To the Editor:
“WE” the non-indigenous community has failed in our treaty obligations so miserably!
The following is from the pen of Supreme Court of Canada justice, John Wellington Gwynne, written sometime between 1879 and his death in 1902 …
“To the lands in this Province acquired by conquest, the British Crown has invariably waived its right until what the Crown has been pleased to recognize as the Indian title, has been extinguished by a treaty of surrender.”
This next sentence contains the opening words of the “History of the County of Bruce, Ontario Canada – The Surrender of the Indian Title” as written by Norman Robertson in 1906 …
“During the period which has elapsed since the red man of this continent came first in contact with his pale-faced brother he has experienced at the hands of the latter a process whose general trend has been toward the extinction of his race and the spoliation of his territories.”
His writings go on to specifically identify many examples of how the First Nation’s peoples have been poorly treated and abused locally and across the country.
To finish I will just submit one closing sentence written by Mr. Robertson in 1906 …
“Today, owing to the causes above recited, supplemented by the ravages of disease and “firewater”, the Indians have been dispossessed of their lands”.
The words above are from a highly respected and influential person who spent his life in Bruce County in a position of service and influence starting more than 160 years ago.
And what have we done since that has truly made things better? VERY LITTLE.
G. William Streeter
Southampton
