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Adhesion to Canadian Indian Treaties and the Lubicon Lake Dispute

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

Thomas Flanagan
Thomas Flanagan
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, The University of Calgary
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Abstract

Research shows that adhesions to the numbered treaties were of two types: “internal” and “external.” In an internal adhesion, a band living within the previously ceded area agreed to the terms of the treaty, and no new transfer of land was involved. In an external adhesion, a band living outside the previously ceded area agreed to the terms of the treaty, thus adding a previously unceded piece of territory to the treaty area.

This distinction is essential to understanding the long-running Lubicon Lake dispute. From the federal government's point of view, all of northern Alberta was ceded in Treaty Eight; so the Lubicons, who live within this area, are entitled to make only an internal adhesion. In contrast, the Lubicons claim to live on unceded land and thus demand to make an external adhesion. Their claim to possess unextinguished aboriginal title to a specific tract of land is used to justify demands for compensation that would not be paid in the case of an internal adhesion.

Résumé

Des recherches démontrent qu'il existait deux types d'adhésions aux traite's numérotés: les adhésions «internes» et les adhésions «externes». Dans le cas d'une adhésion interne, une bande habitant à l'intérieur d'un territoire précédemment cédé adhérait aux termes du traité et aucun nouveau transfert de terres n'était impliqué. Dans le cas d'une adhésion externe, une bande habitant à l'extérieur du terrain précédemment cédé adhérait aux termes du traité, ajoutant ainsi une parcelle de territoire non cédée préalablement au territoire couvert par le traité.

Cette distinction est essentielle à la compréhension de l'interminable dispute du lac Lubicon. Selon le gouvernement fédéral, tout le nord de l'Alberta a été cédé par le Traité Huit; par conséquent, les Lubicons, qui vivent à l'intérieur de ce territoire, ne sont en droit de demander qu'une adhésion interne. Au contraire, les Lubicons prétendent vivre sur des terres non cédées et exigent done une adhésion externe. Prétendant posséder des titres aboriginaux non éteints à l'égard d'une bande de terre spécifique, les Lubicons exigent une compensation qui n'aurait pas à être payée s'il s'agissait d'une adhésion interne.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , Fall/automne 1992 , pp. 185 - 205
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 1992

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References

1. There is no mention of adhesions in Woodward, J., Native Law (Toronto: Carswell, 1989)Google Scholar; Morse, B. W., ed., Aboriginal Peoples and the Law (Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1985)Google Scholar; Cumming, P. A. & Mickenberg, N. H., eds., Native Rights in Canada, 2nd ed. (Toronto: General Publishing, 1972)Google Scholar. Hume, D., in “Life's Embarrassing Moments—Right Treaty, Wrong Adhesion: John Semmens and the Split Lake Indians,” (1983–1984) 17Google Scholar Archivaria 261, shows insight into the nature of adhesions but does not develop the general significance of the topic.

2. A convenient synopsis is the chart “Treaty Agreements between the Indian Peoples and the Sovereign in Right of Canada” published by DIAND, Treaties and Historical Research Centre, revised May 1979Google Scholar.

3. Treaty One, printed in Daugherty, W. E., Treaty Research Report: Treaty One and Treaty Two (Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Treaties and Historical Research Centre, 1983) at 27Google Scholar.

4. Confirmed in conversation with Robert Surtees, an expert on Ontario treaties.

5. The enumeration is made from the Treaty Research Report series published by the Treaties and Historical Research Centre of Indian Affairs, the volumes of which contain the texts of treaties and adhesions as appendices. The information has been checked against Morris, A., The Treaties of Canada with the Indians (Toronto: Coles, 1979Google Scholar; reprint of 1880 ed.), and against Canada, Department of Indian Affairs, Indian Treaties and Surrenders (Toronto: Coles, 1971Google Scholar; 3 vols; reprint of vols 1 & 2 published by the Queen's Printer, 1891, and of vol. 3, published by the Queen's Printer, 1912).

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14. Three recent histories of Treaty Eight are René Fumoleau, , As Long as This Land Shall Last: A History of Treaty 8 and Treaty 11 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1975), c. 1–2Google Scholar; Daniel, R., “The Spirit and Terms of Treaty Eight” in Price, Richard, ed., The Spirit of the Alberta Indian Treaties (Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1979) 47Google Scholar; Madill, D. F. K., Treaty Research Report: Treaty Eight (Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Treaties and Historical Research Centre, 1986)Google Scholar. On the Lubicon conflict, see Richardson, B., “The Lubicon of Northern Alberta” in Richardson, B., ed., Drumbeat: Anger and Renewal in Indian Country (Toronto: Summerhill Press for the Assembly of First Nations, 1989) 229Google Scholar; Goddard, J., “Forked Tongues,” (February 1988) Saturday Night 38Google Scholar; Goddard, J., “Last Stand of the Lubicon” (May/June 1985) 21 Equinox 67Google Scholar; Goddard, J., Last Stand of the Lubicon Cree (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1991)Google Scholar. This section reproduces some of Flanagan, T., “Some Factors Bearing on the Origins of the Lubicon Lake Dispute, 1899–1940” (1990) 2 Alberta 47Google Scholar.

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