We do not negotiate with Indians: B.C.’s Approach to Wet’suwet’en Relations – The Martlet

January 22, 2020

In 1912, the Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia is established in order to address the question of Indian reserves. During this commission, Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs reject the idea of reserves and maintain claims to their respective territories.

In 1923, Deskaheh, a Hereditary Chief of the Haudenosaunee, travels to Geneva using a passport issued by the Six Nations Confederacy Council. He lobbies for the Haudenosaunee to be recognized as an independent state by the League of Nations. Deskaheh manages to gather the support of nations such as Ireland, Panama, Persia, and Estonia, but is still denied an audience with the League.

That same year, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police build a permanent barracks on Haudenosaunee land, commence raids on the homes of the people living there, and prohibit Indigenous people from cutting firewood in order to heat their homes.

Read More: https://www.martlet.ca/news-unsettled-we-do-not-negotiate-with-indians-b-c-s-approach-to-wetsuweten-relations/