Legal and Political Background
Maritime Peace and Friendship Treaties (1725 to 1776)
The Maritime peace and friendship treaties were made with the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet people in what was to become Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The main concerns of the British colonial administration in the period covered by these treaties were to end hostilities between themselves and the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet and to establish ongoing peaceful relations. In exchange for agreeing to keep the peace and to respect British civil and criminal law, the various nations of Mi'kmaq and Maliseet Indians were promised by the Crown that they could continue to hunt and fish, trade with the British, and continue their customary and religious practices. These treaties did not involve the cession of any land. (Source: Taken whole from "Historic Indian Treaties," found at Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada)
- Treaty of 1725, for Ratification at Casco Bay
- Treaty of 1725, Promises by Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts Bay
- Treaty of 1725, for Ratification at Annapolis Royal
- Treaty of 1725, Promises By Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
- Treaty of 1752
- Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1760
- Royal Instruction, 1761
- Belcher's Proclamation 1762
- Royal Proclamation, 1763
- Treaty of Watertown, 1776
- Treaty of 1779
- Constitution Act (1982)
- The Indian Act (1985)
Supreme Court of Canada Rulings
- R. v.Sparrow (1990)
- R. v. Badger (1996)
- Delgamuukw v. British Columbia (1997)
- R. v. Marshall ( September 1999)
- R. v. Marshall (Clarification) (November 1999)
- The Marshall Decision and Beyond: Implications for Management of the Atlantic Fisheries - Second Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (December 1999)
- Government Reponse to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans "The Marshall Decision and Beyond: Implications for Management of the Atlantic Fisheries" (April 2000)
- Draft for the Esgenoopotitj First Nation (EFN) Fishery Act (Fisheries Policy) (May 2000)
- Draft for EFN Management Plan (May 2000)