November 5-11 is Treaties Recognition Week. This week recognizes the importance of learning about the treaties between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, their history and treaty rights and obligations. Knowledge of these documents and their legal frameworks is essential to reconciliation. To learn more, check out the titles on this list.
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Governance by Simon Rose
This book for young readers describes the three distinct communities of Indigenous Peoples living in Canada, their historical forms of governance, the purpose of the Indian Act passed by the federal government in 1876 and the organizations formed to represent and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Ages 9-13.
Meeting My Treaty Kin: A Journey Toward Reconciliation by Heather Menzies
Can Indigenous and non-Indigenous people live in a treaty relationship despite over two hundred years of social, cultural, and political alienation? Writer and social activist Heather Menzies arrived in Anishinaabe territory in Southwestern Ontario, near where her forebears settled, hoping to meet her would-be treaty kin. She was invited to help document the broken treaty story behind the crisis as remembered by Anishinaabe Elders and other community members involved in reclaiming their homeland.
Reclaiming Anishinaabe Law: Kinamaadiwin inaakonigewin and the Treaty Right to Education by Leo Baskatawang
Rooted in the belief that Indigenous education should be governed and administered by Indigenous peoples, Baskatawang envisions a hopeful future for Indigenous nations where their traditional laws are formally recognized and affirmed by the governments of Canada. Baskatawang details the efforts made in Treaty 3 territory to revitalize and codify the Anishinaabe education law, kinamaadiwin inaakonigewin.
No Surrender: The Land Remains Indigenous by Sheldon Krasowski and Winona Wheeler
Between 1869 and 1877, the government of Canada negotiated Treaties 1 through 7 with the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains. Many historians argue that the negotiations suffered from cultural misunderstandings between the treaty commissioners and Indigenous chiefs. But, newly uncovered eyewitness accounts show that the Canadian government had a strategic plan to deceive over the “surrender clause” and land sharing.
Keeping Promises: The Royal Proclamation of 1763, Aboriginal Rights, and Treaties in Canada by Terry Fenge and Jim Aldridge
In 1763, King George III issued The Royal Proclamation designating west of the Appalachian Mountains for Indigenous peoples and required the Crown to purchase Indigenous lands through treaties. In this collection, essays by historians, lawyers, treaty negotiators and Indigenous leaders explore how and how well these treaties are executed.
