The Douglas Treaties, also known as the Vancouver Island Treaties or the Fort Victoria Treaties, were a series of treaties signed between certain

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

groups on Vancouver Island and the

Colony of Vancouver Island The Colony of Vancouver Island, officially known as the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies, was a Crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with the mainland to form the Colony of British Columbia ...

Background

With the signing of the Oregon Treaty in 1846, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) determined that its trapping rights in the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. O ...

were tenuous. Thus in 1849, it moved its western headquarters from

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of th ...

on the Columbia River (present day

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

) to Fort Victoria. Fort Vancouver's

Chief Factor A factor is a type of trader who receives and sells goods on commission, called factorage. A factor is a mercantile fiduciary transacting business in his own name and not disclosing his principal. A factor differs from a commission merchant in ...

, James Douglas, was relocated to the young trading post to oversee the Company's operations west of the

Rockies The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. This development prompted the British colonial office to designate the territory a crown colony on January 13, 1849. The new colony,

, was immediately leased to the HBC for a ten-year period, and Douglas was charged with encouraging British settlement.

Richard Blanshard Richard Blanshard MA (19 October 1817 – 5 June 1894) was an English barrister and first governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island from its foundation in 1849 to his resignation in 1851. Biography Blanshard was born in London to a wealt ...

was named the colony's

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Blanshard discovered that the hold of the HBC over the affairs of the new colony was all but absolute, and that it was Douglas who held all practical authority in the territory. There was no civil service, no police, no militia, and virtually every British colonist was an employee of the HBC.

Treaties

As the colony expanded the HBC started buying up lands for colonial settlement and industry from Aboriginal peoples on Vancouver Island. For four years the governor, James Douglas, made a series of fourteen land purchases from Aboriginal peoples. To negotiate the terms, Douglas met first in April 1850 with leaders of the Songhees nation, and made verbal agreements. Each leader made an X at the bottom of a blank ledger. The actual terms of the treaty were only incorporated in August, and modelled on the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...

's deeds of purchase for Maori land, used after the signing of

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...

. The Douglas Treaties cover approximately of land around

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Saanich,

Sooke Sooke is a district municipality on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada, by road from Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Sooke, the westernmost of Greater Victoria's Western Communities, is to the north and west of the Sooke ...

, Nanaimo and

Port Hardy Port Hardy is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada located on the north-east end of Vancouver Island. Port Hardy has a population of 4,132 as of the last census (2016). It is the gateway to Cape Scott Provincial Park, the North ...

, all on Vancouver Island that were exchanged for cash, clothing and blankets. The terms of the treaties promised that they would be able to retain existing village lands and fields for their use, and also would be allowed to hunt and fish on the surrendered lands. These fourteen land purchases became the fourteen Treaties that make up the Douglas Treaties. Douglas didn't continue buying land due to lack of money and the slow growth of the Vancouver Island colony. Along with Treaty 8, the Douglas Treaties were the last treaties signed between the crown and the First Nations in British Columbia until Nisga'a Final Agreement. The treaties are endlessly disputed for a number of reasons and have been subject to numerous court cases. One of the major controversies regarding the treaties is the actual terms of the treaties were left blank at the time of signing and a number of clauses and pages were instead inserted at a later date.

Context

The Treaties were signed during a period of severe cultural destruction in which the Songhees had experienced precipitous population decline, due to the arrival of foreign diseases. The Treaties remain highly controversial given that it is unclear whether the Aboriginal leaders knew exactly what they were signing over.

Treaty Members

References

External links

Treaty Texts - Douglas TreatiesMap of Vancouver Island Treaties, Hulquminum Treaty Group website
{{Canadian Aboriginal case law 1850 treaties 1851 treaties 1852 treaties 1853 treaties First Nations history in British Columbia History of Vancouver Island Coast Salish Kwakwaka'wakw 1854 treaties Vancouver Island Treaties of Indigenous peoples in Canada Treaties of the Colony of Vancouver Island 1850s in Canada