Native Conflicts vs the Economy

[Colin Parkinson]

Another problem, I believe, is the divergent views held about the Hudson's Bay Company and Rupert's Land.

The Hudson's Bay Company worked hard, up until the time that it sold it to Canada, to ensure that no settlers were allowed on its territory. The Company had no desire to upset the locals and disrupt the supply of furs.  They established trading posts from Astoria to Stikine, by Fort Chip and Fort Garry to York Factory but actively discouraged settlers.

The one time they permitted settlers (Red River 1811) they proved themselves right when the Seven Oaks Massacre, the Pemmican War and the subsequent Metis Rebellions occurred.  They ended up having to hire a bunch of Swiss mercenaries cashiered out of British service at the end of the Napoleonic wars to protect the settlers.

The interior of BC wasn't "settled" until after the Gold Rushes.

Effectively the HBC claim on the lands as a private commercial estate protected the locals from the settlers.  The Government bought out the HBC commercial claim in 1869 so as to permit settlment. 

It was only after Confederation that land claims became a significant issue.  Before then borders were less important than the limited number of HBC Big Box stores scattered around the continent.  Interestingly, even after HBC surrendered their interest in Rupert's Land for Canadian cash it maintained its trade and network of stores.

I guess the big question is why the Treaty system worked so well with the "Flyover Country" natives and so poorly in the Mountains.

Mainly as the Cree controlled access to trade goods for a big part of it and suppressed the other tribes. It was the NWC that upset the comfortable setup that the HBC had and brought in trade booze, that forced HBC to do the same.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I don't get it. Why's this a big deal? Everything in that picture sounds reasonable?

There are a few parts missing from the original post on SDA.

There was a screen capture of the airline schedule to Laronge, SK showing multiple commercial flights, daily.

The implication is that Seamus is unwisely showing an "imperial" demeanor as he attempts "reconciliation" from the comfort of a government business jet.

 

[daftandbarmy]

The crux of the problem, from what I can tell (so correct me if I'm wrong), with this statement is that many of these First Nations who live on traditional territory that is "unceded" don't actually consider their nations and terriroty part of Canada. I think... When you try and google "is unceded native land Canadian territory" or something similar to that, you don't get much.

That's because a judge is sometimes the one who decides on that.