Douglas Treaties

Between 1850 and 1854, James Douglas, as chief factor of Fort Victoria and governor of the colony, entered into a series of Treaties with some Indigenous Peoples of southern Vancouver Island and in the vicinity of Port Hardy. These Treaties were negotiated and agreed to through oral discussions and only put in written form afterwards. Under the Douglas Treaties, the Indigenous people around Victoria, the Saanich Peninsula, what is now Nanaimo, and Port Hardy agreed to share part of their territories to allow settlement. In exchange, James Douglas provided a few material goods (mostly cash, clothing and blankets). He committed that the signatories and their descendants would retain their village sites and fields for their continued use and would have the “liberty to hunt over unoccupied lands” and the right to “carry on their fisheries as formerly.”

At the time the Douglas Treaties were made, James Douglas had the leaders sign blank papers and had the text of the Treaties written in after the fact (except in the case of the Saalequun Treaty, which was left blank). The language later written in by James Douglas suggests the signatories sold their land to the Crown completely and forever. While Indigenous Peoples have disputed this language, the courts have continued to describe the Douglas Treaties as surrendering part of the territories of the signatories.

For many years, the federal and provincial governments denied the Douglas Treaties promised Treaty rights. However, since the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in White and Bob (1965), the courts and governments have begun to recognize the Douglas Treaties committed Treaty rights to the signatories and their descendants. Te’mexw Treaty Association’s late Chief of Negotiations, Wilson Bob, supported the plaintiffs in this case. These rights are constitutionally protected by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

TTA is committed to protecting the Douglas Treaties throughout negotiations.