Untold Tales of Old British Columbia by Daniel Marshall

Author:Daniel Marshall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Canada, British Columbia, Social History, Indigenous, Anecdotes
ISBN: 9781553807056
Publisher: Ronsdale Press
Published: 2024-06-11T00:00:00+00:00

B.C. Confederation delegates Dr. John S. Helmcken (L) and Dr. Robert W.W. Carrall (R), Niagara Falls, c. 1870. These members of the B.C. legislative council expressed a view that the Canadian system would serve to banish Indigenous peoples to distant reserves, pay them annuities, and prevent their active involvement in the B.C. economy. This prediction seems correct; in later years Indian reserves in the Prairie provinces followed this model of relocation, in addition to not being allowed outside reserve boundaries without obtaining a pass from the Indian agent (following the North-West Resistance).

Holbrook’s motion to enshrine protection of Indigenous peoples in the Terms of Union failed twenty to one, not because of the intent of the motion, but because it conflicted with Lord Granville’s directive that responsibility for Indigenous peoples was within sole federal jurisdiction.

Henry Crease, the colony’s attorney general, bolstered this view when he stated that “the honorable gentleman must have forgotten the direction of the Imperial Government.” Other members agreed. “We have the full assurance in Lord Granville’s despatch that Indians must be protected,” stated Dr. Robert W.W. Carrall (who, along with Helmcken and Trutch, represented B.C. in Ottawa during the Confederation negotiations).

At the conclusion of the Confederation debates, a draft Terms of Union that included no specific article governing Indigenous peoples was ratified by members of the B.C. legislative council. Article 13 was inserted into the final terms after B.C. delegates negotiated directly with the Canadian government in Ottawa:

The charge of the Indians, and the trusteeship and management of the lands reserved for their use and benefit, shall be assumed by the Dominion Government, and a policy as liberal as that hitherto pursued by the British Columbia Government, shall be continued by the Dominion Government after the Union.

To carry out such policy, tracts of land of such extent as it has hitherto been the practice of the British Columbia Government to appropriate for that purpose, shall from time to time be conveyed by the local Government to the Dominion Government in trust for the use and benefit of the Indians on application of the Dominion Government; and in case of disagreement between the two Governments respecting the quantity of such tracts of land to be so granted, the matter will be referred for decision of the secretary of state for the colonies.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.