I have tried to give the necessary background to treaties, and in particular the Robinson Treaties which were so important to the development of Ontario and revealed so starkly the ugly reality about some of the treaties.
Canada, in the middle of the 19th century, was then a unified colony, it selected William Benjamin Robinson, an experienced trader familiar with Indigenous language and trade customs, as their primary negotiator for the Robinson Treaties. Negotiations began in Sault Ste. Marie and Indigenous leaders were at first hesitant to accept the Crown’s terms and requested additional time to consider them. As I mentioned earlier, they preferred to be deliberative. That approach often paid off for them.
Robinson confirmed that Indigenous groups would maintain their hunting and fishing rights, terms that encouraged reticent leaders to sign. Although Lake Huron leaders demanded accommodation be made for their half-breed kin, Robinson refused that demand.
Contrary to the Royal Proclamation of 1763, even before a treaty was signed with the First Nations in the region, the government of Ontario West or Upper Canada had started issuing mining licences to Canadian companies. Naturally that was seen as disrespectful by the First Nations.
In November 1849, a force of Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe or Ojibway) and Métis warriors, led by Chiefs Oshawano, Shingwaukonse and Nebenaigoching, forced the Quebec and Lake Superior Mining Association to stop operating a mine at Pointe aux Mines, Mica Bay, north of Lake Superior not far from where we travelled this summer. The site was approximately 100 km northwest of Sault Ste. Marie where we spent the night. The closure of the mine and the reaction of the government of what many now called Canada West is usually referred to as the Mica Bay Incident.
The Indigenous leaders were sharp. They realized that ultimately the newcomers needed security of title for the immigrants in order to succeed in Canada. Europeans were accustomed to a laws based environment for settlement and I particularly for businesses. Businessmen, (they were mainly men at that time) don’t like uncertainty. Uncertainty of title or ownership is particularly uncomfortable. The indigenous leaders and business people were also familiar with the Royal Proclamation of 1763 promulgated by King George and it required anyone who wanted to acquire land from Indigenous people to do so with the consent of the Indigenous inhabitants and only through the agency of the crown. The crown was like a real estate agent with an exclusive listing agreement.
The people of Canada West had seen how successful mining operations were in northern Michigan copper country and hoped to mirror that success in their neck of the woods. Thousands of people had been travelling through Sault Ste. Marie into Michigan copper country, which I visited last year, and Upper Canada (Canada West) wanted them to come north instead. Some of the Americans also became illegal immigrants to Canada because they were searching for a better life just like the immigrants to the southern USA in the 21st century. Likely some Canadians called them “murderers and rapists and not their best people.”
As a result, the government of Ontario West in 1841 assumed legislative control of the land along the north shore of Lake Superior to keep those nasty Americans out. Of course, that government did bother consulting with the local inhabitants who were mainly Anishinaabeg who had never ceded their land to anyone!
As a result, Canada West issued the first mineral exploration license in 1845, in my opinion entirely without legal authority to do that. They did not own the land or the minerals so they could not sell or lease it. As a former lawyer who has already forgotten most of the law I ever knew, I do know that much. You can’t sell or lease out what you don’t own. The Canada West government also authorized surveyors to commence surveying land they did not own. That is the way colonial authorities operated. That also bothered the Indigenous people.
Chief Shingwaukonse then confronted and questioned Alexander Vidal, the government surveyor, about the legality of surveying unsurrendered (unceded) lands. The Chief also went on to petition the Governor General for a share of the mineral profits from the lease for his people. He also pointed out, quite rightly again, that his people’s aboriginal rights were being infringed. This was all contrary to the Royal Proclamation which was binding law in the territories of Upper and Lower Canada.
Regardless of the legalities, in 1848 at Pointe aux Mines, the Quebec and Lake Superior Mining Association who obtained the lease from the government of Canada West began to build accommodations, a mine building and water-powered dressing facilities all with the clear intention of starting copper production. The mining companies were not stupid either. They were aggressive and decided to act and ask for permission or forgiveness later, but they knew they were asking for trouble. So they called for a treaty. They wanted to be treaty people too!
The missionaries, as usual closely following business interests, were also eager for the parties to reach an agreement. Of course, Canada West had been using mining leases as a form of patronage and revenue generation. Corruption is never new, and apparently, never ending. Already, by 1846 Canada West had generated $60,000 of revenue from those sources, even though no treaty had been negotiated. That, needless to say, was a lot of money in 1846.
Rich people paid a lot of money for those leases and wanted their legal documents to be secure. They pressured the government as only rich business interests can.
Everybody wanted a treaty.