{"id":1508,"date":"2021-08-01T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-01T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/?p=1508"},"modified":"2021-11-08T17:24:15","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T17:24:15","slug":"from-the-gks-niagara-conference-minutes-july-28-1764","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/?p=1508","title":{"rendered":"From the GKS: Niagara Conference Minutes, July 28, 1764"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Bradley Clements<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A page of the minutes recorded at the 1764 Treaty of Niagara council, published in 1953.

Niagara Congress Minutes, July 28, 1764. In \u201cThe papers of Sir William Johnson, Volume 11,\u201d prepared for publication by the Division of Archives and History, pg 303-307. Albany: University of the State of New York, 1953. GKS ID: 58857.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last month, many questioned and challenged \u201cCanada Day\u201d as the celebration of a colonial and genocidal state. July 1 was designated as the date of Canadian confederation by the 1867 British North America Act<\/em>. This Act also unilaterally asserted Canada\u2019s jurisdiction over \u201cIndians and lands reserved for the Indians,\u201d the legal rationale for much colonial violence that followed.

Some have argued, though, that the colonial claims of confederation be rejected as the bases of settler presence in northern Turtle Island, suggesting a turn to the Treaty of Niagara: \u201cthe most \u2018fundamental agreement\u2019 yet entered into between First Nations and the Crown, and much more than a unilateral declaration of the Crown\u2019s will,\u201d according to John Borrows (1997, 169). During July of 1764, approximately 2,000 people from 24 Indigenous nations travelled from as far as the Mississippi, James Bay, and the Atlantic to Niagara where they negotiated a relationship with the British Crown. Reciprocal responsibilities were agreed upon, sanctified, and represented by various wampum belts, such as the 24 Nations Belt and the 1764 Covenant Chain Belt. The gathering and negotiations concluded on August 1.

As a settler Canadian I wonder what it might mean to commemorate August 1 and uphold the mutual sovereignties, responsibilities, and relationships recognized 257 years ago, rather than July 1 and the unilateral imposition that it represents?

The publication of the council minutes from the Treaty of Niagara pictured above is one of the few items that I could easily identify in the GKS related to this event. However, this agreement is most pertinently recorded in wampum belts, as referenced in the text. Recuperating wampum and other treaty items in museums is one important role that GRASAC artists and researchers (and partners in projects such as On the Wampum Trail<\/a>) play in reconnecting material heritage with their diverse and important relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/span>

Borrows, John. 1997. \u201cWampum at Niagara: The Royal Proclamation, Canadian Legal History, and Self-Government.\u201d In Aboriginal and Treaty Rights in Canada: Essays on Law, Equity, and Respect for Difference<\/em>, ed. Michael Asch. Vancouver: UBC Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hele, Karl. 2011. \u201cTreaty of Niagara, 1764.\u201d The Canadian Encyclopedia<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Bradley Clements Last month, many questioned and challenged \u201cCanada Day\u201d as the celebration of a colonial and genocidal state. July 1 was designated as the date of Canadian confederation by the 1867 British North America Act. This Act also unilaterally asserted Canada\u2019s jurisdiction over \u201cIndians and lands reserved for the Indians,\u201d the legal rationale for much…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[26,46,50,30,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-1508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newsletter-stories","8":"tag-alliance","9":"tag-bradley-clements","10":"tag-gks","11":"tag-grasac","12":"tag-treaties","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1508"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516,"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508\/revisions\/1516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grasac.artsci.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}