The Douglas Treaties

In February of 1851 the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) was eager to establish a fort in Beaver Harbour for the purpose of mining coal. A couple of years earlier the HBC had leased Vancouver Island from Britain for the purpose of exploiting its natural resources. At the time, settlements were also being established at Fort Victoria and Fort Nanaimo.
At this time Richard Blanchard was governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, and James Douglas was Chief Factor for the HBC, based at Fort Victoria. Douglas became the second governor of Vancouver Island later in 1851.
The HBC faced opposition from the Indigenous peoples of Vancouver Island, who challenged British and HBC authority and the right of the company to extract coal without their participation or consent.
Although the British government, or the Dominion of Canada, had signed treaties with many Indigenous groups across the Canada, treaties were not pursued by the government within most of what is now British Columbia.
In order to help smooth relations with local Indigenous groups, fourteen 'Douglas Treaties' were signed between 1850 and 1875, with First Nations in the areas surrounding Victoria, Nanaimo, and Fort Rupert.

BC Archives - MS-0772

In the treaty a First Nation "surrendered" a described territory, in this case the land from Hardy Bay to McNeill Bay, including those harbours, to become "the entire property of the white people for ever" in exchange for a monetary payment of 86 pounds sterling for the Quakeolth (today known as the Kwakiutl) and 64 pounds sterling for the Queackar. In exchange, the First Nations were promised the use of their village sites and enclosed fields, and the right "to hunt over the unoccupied lands, and to carry on our fisheries as formerly."
The documents themselves were written out by hand. Generally illiterate, most of the First Nations representatives who 'signed' the treaties did so by making their mark, an "X" on the document.
The interpretation of these Treaties has posed many challenges in a modern day context. Their significance, meaning, and interpretation with respect to the implications for resource management today have challenged federal, provincial, and First Nations governments.



Text of the two Fort Rupert Treaties is included below.
http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100029052/1100100029053#queackar
http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100029052/1100100029053#quakeolth
Article on the Douglas Treaties,
http://www.timescolonist.com/life/islander/lost-in-translation-the-douglas-treaties-1.10099656