The Peace and Friendship Treaties were a series of written documents (or, treaties) that Britain signed bearing the Authority of Great Britain between 1725 and 1779 with various Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet), Abenaki, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy peoples (i.e., the Wabanaki Confederacy) living in parts of what are now the Maritimes and Gaspé region in Canada and the northeastern United States.[1] Primarily negotiated to reaffirm the peace after periods of war and to facilitate trade, these treaties remain in effect to this day.[1]
The Peace and Friendship Treaties include the Halifax Treaties. These are 11 treaties signed between 1760 and 1761 by the various bands of the Miꞌkmaq (as well as other Indigenous peoples)[i] and the British in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[2] These agreements ended the conflict that had persisted between the two peoples for 85 years.[1][3]
The Halifax Treaties include both military submissions—or oaths of allegiance made at the three fortresses in the region followed by treaties signed at Halifax[4]—as well as the oral promises made during Treaty ceremonies to guarantee the Mi'kmaq the protection and rights as British subjects. The ceremony with the most primary sources was the Burying the Hatchet ceremony, which happened on 25 June 1761. While most historians have concluded that the language of “submission” in the Treaties plainly reflect that the Mi'kmaq surrender to the British, other historians have suggested otherwise.[5][6] In the late 20th century Mi'kmaq have asserted the Treaties did not mean surrender, particularly of the land.[7] The language used in these documents was written in the way that put the Indigenous nations who agreed to them at a disadvantage. Fundamental concepts and values relating to land differed and continue to differ between Indigenous Nations and settlers.[8]
- ^ a b c "What you should know about the Peace and Friendship Treaties | CBC News".
- ^ "Treaties of 1760 - 1761". Cape Breton University. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
- ^ "Fact sheet on Peace and Friendship Treaties in the Maritimes and Gaspé". Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
- ^ Patterson (2009), p. 46.
- ^ Patterson (2009).
- ^ Wicken, William . "Treaty of Peace and Friendship 1760"
- ^ Cormier, Paul (November 9, 2016). "Mi'kmaq First Nation files land claim for vast portion of New Brunswick". Global News. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^ Monchalin, Lisa (2016). The Colonial Problem: An Indigenous Perspective on Crime and Injustice in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9781442606623.
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