Treaty Rights Struggle

The first-ever treaty between Native Americans and white settlers (namely, the British Crown) was signed in 1701 in the land that would become Canada. Subsequently, many more treaties were signed to encourage peaceful relations between Canada's aboriginal peoples and white settlers. Over the next centuries, treaties were signed to define, among other things, the rights of aboriginal peoples and white settlers to use and enjoy lands traditionally occupied by the aboriginal peoples.

Treaty rights already in existence in 1982 (the year the Constitution Act was passed), and those that arose afterward, are recognized and affirmed by Canada's Constitution.

As for the United States, 373 treaties were signed between Native Americans and white settlers from 1778 (with the Delaware Nation) to 1868 (with the Nez Percé Nation). In addition to this, 73 covenants were promulgated from 1872 to 1911, raising the total to 446, of which only 245 were ratified by the U.S. Senate. Of the abovementioned 373, more than 100 were peace treaties; the others were land cessions.

Many treaties have been litigated for years. Even though none was observed for long, they still provide the legal and moral bases for Native claims against the federal government.

Most contemporary issues, from sacred sites to land rights, are rooted in laws deriving their sustenance from such agreements. Treaties are, therefore, the central reference of current Native American struggles.

The 1960s marked the beginning of a new wave of Indian activism. Respect of treaties was a central point of native claims. The first organized structure to adopt such a stance was the American Indian Movement, an organization founded in Minneapolis in 1968 by a group of natives, including Russell Means and Dennis Banks. The American Indian Movement became known for its spectacular protests, such as the occupation of Alcatraz Island (1969–1971); the march on Washington to protest violations, known as Trail of Broken Treaties; and the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The International Indian Treaty Council, the first-ever Native American organization with an international scope, was founded in June 1974 at a gathering by the American Indian Movement in Standing Rock, South Dakota.

From 1977 to 1978, U.S. Congress passed approximately 50 laws helping redefine tribal issues concerning land acquisition, fishing rights, and water rights. Some land was returned to the tribes. In the 1990s, the most significant litigation concerning treaty rights was the one regarding the Western Shoshone Territory. This territory was officially defined in the Treaty of Ruby Valley, which was concluded with the U.S. government in 1863. According to the treaty, the territory includes two thirds of the state of Nevada and small portions of California, Idaho, and Utah. This treaty is not a treaty of cession but of peace and friendship, granting the United States safe passage through Shoshone land and thereby allowing the establishment of mining and agricultural settlements, railway construction, and the safe operation of mail and telegraph services within Western Shoshone Territory. The Shoshone furthermore agreed to eventually abandon their life as hunters and gatherers in order to become farmers and herdsmen on their lands. Western Shoshone Territory today consists of reservations, communities without reservation status, and ranches scattered over their vast territory.

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