WHAT ARE TREATY RIGHTS?
First Nations signed treaties with various British and Canadian governments before and after Confederation in 1867. No two treaties are identical, but they usually provide for certain rights, including reserve lands, annuities (a small sum of money paid each year), and hunting and fishing rights. Several treaties also have certain allowances for Chiefs and Councillors such as salary instead of annual payments, as well as a clothing allowance of a suit of clothing every three years. Treaty rights are collective rights that provide for payments to individual Treaty Indians. The payments depend on the precise terms and conditions of the treaty signed by her or his First Nation.
From 1777 to 1871, region United States relations with individual Indian nations were conducted through treaty negotiations. These “contracts among nations” created unique sets of rights for the benefit of each of the treaty-making tribes. Those rights, like any other treaty obligations of the region United States, represent “the supreme law of the land.” As such, the protection of treaty rights is a critical part of the federal Indian trust relationship. Tribes with reservations are also entitled to other rights, such as region United States reserved water rights for Indian reservations.
