{"id":40,"date":"2021-03-28T21:02:40","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T01:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/chapter\/modern-treaty-negotiations\/"},"modified":"2022-09-21T10:07:42","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T14:07:42","slug":"modern-treaty-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/chapter\/modern-treaty-negotiations\/","title":{"raw":"Modern Treaty Negotiations","rendered":"Modern Treaty Negotiations"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Learning Objectives<\/p>\n\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<ul>\n \t<li>Contrast the Numbered Treaties and the modern treaty process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nOther treaties have been in consideration for the last few decades. In 1992, a new process for modern treaty negotiations was started on recommendation from a British Columbia Claims Task Force report (British Columbia Claims Task Force, 1991). These treaty negotiations began as a result of court cases and the Constitution Act, 1982, which reaffirmed the pre-existing Aboriginal rights of Indigenous people. The old notion that all unceded lands were Crown lands was no longer acceptable. Therefore, to create more certainty in the province and develop a new relationship between the government and Indigenous groups, these new treaties would be developed. Despite the federal government having jurisdiction over the matter, the British Columbia government became involved by mutual agreement.\n\nThe Numbered Treaties were made on the \u201cextinguishment\u201d model, wherein Indigenous rights and claims to land would be extinguished. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bctreaty.ca\/about-us\">BC Treaty Commission<\/a> instead operates on the \u201cnon-assertion model,\u201d where Indigenous groups would agree not to assert any rights other than ones set out in the final treaty. These treaty negotiations have been ongoing since 1992, with many Indigenous groups entering and exiting negotiations continuously (BC Treaty Commission, n.d.-a).\n\nAlthough not part of the BC Treaty Commission process, as negotiations started two years prior to its formation, the first modern treaty to be agreed to in B.C. after Treaty 8 in 1899 is the Nisga\u2019a Treaty. Signed in 1998 and effective in 2000, the Nisga\u2019a Treaty grants self-government to the Nisga\u2019a Nation. Located in Nass River Valley (proximate to Terrace and Prince Rupert), the Nisga\u2019a Treaty covers 2,019 square kilometres of land. This treaty has many ground-breaking features:\n<ol>\n \t<li>The Nisga\u2019a Nation is self-governing and has its own decision-making process. Therefore, the Indian Act no longer applies to the Nisga\u2019a Nation or Nisga\u2019a citizens.<\/li>\n \t<li>Nisga\u2019a laws operate alongside federal and provincial laws, and people are required to follow the strictest set of laws concerning an area in which there is concurrent authority.<\/li>\n \t<li>Nisga\u2019a laws are subject to the Canadian constitution. For example, the Nisga\u2019a government may not violate their citizens\u2019 rights to free expression or freedom of conscience.<\/li>\n \t<li>Nisga\u2019a people are both Nisga\u2019a Nation citizens and Canadian citizens.<\/li>\n \t<li>The Nisga\u2019a Nation owns forest resources, and the federal or provincial government may not charge licensing fees for fish harvesting (although the Province may still engage in conservation efforts).<\/li>\n \t<li>The Nisga\u2019a government levies taxes against its citizens to help pay for health, education, and social services. (Nisga'a Nation, n.d.-c)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nNo other treaties with such an amazing scope have been signed since the modern treaty process started.","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Learning Objectives<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<ul>\n<li>Contrast the Numbered Treaties and the modern treaty process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Other treaties have been in consideration for the last few decades. In 1992, a new process for modern treaty negotiations was started on recommendation from a British Columbia Claims Task Force report (British Columbia Claims Task Force, 1991). These treaty negotiations began as a result of court cases and the Constitution Act, 1982, which reaffirmed the pre-existing Aboriginal rights of Indigenous people. The old notion that all unceded lands were Crown lands was no longer acceptable. Therefore, to create more certainty in the province and develop a new relationship between the government and Indigenous groups, these new treaties would be developed. Despite the federal government having jurisdiction over the matter, the British Columbia government became involved by mutual agreement.<\/p>\n<p>The Numbered Treaties were made on the \u201cextinguishment\u201d model, wherein Indigenous rights and claims to land would be extinguished. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bctreaty.ca\/about-us\">BC Treaty Commission<\/a> instead operates on the \u201cnon-assertion model,\u201d where Indigenous groups would agree not to assert any rights other than ones set out in the final treaty. These treaty negotiations have been ongoing since 1992, with many Indigenous groups entering and exiting negotiations continuously (BC Treaty Commission, n.d.-a).<\/p>\n<p>Although not part of the BC Treaty Commission process, as negotiations started two years prior to its formation, the first modern treaty to be agreed to in B.C. after Treaty 8 in 1899 is the Nisga\u2019a Treaty. Signed in 1998 and effective in 2000, the Nisga\u2019a Treaty grants self-government to the Nisga\u2019a Nation. Located in Nass River Valley (proximate to Terrace and Prince Rupert), the Nisga\u2019a Treaty covers 2,019 square kilometres of land. This treaty has many ground-breaking features:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The Nisga\u2019a Nation is self-governing and has its own decision-making process. Therefore, the Indian Act no longer applies to the Nisga\u2019a Nation or Nisga\u2019a citizens.<\/li>\n<li>Nisga\u2019a laws operate alongside federal and provincial laws, and people are required to follow the strictest set of laws concerning an area in which there is concurrent authority.<\/li>\n<li>Nisga\u2019a laws are subject to the Canadian constitution. For example, the Nisga\u2019a government may not violate their citizens\u2019 rights to free expression or freedom of conscience.<\/li>\n<li>Nisga\u2019a people are both Nisga\u2019a Nation citizens and Canadian citizens.<\/li>\n<li>The Nisga\u2019a Nation owns forest resources, and the federal or provincial government may not charge licensing fees for fish harvesting (although the Province may still engage in conservation efforts).<\/li>\n<li>The Nisga\u2019a government levies taxes against its citizens to help pay for health, education, and social services. (Nisga&#8217;a Nation, n.d.-c)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>No other treaties with such an amazing scope have been signed since the modern treaty process started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"Modern Treaty Negotiations","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-40","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":28,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/40\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/40\/revisions\/41"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/28"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/40\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousperspectivesbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}