to this perspective (p. 72).


• See Brian Slattery, “Making Sense of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights” [2000] 79 Can. Bar Rev. 197 at 210, “with respect to the relationship of Aboriginal and Treaty rights …. [termed ] as treaty-protected aboriginal rights;” as cited in Isaac (2004, footnote 16, p. 72).

British - Dakota Pre-Confederation Treaties

• In total, there are seven (7) Peace, Friendship & Trade Pre-Confederation Treaties agreed to between the Dakota Nation and the British Crown in right of Great Britain, cited as follows:

1st British - Dakota Pre-Confederation Treaty

• March 1st, 1763 – Treaty of Peace, Friendship & Trade between the British Crown and the Dakota Nation. Location of Source: drawn from the British Museum, Pro-Public Record Office, London, England; as noted in the manuscripts of Carver Travels, 1787-94; thus as this pertains to Jonathan Carver and the Dakota Nation.

2nd British - Dakota Pre-Confederation Treaty

• May 1st, 1767 – Treaty of Peace, Friendship & Trade between the British Crown and the Dakota Nation reiterated. Location of Source: British Museum, Pro-Public Record Office, London, England; as noted in the original manuscripts of Carver Travels, 1787-1794.

3rd British - Dakota Pre-Confederation Treaty

• 1779 - Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Mutual Cooperation between the British Crown and the Dakota Nation. Location of Source: Morrison (2001), Dakota / Lakota Joint Treaty Adhesion Project, Phase Two: Historical Land Use and Occupancy and Dakota / Lakota – Crown Relations, Final Report; as cited in Stonechild, 2003, p. 35).

4th British - Dakota Pre-Confederation Treaty

• June 18th, 1812 – Declaration of War between the British Crown and the U.S.A., Great Britain and Dakota Chiefs reiterate Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Mutual Cooperation. Location of Source: British Museum, Pro-Public Record Office, London, England; original manuscripts: (1) Lord Bathurst to Sir George Prevost, PRO-CO-42-147; (2) Prevost to Liverpool, PRO-CO-42-146; (3) Dickson Papers, Dakota participated in recapturing of Michilimackinack, Amherstburg, Detroit, St. Louis, etc … on behalf of Great Britain.


• January 8th, 1813 – Quebec – Distribution of large Wampum belt, as well as flags to the principal Chiefs of each Nation which included the Dakota Nation for the purpose of descending from him [King George III] to his successor forever in Testimony of the Alliance and Friendship subsisting between their respective Nations and the King of Great Britain. Location of Source: British Museum, Pro-Public Record Office, London, England; original manuscript, Prevost to Bathurst, PRO-CO-42-150.


• 1814 – Alliance between British and Dakota reiterated on specific request by the British Crown through Lt. Col. McDougall. Location of Source: British Museum, Pro-Public Record Office, London, England; original manuscript noted as, PRO-CO-42-157.


• July 8th, 1817 – Selkirk Treaty between Lord Selkirk and three Dakota Chiefs (“Le Sonnant”, “Le Premier” and “L’ Homme Noire”) with two Chiefs from Sault St. Marie present, “Peguis” and “La Robe Noire”. Location of Source: Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, originally signed where the city of Winnipeg is now located, within the province of Manitoba, Canada, original manuscripts noted as, PAM-HBCA-E.8/1, fo. 11; Ross, A., Red River Settlement; 10-11.

Explanation of Wahpeton Dakota Nation, War of 1812 King George III British Pre-Confederation Treaty Medal

• Pictured on the next slide: War of 1812 King George III British Pre-Confederation Treaty Medal that pertains to the Wahpeton Dakota Nation, located near the city of Prince Albert, in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. This was given to Chief Flying Thunder, in the War of 1812 between the U.S.A. and the British Crown (Pritchard to MacDowall 01/27/1890 PAC RG10 3602 65933; as cited in Elias, 1988, p. 204; p. 243).

Wahpeton Dakota Nation, War of 1812 King George III British Pre-Confederation Treaty Medal

Wahpeton Dakota Nation Ancestral Indigenous Aboriginal Territory

• Dwayne J. Stonechild (2003), Dakota Sioux Treaty Adhesion Claim Submission, drawing from Morrison (2001, pp. 35-39; p. 53), as this pertains to the Wahpeton Dakota Nation commented that the “ancestors of the Wahpeton people, were recorded as early the 1730s by French explorers and traders” (p. 62), in “historic sightings in and around the areas of the Lake of the Woods, Pembina River, Assiniboine River, Souris and the Red River, including ... as far North as Stanley Mission and the Churchill River” for which this river overlaps the northern region of the provinces that have come to be known as Saskatchewan and Manitoba (p. 64).

Wahpeton Dakota Nation - Adhesion to Treaty Six and/or a New Modern Treaty

• While other Dakota First Nation within Canada have either filed in court, or have opted to join the Dakota Reconciliation Table as set up by the Canadian Federal Government in 2012, as well as pursed that of Self Government legislation.

• Taken into consideration the Ancestral Indigenous Aboriginal Territory of Wahpeton Dakota Nation, which also has the only War of 1812 King George III British Pre-Confederation Treaty Medal within Canada, the Wahpeton Dakota Nation is currently pursuing an Adhesion to Treaty Six and/or a New Modern Treaty Agreement through the Office of the Treaty Commissioner within Saskatchewan.

Documents

British – Dakota Pre-Confederation Treaties