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23/04/1999

Commission Finds Historical Treatment of Aboriginal Military Allies Unfair

Ottawa (April 23, 1999) - An Indian Claims Commission report released today calls the federal government-s treatment of the Pottawatomi in Canada " unconscionable" and "unfair."

The Moose Deer Point First Nation, descendants of the Pottawatomi, asked the Commission to inquire into its claim for land, presents, protection and equality that were promises made in a 1837 speech but not delivered. The federal government rejected the First Nation's claim in 1995.

Commissioners Carole T. Corcoran and Roger Augustine found that the 1837 speech had the weight and effect of a treaty and its promises should have been honoured. In that speech, a government official promised Aboriginal allies from the War of 1812 who were living in the United States that they would be granted land and would continue to receive presents if they moved north.

As a result of this promise, at least 3,000 Pottawatomi released their rights to land and annuities in the U.S. to move to Canada. Initially Canada delivered on these promises, however in the 1850s, the government stopped delivery of presents and, not being party to another treaty, the Pottawatomi were left without land or economic support in Canada.

"It strikes us as unconscionable for the Crown to induce its native allies to forsake their Aboriginal lands and rights in the United States to come north, and then, after taking away the presents that constituted the main inducement, to argue that those allies have no land or traditional rights worthy of forming the subject matter of a treaty," say Commissioners Corcoran and Augustine in the report. "As we have already seen, although the withdrawal of presents applied to all Indians equally, it did not apply equitably."

The report recommends that the First Nation undertake additional research to clarify and define the federal government's obligations and, if those obligations have not been fulfilled, that Canada accept the claim for negotiation.

The ICC was established in 1991. Its mandate is: to inquire, at the request of a First Nation, into specific claims that have been rejected by the federal government or where the First Nation disputes the compensation criteria being considered in negotiations; and to provide mediation services on consent of the parties at any stage of the claims process.

To download the backgrounder

To download the report PDF