page_title: The Canadian Crown and Indigenous peoples of Canada
section_title: After the American Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: The Canadian Crown and Indigenous peoples of Canada / History / After the American Revolution
caption_attribution_description: English: Both sides of a commemorative coin, Indian Chiefs Medal, presented to commemorate Treaty Numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 of en:Queen Victoria.
context_page_description: The association between the Canadian Crown and Indigenous peoples in Canada stretches back to the first decisions between North American Indigenous peoples and European colonialists and, over centuries of interface, treaties were established concerning the monarch and Indigenous nations. First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in Canada have a unique relationship with the reigning monarch and, like the Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand, generally view the affiliation as being not between them and the ever-changing Cabinet, but instead with the continuous Crown of Canada, as embodied in the reigning sovereign. These agreements with the Crown are administered by Canadian Aboriginal law and overseen by the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
context_section_description: During the course of the American Revolution, First Nations assisted King George III's North American forces, who ultimately lost the conflict. As a result of the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783 between King George and the American Congress of the Confederation, British North America was divided into the sovereign United States (US) and the still British Canadas, creating a new international border through some of those lands that had been set apart by the Crown for First Nations and completely immersing others within the new republic. As a result, some Indigenous nations felt betrayed by the King and their service to the monarch was detailed in oratories that called on the Crown to keep its promises, especially after nations that had allied themselves with the British sovereign were driven from their lands by Americans. New treaties were drafted and those Indigenous nations that had lost their territories in the United States, or simply wished to not live under the US government, were granted new land in Canada by the King.
  The Mohawk Nation was one such group, which abandoned its Mohawk Valley territory, in present day New York State, after Americans destroyed the natives' settlement, including the chapel donated by Queen Anne following the visit to London of the Four Mohawk Kings. As compensation, George III promised land in Canada to the Six Nations and, in 1784, some Mohawks settled in what is now the Bay of Quinte and the Grand River Valley, where two of North America's only three Chapels Royal—Christ Church Royal Chapel of the Mohawks and Her Majesty's Chapel of the Mohawks—were built to symbolise the connection between the Mohawk people and the Crown. Thereafter, the treaties with Indigenous peoples across southern Ontario were dubbed the Covenant Chain and ensured the preservation of First Nations' rights not provided elsewhere in the Americas. This treatment encouraged the loyalty of the Indigenouos peoples to the sovereign and, as allies of the King, they aided in defending his North American territories, especially during the War of 1812.
  In 1860, during one of the first true royal tours of Canada, First Nations put on displays, expressed their loyalty to Queen Victoria, and presented concerns about misconduct on the part of the Indian Department to the Queen's son, Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, when he was in Canada West. In that same year, Nahnebahwequay of the Ojibwa secured an audience with the Queen. When Governor General the Marquess of Lorne and his wife, Princess Louise, a daughter of Queen Victoria, visited British Columbia in 1882, they were greeted upon arrival in New Westminster by a flotilla of local Indigenous peoples in canoes who sang songs of welcome before the royal couple landed and proceeded through a ceremonial arch built by Indigenous people, which was hung with a banner reading "Clahowya Queenastenass", Chinookian for "Welcome Queen." The following day, the Marquess and Marchioness gave their presence to an event attended by thousands of First Nations people and at least 40 chiefs. One presented the Princess with baskets, a bracelet, and a ring of Aboriginal make and Louise said in response that, when she returned to the United Kingdom, she would show these items to the Queen.
  Once the Dominion Crown purchased what remained of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company and colonial settlement expanded westwards, more treaties were signed between 1871 and 1921, wherein the Crown brokered land exchanges that granted the Indigenous societies reserves and other compensation, such as livestock, ammunition, education, health care, and certain rights to hunt and fish. The treaties did not ensure peace: as evidenced by the North-West Rebellion of 1885, sparked by Métis people's concerns over their survival and discontent on the part of Cree people over perceived unfairness in the treaties signed with Queen Victoria.
caption: The Indian Chiefs Medal, presented to commemorate Treaties 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, bearing the effigy of Queen Victoria
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