The Douglas Treaties, also known as the Vancouver
Island Treaties or the Fort Victoria Treaties, were a series of treaties
signed between certain indigenous groups on Vancouver Island and the
Colony of Vancouver Island.
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, Colony of
Vancouver Island, was immediately leased to the HBC for a ten-year
period, and Douglas was charged with encouraging British settlement.
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.
As the colony expanded the HBC started buying up lands for colonial
settlement and industry from Aboriginal peoples on Vancouver Island. For
four years the governor, James Douglas, made a series of fourteen land
purchases from Aboriginal peoples.
To
 |
| Sir James Douglas
KCB (August 15, 1803 – August 2, 1877), was a Canadian fur
trader and politician who became the first Governor of the
Colony of British Columbia. He is often credited as "The Father
of British Columbia". |
negotiate the terms, Douglas met first in April 1850 with leaders of the
Songhees nation, and made verbal agreements. Each leader made an X at
the bottom of a blank ledger. 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.
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.
These fourteen land purchases became the fourteen Treaties that make up
the Douglas Treaties. Douglas didn't continue buying land due to lack of
money and the slow growth of the Vancouver Island colony. 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 endlessly disputed for a number of reasons and have
been subject to numerous court cases. One of the major controversies
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.
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 Aboriginal leaders
knew exactly what they were signing over.
Treaty Group Name
Modern First Nation (band government)
Teechamitsa
Esquimalt First Nation
Kosampson
Esquimalt First Nation
Whyomilth
Esquimalt First Nation
Chewhaytsum
Becher Bay Band
Chilcowitch
Songhees First Nation
Che-ko-nein
Songhees First Nation
Sooke
T'sou-ke Nation
Ka-ky-aakan
Becher Bay Band
Saanich Tribe (South)
Tsawout First Nation and Tsartlip First Nation First Nations
Saanich Tribe (North)
Pauquachin First Nation and Tseycum First Nations
Saalequun
Snuneymuxw First Nation (Former Nanaimo Band)
Swengwhung
Songhees First Nation
Queackar
Kwakiutl (Kwawkelth) Band
Quakiolth
Kwakiutl (Kwawkelth) Band |
