DCHP-3

treaty Indian

DCHP-2 (Jul 2016)

Spelling variants:
Treaty Indian

n. — Aboriginal, First Nations

a member of a First Nation that has a treaty with the Crown (see treaty meaning 1a).

Type: 5. Frequency — As outlined in the Indian Act of 1876, a treaty Indian is a status Indian belonging to a First Nation that has signed a treaty with the government of Canada (see Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "Indian"). According to these treaties, the groups who have signed cede their lands to the Crown in return for certain benefits. Aboriginal people who reside in areas where treaties were not made or who have not taken treaty are known as "Registered Indians". Though the term has also been used in the US (DA, s.v. "treaty Indian"), it appears far more frequently in Canada (see Chart 1).
See also COD-2, s.v. "treaty Indian", which is marked "Cdn", ITP Nelson, s.v. "treaty Indian", which is marked "Canadian.", and OED-3, s.v. "treaty Indian", which is marked "now chiefly Canad.", AHD-5, s.v. "treaty Indian", which is marked "Canadian".
Because of negative colonial connotations, "Indian" is seen as outdated by some and can be considered offensive. Although semantic change is underway, replacing "Indian" with more appropriate terms such as First Nation member, Aboriginal person, or Indigenous person, the term "Indian" and some of its compounds are current legal terms (see NAHO reference).

Quotations

1862
On Wednesday evening, the 10th inst., we camped within three miles of the Grand Forks, where the Treaty Indians and half-breeds were congregated. The former numbered about 2,000 -- men, women and children -- the latter, about 200.
1878
The "Man who took the Coat" has been a treaty Indian since 1875, and a head soldier to the "Little Black Bear" (Cree). He is a young man twenty-two (22) years of age, and at the present time the most influential Indian in this section. He is an exceedingly good man and very obedient to the law.
1881
The best wheat that has been brought to mill this season was raised at White Fish Lake by treaty Indians.
1923
The dogs brought in by the treaty Indians were in a terrible condition -- the extreme of emaciation in many harrowing instances.
1937
According to Joseph Friday, uncle of Louis, who went to Cobalt, the meat was urgently required by the families which received it. He contended that some hardship was being experienced owing to the lack of employment here this winter. Friday said his nephew was a Treaty Indian and entitled to shoot moose for food.
1957
Being a Canadian treaty Indian I am not eligible to vote but, if I could, I'd be proud to vote Conservative.
1965
Paul Mocassin [is] a treaty Indian from the Cochin Reserve. . . .
1968
There are about 200,000 Indians under Treaty in Canada today. Another 200,000 are not under Treaty. (There are also Indians who did not sign treaties but nevertheless have Treaty rights.) The great-grandparents or the present generation of Treaty Indians handed over their rights to the land in the late 1800s. In return, the federal government offered them a plot of land, schools, free houses and welfare (plus a few extras like $5 per year per person in Treaty money and a British flag and a few silver medals to each chief).
1977
The vehicle for the financing was a federal-provincial arrangement known as ARDA -- an acronym for Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Act. Most projects financed under ARDA are split 50-50 with the federal Government, but in the case of treaty Indians, the federal Government picks up most of the costs.
1987
The Fraser River Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission announced Monday that it would open some areas of U.S. waters under its jurisdiction to treaty Indian fishing effective noon today.
1998
"Although the province of Ontario recognizes that status Indians have s.35(1) rights to hunt and fish, the Métis have not been accorded similar status. It might very well happen that a Métis person could be denied the right to hunt for food in the interests of conservation, while treaty Indians could continue to hunt. There is no evidence before this court to warrant this disparity between the two aboriginal groups.
2008
Statistics Canada defines aboriginals as persons who identify themselves as belonging to at least one aboriginal group, including North American Indian, Metis, or Inuit, or those who reported being Treaty Indians or members of an Indian band or First Nation.

References

Images

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 5 May 2014

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 5 May 2014