Indigenous Land Rights and Governance

Indigenous Land Rights and Governance

Treaty #

  • Peace and Friendship Treaty (1725)

    This treaty—the first in a line of treaties entered into by the British and Indigenous nations in the Atlantic region—was first signed in Boston in 1725. The same treaty was signed with different Indigenous parties one year later in 1726

  • R v Syliboy

    Mi'kmaq Grand Chief Syliboy was convicted for hunting out of season. He submitted that, per the 1752 Peace and Friendship Treaty, he had the right to hunt at any time.

  • Simon v The Queen

    The appellant, a Mi'kmaw hunter, was charged with possession of a rifle and shotgun cartridges. The appellant admitted to the charges but argued that his right to hunt as established in the Treaty of 1752 gave him immunity from prosecution.

Common Law Aboriginal Title #

  • Royal Proclamation (1763)

    A edict issued by King George III in 1763 following the Treaty of Paris--by which Britain acquired control over French territories in North America--and establishing the British Crown's colonial policy at the time with respect to Indigenous land rights.

  • Johnson v McIntosh

    Does this case show some of the contradictions and ambiguities in common law approach to Aboriginal title? Or Worcester v. Georgia?

  • St. Catherine's Milling and Lumber Co. v R

    A dispute between the governments of Ontario and Canada about title to land subject to Treaty 3 between the Anishinaabe and the Dominion government. The provincial government argued that title in the land had transferred to the Crown in right of Ontario at Confederation, while Canada asserted that Anishinaabe title to the land survived Confederation but was surrendered to Crown in right of Canada when Treaty 3 was signed.

  • Terra Nullius

    A brief description of the common law doctrine of terra nullius.

  • Guerin v R

    Members of the Musqueam Indian Band voted to surrender 162 acres of their land to the Crown to lease the land to a golf club. The terms the Crown ultimately leased the lands for were very unfavourable to the band.

  • Constitution Act, 1982

    The key provision in Canada's constitution recognizing and affirming Aboriginal and treaty rights, including Aboriginal Title.

  • Delgamuukw v British Columbia

    Hereditary chiefs from the Gitskan and Wet'suwet'en nations claimed Aboriginal title to 58,000 square kilometres of land in British Columbia. The land has historically been inhabited or used for hunting and fishing by Houses from both nations.

  • Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia

    The Tsilhqot’in Nation have continuously occupied and used unceded land in central BC. This case concerns a claim for Aboriginal title over a small portion of their land.

  • Duty to Consult

    A brief summary of the Crown's constitutional duty to consult and accommodate.

  • Cowichan Tribes v. Canada (Attorney General)

    The plaintiffs, on their own behalf and on behalf of the descendants of the historic Cowichan Nation, brought this action seeking a declaration of Aboriginal title to their traditional village of Tl'uqtinus on the south arm of the Fraser River, and to its surrounding lands and submerged lands.

  • J.D. Irving, Limited et al. v. Wolastoqey Nation

    In its Statement of Claim, the Wolastoqey Nation sought a declaration of Aboriginal Title in ungranted Crown lands as well as lands subject to fee simple interests held by the appellant and other named Industrial Defendants, but not in lands subject to other fee simple interests held by Strangers to the Claim.

Reserve Lands #

  • Indian Act

    Federal legislation establishing the structure of land rights in reserve lands.