After the Conquest: Pontiac, the Royal Proclamation and the Treaty of Niagara

A sudden change

Imagine that in 1760 your town is taken over by soldiers who speak another language and practise a different religion. Will you keep your farm? Your church? Your laws?

That was the situation for about 70 000 Canadiens. For First Nations, the change was just as big. Let's see how different groups responded.

Life under British military rule (1760 to 1763)

• British officers governed Quebec, Montreal and Trois-Rivières.
• Canadiens kept their property, their Catholic faith and most of their daily customs. Many local disputes were still settled in French.
• Some French officials, officers and merchants returned to France. Most habitants stayed.
• British merchants began to arrive, especially in Montreal, to take over the fur trade.
• As you learned in Lesson 4, slavery continued under Article 47 of the surrender.

First Nations allies of France made peace with the British. On 5 September 1760, the British general James Murray signed a treaty with the Huron-Wendat promising them protection and the freedom to practise their religion, customs and trade. In 1990 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Sioui case that this was a real treaty that still protects Huron-Wendat rights.

Pontiac's resistance (1763)

After the Conquest, the British commander Jeffery Amherst treated First Nations as defeated people, not allies.

• He cut back on gifts, which First Nations saw as a sign of respect and of a living alliance.
• He limited trade in gunpowder and ammunition, which people needed for hunting.
• British settlers and soldiers moved onto First Nations lands in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes.

In 1763, the Odawa leader Pontiac and warriors from many Nations attacked British forts around the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley. Several forts were captured, and Fort Detroit was under siege for months. This resistance is often called Pontiac's War. It showed Britain that it could not control the interior without First Nations' agreement. Pontiac signed a peace agreement in 1765 and a final treaty the next year.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763

On 7 October 1763, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation.

For the former New France:

• It created the Province of Quebec, a small area along the St. Lawrence.
• It planned to bring in British laws and an elected assembly, hoping more British settlers would come and that the Canadiens would assimilate. Catholics could not hold government jobs because of a religious oath they would have to take.

For First Nations:

• A huge area west of the Appalachian Mountains was reserved as "Indian" lands (the word used at the time) for First Nations.
• Settlers were not allowed to settle or buy land there.
• Only the Crown could obtain First Nations land, and only by agreement at a public meeting with the Nation.

It was the Crown's most important early written recognition that First Nations had rights to their lands. It became the basis for treaty-making in Canada. It is even named in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (section 25).

The Treaty of Niagara (1764)

A proclamation written in London was not an agreement. In July and August 1764, British official Sir William Johnson met about 2 000 people from about 24 First Nations at Niagara.

• They renewed the Covenant Chain alliance and recorded it in wampum. One belt, the Covenant Chain belt, shows two figures holding hands for friendship. The Twenty-Four Nations belt showed the relationship among the Nations.
• Many Nations accepted the Royal Proclamation as part of this alliance of equals.

Many First Nations see the Royal Proclamation and the Treaty of Niagara together as the foundation of their relationship with the Crown. The Government of Canada does not officially recognize the Treaty of Niagara as a treaty, which shows that this history is still debated today.