King Charles III was named Canada’s new head of state on Saturday, following the death of his mother on Thursday. The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC), which consists of the Association of Indian Chiefs of B.C. (UBCIC), the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Summit of P.C. Originally created by the Catholic Church in 1452, the doctrine justified the theft of land from indigenous peoples. It was used by Great Britain and France to claim land in North America. Watch | CBC reporter Wawmeesh Hamilton on Indigenous perspectives on the Queen:
The death of Queen Elizabeth: an indigenous perspective
CBC’s Wawmeesh Hamilton talks about the queen and the relationship between the monarchy and indigenous people after her death. “The Doctrine of Discovery dehumanized non-Europeans while empires waged war and stole lands, resources and wealth that rightfully belonged to indigenous peoples around the world,” the FNLC said in a statement. “We are calling for this doctrine of international law to be renounced by the King of England. With a change in Canada’s head of state, it is time for a change in the Crown’s approach to Indigenous sovereignty.”
Holding the monarchy accountable
The relationship between indigenous peoples and the monarchy is complex. Many First Nations signed treaties with the Crown that included commitments to share resources that the Crown later violated. “It’s important to keep that relationship alive,” Diana Day, chief matriarch with the Union of Pacific First Nations and a member of the Wolf Tribe of the Oneida Nation, told CBC’s The Early Edition. “It’s important to hold on [the monarchy] accountable, to hold them accountable and to be more involved in reconciliation and in telling the truth of this country’s history.”
The Queen’s death causes complicated feelings among the natives
For Indigenous people, Queen Elizabeth’s death evokes a range of emotions, given their strong connection to the monarchy and its colonial heritage. Queen Elizabeth, Canada’s head of state and longest-reigning British monarch, died at the age of 96 on September 8 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Day said it’s important to recognize the Queen’s death and her many years of service, but it’s also critical to think about Indigenous people in Canada who don’t have shelter or clean water. After the Pope apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools, some called for the Queen to make a similar apology — which never came, despite her role in the Anglican Church, which ran dozens of residential schools in Canada.
A symbolic relationship
CBC Indigenous affairs reporter Wawmeesh Hamilton says the relationship between the monarchy and Indigenous people is purely symbolic. “There are visits, there are diplomatic gestures and there are good wishes. It’s an abstract relationship that looks good and reads well,” he said, adding that the monarchy has no say in or influence over the indigenous government. When news of the Queen’s death broke, Hamilton said Indigenous people took to social media to voice their grievances about the monarchy, colonialism and residential schools. A statue of Queen Elizabeth II is displayed in an art gallery in Vancouver, BC. on September 8. Adam Olsen, MLA for Sannich North and a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, says the monarchy has a responsibility to participate in reconciliation. (Ben Nelms/CBC) “Her family lost someone they loved,” he said. “There are protocols among indigenous communities regarding death. They vary, but a common denominator is respect for the bereaved and the dead.” Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, said he believes it’s time to start conversations about Canada’s relationship with the monarchy and reconciliation as the crown is passed from one generation to the next. “We have to recognize … that the wealth and privilege that monarchs and monarchy businesses have is being piled on the backs of indigenous peoples. They have a responsibility.”
The Queen was asked to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery
Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, secretary-treasurer of UBCIC, pointed out that the Queen was also asked to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery, but did not. “The Queen represented a sovereign relationship with many of our nations,” Kukpi7 Judy Wilson said Thursday. First Nations across Canada have also called on the Pope to renounce the doctrine. Wilson said that repudiating the doctrine is “the only way to move forward in a true relationship.”
A look back at the Queen’s visits to British Columbia
Queen Elizabeth II made seven official royal visits to BC. during her reign, from Golden to Vancouver Island, northern B.C. and places in between, including a fall at a Vancouver Canucks game in 2002.
