All Guides: Indigenous Studies: Land Treaties

Land Treaties

Information about treaties -- such as original text, maps, and on-going disputes -- is often available through government and Indigenous websites. In addition, through Search the Library you can find scholarly journal articles and books that discuss the historical and on-going impact of these treaties on public policy and Indigenous populations. A list of recommended library databases is also listed below.

Sheridan's Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the land for sustaining us and for providing us with the necessities of life. This territory is covered by the Dish with One Spoon treaty and the Two Row Wampum treaty which emphasize the importance of joint stewardship, peace, and respectful relationships. As we reflect on land acknowledgements, let us remember that we are all stewards of the land and of each other.

We recognize the land on which we gather has been and still is the traditional territory of several Indigenous nations, including the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat, the Métis, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Since time immemorial, numerous Indigenous nations and Indigenous peoples have lived and passed through this territory.

Sheridan affirms it is our collective responsibility to honour the land, as we honour and respect those who have gone before us, those who are here, and those who have yet to come. We are grateful for the opportunity to be learning, working, and thriving on this land.

Sheridan's Land Acknowledgement Guide

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Websites

Treaties, Agreements and Negotiations (Government of Canada)
Information from the Government of Canada regarding treaties, agreements, ongoing negotiations, and more.
Treaties (Government of Ontario)
Information from the Ontario government regarding treaties in Ontario. Includes maps, teaching and learning resources, and more.
Maps of Treaty-Making in Canada (Government of Canada)
View maps illustrating the Pre-1975 Treaties of Canada, that were negotiated between 1725 and 1923. These treaties cover most of Ontario, the Prairie Provinces, parts of Vancouver Island, Northwest Territories and Atlantic Canada.
Treaty Texts (Government of Canada)
The full-text of each treaty made between the Crown and Indigenous peoples across Canada.
Treaties, Surrenders and Agreements (Library and Archives Canada)
An extensive, but not a complete, collection of historic Canadian Indian treaties, land surrenders, and related agreements. The collection contains documents that span more than 275 years, including a May 1680 seigneurial grant to the Jesuits in New France and a 1956 adhesion to western Treaty 6 (1876).
Land Claim Agreements Coalition
Works to ensure that comprehensive land claims (modern treaties) and associated self-government agreements are respected, honoured and fully implemented.
Native Land
An app to help map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages.

Databases

Search for Canada land treaties or Canada land claims:

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Over 8500 full-text journals; more than half are peer-reviewed. Multi-disciplinary.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
A huge collection of scholarly journal articles, magazine, and newspapers. Multidisciplinary.
Gale OneFile: CPI.Q This link opens in a new window
Over 830 full-text Canadian magazines, newspapers, and journals. Includes biographies. Multi-disciplinary.
Wiley Online Library This link opens in a new window
Over 2,000 high quality scientific journals covering science, health, and humanities.
Sage Publications Premier This link opens in a new window
Over 600 full-text SAGE journals covering business, humanities, social sciences, science, technology, and medicine.
EBSCO eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
Over 250,000 ebooks. Includes titles from the University of Toronto and other Canadian institutions. Multidisciplinary.

Books

The Clay We Are Made Of: Haudenosaunee Land Tenure on the Grand River by Susan M. Hill
Publication Date: 2017
Susan M. Hill presents a revolutionary retelling of the history of the Grand River Haudenosaunee from their Creation Story through European contact to contemporary land claims negotiations. She guides the reader through treaty relationships with Dutch, French, and British settler nations, including the Kaswentha/Two-Row Wampum (the precursor to all future Haudenosaunee-European treaties), the Covenant Chain, the Nanfan Treaty, and the Haldimand Proclamation, and concludes with a discussion of the current problematic relationships between the Grand River Haudenosaunee, the Crown, and the Canadian government.
Entangled Territorialities: Negotiating Indigenous Lands in Australia and Canada by Francoise Dussart; Sylvie Poirier
Publication Date: 2017
Available from EBSCO eBook Collection
Entangled Territorialities offers vivid ethnographic examples of how Indigenous lands in Australia and Canada are tangled with governments, industries, and mainstream society. Each chapter refers to specific circumstances in which Indigenous peoples have become intertwined with non-Aboriginal institutions and projects including the construction of hydroelectric dams and open mining pits.
No Surrender by Sheldon Krasowski
Publication Date: 2019
Available from Ebook Central
Between 1869 and 1877 the government of Canada negotiated Treaties One through Seven with the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains. Many historians argue that the negotiations suffered from cultural misunderstandings between the treaty commissioners and Indigenous chiefs, but newly uncovered eyewitness accounts show that the Canadian government had a strategic plan to deceive over the "surrender clause" and land sharing.
Keeping Promises by Terry Fenge; Jim Aldridge
Publication Date: 2015
Keeping Promises shows how central the application of the Proclamation is to the many treaties that followed it and the settlement and development of Canada. In this collection, essays by historians, lawyers, treaty negotiators, and Aboriginal leaders explore how and how well these treaties are executed.
Treaty No. 9: Making the Agreement to Share the Land in Far Northern Ontario in 1905 by John Long
Publication Date: 2010
This book provides a new perspective on Treaty No. 9 by adding the neglected account of a third commissioner and tracing the treaty's origins, negotiation, explanation, interpretation, signing, implementation, and recent commemoration.

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