Robinson Treaties

In modern-day Canada, treaties have been negotiated and signed throughout its history for various purposes. Treaties are the building blocks of Canada as they began prior to the creation of Canada between the Indigenous and the Crown. There are approximately seventy historical treaties that are accredited by the Canadian government between the Indigenous and the Crown (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2008). The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) and the Anglo-American colonies signed a series of treaties between the late 1600s to early 1700s called The Covenant Chain (Jaenen, 2006). A series of peace and friendship treaties were negotiated between the English and the Indigenous in the Maritime regions during 1725-1779 (Albers, 2011).

They were signed by Crown representative William Benjamin Robinson and Ojibwa chiefs in 1850 (Albers, 2011). The purpose of the Robinson treaties was created to let mining companies to legally mine the natural resources in northern areas of Lake Superior and Huron 1779 (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2008). Initially, William was instructed to get one treaty signed, however, he could not convince the Batchewana and some other Indigenous tribes (Sayers, 2016). So two were made instead, Robinson-Superior treaty and Robinson-Huron treaty, the Indigenous tribes who wanted the first proposed treaty signed the Robinson-Superior treaty 1779 (Sayers, 2016). This allowed the Montreal Mining Company to legally mine the northern part of Lake Superior (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2008). Eventually, the Indigenous tribes who opposed the originally proposed treaty were forced to sign it as the Indigenous people were starving needed relief and support from the Crown (Sayers, 2016). The treaties opened the land’s natural resources for mining and exploration (Albers, 2011). In the treaties, the crown promised the Indigenous northern inhabitants: a one-time cash payment, annuities, the privilege to hunt and fish in the crown owned territory, and the creation of 24 new reserves (Albers, 2011). These treaties allowed colonies to further develop and grow the northern areas of Lake Superior and Lake