Treaties Case

asked for that money. The Canadian government assumed that those who lived in the Hudson's Bay Company territory of Rupertsland whether Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal were subjects of the crown. The Plains Cree made it clear that compensation would be based only on land use by Status Indians.

The Canadian government primary reasons for the number treaties with the Aboriginal people was to legally extinguish the land and resources rights in order to make land and resources available to settlers, the treaties would provide the legal consent of Status Indians. The government believed the treaties were the framework for providing compensation for displacement of status Indians in the economy, and were also which Status Indians were to learn how to be agriculturalists. Treaties promised reserve lands for the Indians of their choice of their location of their reserves based on 160 acres to one square mile per family of five. Also they prohibit the sale of liquor on reserve due to the concerns that was affecting their society.

Each treaty had its own terms, but they all promised cash annuities, schools, reserves, assistance in adapting to agriculture, and relief in times of need, in exchange for land and peace. The Crown wanted to establish a relationship with First Nations because they wanted access to the land resources of the western and northern Canada. Some bands never signed treaties and some treaties were signed by only part of the band.

Canada was mostly interested in owning lands in the south-western of Rupert's Land to construct a railway to bring B.C. into Confederation and lay claim to the western plains. The Canadian government envisioned that the west as an agricultural producing region that could be populated region full of European immigrants. That area was covered by treaties 1 to 4, 6 and 7.

Alexander Morris and other negotiators made the treaty making process with different assumptions than the Status Indians. The Canadian government objective was to negotiate with Native people to extinguish title to land as cheaply as possible. Negotiators were guided by the Robinson treaties of 1850-that included: "annual allowances for hunting and fishing supplies; triennial clothing allowances ranging from $500 to $2,000 a year, depending on the treaty; annuities ranging from $4 to $5 for adults and children and from $15 to $25 for headmen and chiefs, and lump-sum payments of varying amounts to chiefs and their followers when they signed a treaty." The government had to get legal approval from the Native people before taking over the Aboriginal lands.

...