Douglas Treaties

1850–1854 treaties between Indigenous peoples and the Colony of Vancouver Island

Douglas Treaties

Sir James Douglas

Drafted| 1850–1854
Location| Colony of Vancouver Island
Parties|

* Various First Nations
* Colony of Vancouver Island

Language| English

The Douglas Treaties, also known as the Vancouver Island Treaties or the Fort Victoria Treaties, were a series of treaties signed between a number of First Nations of Vancouver Island and the Colony of Vancouver Island.

## Background

[edit]

With the signing of the Oregon Treaty in 1846, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) determined that its trapping rights in the Oregon Territory were tenuous. Thus in 1849, it moved its western headquarters from Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River (present-day Vancouver, Washington) to Fort Victoria. Fort Vancouver's Chief Factor, James Douglas, was relocated to the young trading post to oversee the company's operations west of the Rockies.

This development prompted the British colonial office to designate the territory a crown colony on January 13, 1849. The new Colony of Vancouver Island was leased to the HBC for a ten-year period, and Douglas was charged with encouraging British settlement.[1] Richard Blanshard was named the colony's governor. Blanshard discovered that the hold of the HBC over the affairs of the new colony was all but absolute, and that it was Douglas who held all practical authority in the territory. There was no civil service, no police, no militia, and virtually every British colonist was an employee of the HBC.[citation needed]

## Treaties

[edit]

As the colony expanded the HBC started buying up lands for colonial settlement and industry from First Nations on Vancouver Island.[2] For four years Governor James Douglas, made a series of fourteen land purchases from First Nations.

To negotiate the terms, Douglas met first in April 1850 with leaders of the Lekwungen people (now Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations), and made verbal agreements. Each leader made an X at the bottom of a blank ledger.[3] The actual terms of the treaty were only incorporated in August, and modelled on the New Zealand Company's deeds of purchase for Maori land, used after the signing of Treaty of Waitangi.[4]

The Douglas Treaties cover approximately 930 square kilometres (360 sq mi) of land around Victoria, Saanich, Sooke, Nanaimo and Port Hardy, all on Vancouver Island, that were exchanged for cash, clothing and blankets. The terms of the treaties promised that they would be able to retain existing village lands and fields for their use, and also would be allowed to hunt and fish on the surrendered lands.[5]

These fourteen land purchases became the Douglas Treaties. Douglas didn't continue buying land due to lack of money and the slow growth of the Vancouver Island colony.[2] Along with Treaty 8, the Douglas Treaties were the last treaties signed between the Crown and the First Nations in British Columbia until Nisga'a Final Agreement.

The treaties are controversial for a number of reasons and have been subject to numerous court cases. One of the major sources of dispute regarding the treaties is the actual terms of the treaties were left blank at the time of signing and a number of clauses and pages were instead inserted at a later date.[6]

## Context

[edit]

The treaties were signed during a period of severe cultural destruction in which the Songhees had experienced precipitous population decline, due to the arrival of foreign diseases. The treaties remain highly controversial given that it is unclear whether the Indigenous leaders knew exactly what they were signing over.

## Treaty members

[edit]

Treaty Group Name  | Modern First Nation (band government)  | Date  | Land covered by Treaty  | Money exchanged for land  | Ref

|
|
|
|
|

Teechamitsa  | Esquimalt First Nation | 29 April 1850  | Country lying between Esquimalt and Point Albert  | £27 10 shillings (UK £3,714 in 2023)  | [7]
Kosampson  | Esquimalt First Nation | 30 April 1850  | Esquimalt Peninsula and Colquitz Valley  | £52 10 shillings (UK £7,091 in 2023)  | [7]
Whyomilth  | Esquimalt First Nation | 30 April 1850  | Northwest of Esquimalt Harbour | £30 (UK £4,052 in 2023)  | [7]
Chewhaytsum  | Becher Bay Band | 1 May 1850  | Sooke | £45 ten shillings (UK £6,146 in 2023)  | [7]
Chilcowitch  | Songhees First Nation | 30 April 1850  | Point Gonzales  | £45 (UK £6,078 in 2023)  | [7]
Che-ko-nein  | Songhees First Nation | 30 April 1850  | Point Gonzales to Cedar Hill  | £79 10 shillings (UK £10,738 in 2023)  | [7]
Sooke  | T'sou-ke Nation | 10 May 1850  | Northwest of Sooke Inlet  | £48 6 shillings 8 pence (UK £6,537 in 2023)  | [7]
Ka-ky-aakan  | Becher Bay Band | 1 May 1850  | Metchosin | £43 6 shillings 8 pence (UK £5,862 in 2023)  | [7]
Saanich Tribe (South)  | Tsawout First Nation and Tsartlip First Nation | 7 February 1852  | South Saanich  | £41 13 shillings 4 pence (UK £5,619 in 2023)  | [7]
Saanich Tribe (North)  | Pauquachin First Nation and Tseycum First Nations | 11 February 1852  | North Saanich  | [amount not stated]  | [7]
Saalequun  | Snuneymuxw First Nation | 23 December 1854  | [area not stated]  | [amount not stated]  | [7]
Swengwhung  | Songhees First Nation | 30 April 1850  | [area not stated]  | [amount not stated]  | [7]
Queackar  | Kwakiutl (Kwawkelth) Band | February 1851  | Fort Rupert | £64 (UK £8,645 in 2023)  | [7]
Quakiolth  | Kwakiutl (Kwawkelth) Band | February 1851  | Fort Rupert | £86 (UK £11,616 in 2023)  | [7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Verspoor, Frederike (January 30, 2012). "The Fort Victoria and Other Vancouver Island Treaties, 1850-1854" (PDF). Royal BC Museum. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
2. ^ a b "Douglas Treaties: 1850–1854". Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconcilliation. Executive Council of British Columbia. 2009. Archived from the original on April 27, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
3. ^ Hill, Edward (2013-08-07). "B.C. Archives seeks world heritage status for Douglas treaties". Victoria News. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
4. ^ Fisher, Robin (1991). "With or Without Treaty: Indian Land Claims in Western Canada". In Renwick, William (ed.). Sovereignty & Indigenous Rights: the Treaty of Waitangi in International Contexts. Wellington: Victoria University Press. p. 53\. ISBN 0864732201. OCLC 1285847300. OL 1327063M. Retrieved 2025-01-21 - via Internet Archive.
5. ^ "1811 – 1867: Pre-Confederation Treaties II". Canada in the Making. Archived from the original on 2006-03-02. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
6. ^ Humble, Kate (2015-02-13). "The Douglas Treaties: A Legacy of Controversy". Victoria News. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Douglas Treaty Payments" (PDF). Executive Council of British Columbia. llbc.leg.bc.ca. 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2009.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Cook, Peter; Vallance, Neil; Lutz, John; Brazier, Graham; Foster, Hamar, eds. (2021). To Share, Not Surrender: Indigenous and Settler Visions of Treaty Making in the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN 0210217065. OCLC 1162548908.

* Madill, Dennis F. K. (1981). British Columbia Indian Treaties In Historical Perspective (Report). Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
* "Vancouver Island (Douglas) Treaties". University of Victoria. Feb 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Treaty Texts – Douglas Treaties
* Map of Vancouver Island Treaties, Hulquminum Treaty Group website

* v
* t
* e

Canadian Aboriginal and Indigenous law

Note: "Aboriginal law" refers to Canadian law dealing with Indigenous peoples; "Indigenous law" refers to the customary law of individual Indigenous groups.

Sources of law|

* Aboriginal land title in Canada
* Royal Proclamation of 1763
* Section 25 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
* Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982
* Section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867
* Treaty rights
* United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act

Treaties and
governmental relations|

| Pre-Confederation
(pre-1867)|

* Covenant Chain (1670s)
* Great Peace of Montreal (1701)
* Nanfan Treaty (1701)
* Peace and Friendship Treaties (1725–1779)
* Treaties of Fort Niagara (1764–1784)
* Douglas Treaties (1850–54)
* Gradual Civilization Act (1857–1869)

| Upper Canada
treaties|

* Toronto Purchase (1787)
* Penetanguishene Bay Purchase (1798)
* London Township Treaty No. 6
* Sombra Township Treaty No. 7
* Lake Simcoe–Lake Huron Purchase (1815)
* Huron Tract Purchase (1827)
* Treaty 45 (1836)
* Saugeen Tract Agreement (1836)
* Robinson Treaties (1850, 1854, 1859)

|

Post-Confederation
(post-1867)|

* Gradual Enfranchisement Act (1869–1876)
* Numbered Treaties (1871–1921)
* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11
* Indian Act (1876–present)
* White Paper (1969)
* James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (1975)
* Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (1993)
* RCAP (1995)
* Nisga'a Final Agreement (1998)
* Paix des Braves (2002)
* Duty to consult and accommodate (since 2004)
* Jordan's Principle (proposed 2005)
* Land claims
* specific claims
* Ongoing treaty negotiations in British Columbia

Case law|

* Attorney General of Canada v Lavell
* R v Badger
* Calder v British Columbia
* Chippewas of Sarnia Band v Canada
* Corbiere v Canada
* Daniels v Canada
* Delgamuukw v British Columbia
* Native Women's Assn of Canada v Canada
* Kruger v R
* R v Marshall; R v Bernard
* R v Marshall
* Mitchell v MNR
* Paul v British Columbia
* Paulette Caveat
* Powley ruling
* R v Drybones
* R v Gladstone
* R v Gladue
* Gladue report
* R v Gonzales
* R v Guerin
* R v Jim
* R v Pamajewon
* R v Sparrow
* Re Eskimos
* St Catharines Milling and Lumber Co v R
* R v Van der Peet
* Tsilhqot'in Nation v British Columbia
* Daniels v Canada
* Restoule v Canada

Indigenous customary law|

* Self-government
* Grand Council (Miꞌkmaq)
* Great Law of Peace (Haudenosaunee)
* Pittailiniit (Inuit)
* Wahkohtowin (Plains Cree)

* Index of articles related to Indigenous Canadians

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