Canada's Constitutional History through Wampum Diplomacy
© Dr. Lynn Gehl
The 1763 Royal Proclamation is commonly thought of as Canada’s first constitutional document. What many people do not know is that the Royal Proclamation was ratified during the 1764 Treaty at Niagara.
Because successive governments of Canada have promoted a particular version of Canada’s history – a fiction of two founding nations – the broader Canadian public may be unaware of the significant role Indigenous Nations held in Canada’s creation.
To guarantee the successful ratification of the Royal Proclamation, to ensure a clear understanding as well as to codify the historic event at Niagara, William Johnson relied on Indigenous practices of wampum diplomacy and its inherent forms of symbolic literacy.
During the ratification of the Royal Proclamation Johnson presented two Wampum Belts to the Anishinaabeg. These two Belts are known as The British and Western Great Lakes Covenant Chain Confederacy Wampum Belt and The Twenty Four Nations Wampum Belt. The former Belt codified a relationship between equal allies that was as strong as links in a chain, a relationship that required a process of polishing and re-polishing what may tarnish, just as silver tarnishes. The latter Belt represented the Indigenous Nations that participated at the Treaty at Niagara, with a chain secured to a rock on Turtle Island, running through the twenty four Nations’ hands, and attached to a British vessel. This represented the negotiating process Indigenous Nations were to take to ensure their equal share of the resources and bounty of the land.
In turn, Indigenous Nations presented Johnson a wampum belt: the Two Row Wampum Belt. This belt codified a nation-to-nation relationship rooted in the philosophy and practice of non-interference mediated by peace, friendship, and respect. It is with these three belts that the Indigenous understanding of Canada’s constitutional beginnings is codified. And it is in this way that the Proclamation is only one of Canada’s first constitutional documents.
To create a larger space for an Indigenous knowledge, one where our right to self-determination and mino-pimadiziwin (the good life) resides at the core, I have constructed new editions of these three historic Wampum Belts or, alternatively, these three constitutional documents. In 2014 I also published a book titled The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process. This book is a ground breaking and important book.
The Truth that Wampum Tells offers a never before done insider analysis of the contemporary land claims process in Canada offering a historical analysis of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg, a discussion of participation at the 1764 Treaty at Niagara where Canada’s constitutional documents were ratified, an analysis of their displacement and dispossession from their traditional territories, as well as an analysis of how the Algonquin of Ontario are exercising their agency within the confines of Canada’s ongoing and never ending termination policies.
What is particularly new about this work is that it relies on an ancient Indigenous (Anishinaabeg) methodological approach known as Debwewin Miikan-Zhidchigewin. This methodology was published in AlterNative (2012).
Because successive governments of Canada have promoted a particular version of Canada’s history – a fiction of two founding nations – the broader Canadian public may be unaware of the significant role Indigenous Nations held in Canada’s creation.
To guarantee the successful ratification of the Royal Proclamation, to ensure a clear understanding as well as to codify the historic event at Niagara, William Johnson relied on Indigenous practices of wampum diplomacy and its inherent forms of symbolic literacy.
During the ratification of the Royal Proclamation Johnson presented two Wampum Belts to the Anishinaabeg. These two Belts are known as The British and Western Great Lakes Covenant Chain Confederacy Wampum Belt and The Twenty Four Nations Wampum Belt. The former Belt codified a relationship between equal allies that was as strong as links in a chain, a relationship that required a process of polishing and re-polishing what may tarnish, just as silver tarnishes. The latter Belt represented the Indigenous Nations that participated at the Treaty at Niagara, with a chain secured to a rock on Turtle Island, running through the twenty four Nations’ hands, and attached to a British vessel. This represented the negotiating process Indigenous Nations were to take to ensure their equal share of the resources and bounty of the land.
In turn, Indigenous Nations presented Johnson a wampum belt: the Two Row Wampum Belt. This belt codified a nation-to-nation relationship rooted in the philosophy and practice of non-interference mediated by peace, friendship, and respect. It is with these three belts that the Indigenous understanding of Canada’s constitutional beginnings is codified. And it is in this way that the Proclamation is only one of Canada’s first constitutional documents.
To create a larger space for an Indigenous knowledge, one where our right to self-determination and mino-pimadiziwin (the good life) resides at the core, I have constructed new editions of these three historic Wampum Belts or, alternatively, these three constitutional documents. In 2014 I also published a book titled The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process. This book is a ground breaking and important book.
The Truth that Wampum Tells offers a never before done insider analysis of the contemporary land claims process in Canada offering a historical analysis of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg, a discussion of participation at the 1764 Treaty at Niagara where Canada’s constitutional documents were ratified, an analysis of their displacement and dispossession from their traditional territories, as well as an analysis of how the Algonquin of Ontario are exercising their agency within the confines of Canada’s ongoing and never ending termination policies.
What is particularly new about this work is that it relies on an ancient Indigenous (Anishinaabeg) methodological approach known as Debwewin Miikan-Zhidchigewin. This methodology was published in AlterNative (2012).
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Link to purchase from Fernwood: click here
Link to author's biographical note: click here Link to Indigenous Waves radio show: click here Link to introductory video of the Algonquin / Treaty at Niagara: click here Link to CBC top Indigenous reads: click here Link to book review: click here Link to articles about the Algonquin genocide: click here and here |
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