For the first time, Canada and BC have recognized the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation as the successor to two treaties that date back more than a century and a half.

The Tsartlip and Tseycum Nations released a joint statement with the federal and provincial governments declaring the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation—which includes Tsartlip and Tseycum, as well as Tsawout, Pauquachin, and Malahat Nations—to be the beneficiary and successor to the North Saanich and South Saanich Treaties of 1852. These treaties are part of the Douglas Treaties, a series of agreements led by James Douglas, then-governor of the Vancouver Island colony.

The statement acknowledges that W̱SÁNEĆ people and the governments view the treaties differently—BC and Canada have long maintained that the treaties were land purchase agreements, while W̱SÁNEĆ oral histories hold that the treaties were to resolve disputes and establish peaceful relationships with settlers without giving up the majority of their land. 

Canada and BC both enacted the UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) into law in 2021 and 2019, respectively. The signed statement decrees that the UNDRIP will guide a new shared understanding of these treaties.

Tsartlip Chief Don Tom said in a release that the statement was a “long overdue” acknowledgement of his people’s oral history. Tseycum Chief Tanya Jimmy said it was an important step forward in truth and reconciliation. 

“In the past, our communities have faced difficulties having the Crown recognize us as beneficiaries of the North and South Saanich Treaties and this has prevented progress and growth,” said Jimmy. “This Joint Statement sets that right.”

Treaty language disagreements persist

Disagreements about the language in the treaties have persisted since their creation. The treaties were negotiated orally, with signatories signing a blank piece of paper and Douglas adding the written portion after the fact, according to the Te'mexw Treaty Association, a non-profit that negotiates treaty rights for five Coast Salish groups, including Songhees and Malahat. 

Nations throughout the Island agreed to share part of their territories with settlers, receiving clothing, blankets, and other goods from Douglas in exchange. 

The North and South Saanich treaties state that W̱SÁNEĆ members maintain ownership of their villages and enclosed fields and the “liberty to hunt over unoccupied lands” and the right to “carry on their fisheries as formerly.” However, the treaty also says that the majority of land would be “the entire property of the white people for ever (sic).” 

This language has been disputed by First Nations on the Island, who say it does not capture the oral agreements—particularly the complete and permanent sale of their lands. However, the treaties are the only legal documents protecting First Nations’ rights.

The signed statement announced this week acknowledges the different perspectives of the written and oral treaties and that “a lack of government recognition and understanding of W̱SÁNEĆ’s oral history and W̱SÁNEĆ’s view of the spirit and intent of the North Saanich and South Saanich Treaties resulted in negative impacts.”

Recent criticism of governments not upholding treaty rights

Canada’s willingness to abide by the Douglas Treaties—including North and South Saanich—has been called into question by W̱SÁNEĆ leaders and elders.

In November, W̱SÁNEĆ hereditary chiefs from four nations gathered in regalia for the first time in 40 years to call on the DFO to pause all herring fishing in the Strait of Georgia and to reaffirm their territory rights in the area. Their calls to stop herring fishing were ignored months later, with the DFO increasing the amount of fish that can be harvested this year. The chiefs have condemned this and the end of the fallow deer eradication program on Sidney Island, which they say was done without consultation. 

W̱SÁNEĆ Elder Carl Olsen says Canada and BC have frequently dismissed treaty rights within Goldstream Provincial Park over the last century. 

In 1957, W̱SÁNEĆ Nation Chief Thunderbird, Jean Baptiste Paul, unsuccessfully fought against the creation of a provincial park in the area, saying Indigenous people owned the land because of the area’s significance for hunting and fishing.

As plans move forward to expand the size of the Malahat Highway Corridor, Olsen says treaty protections of salmon and wildlife in the area—key to traditional hunting and gathering—are being ignored again.