First Nations and Treaty-Partnership in Canada
12:00 p.m., Monday, Nov. 9, 2009
Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall
Admission: free

The First Nations, or aboriginal peoples, of present-day Canada have long-standing relationships with the lands they inhabit. They also have developed long-standing relationships over more than 400 years with European settlers and their descendents. These relationships, or partnerships, are regulated by treaties signed between the Canadian government and representatives of the First Nations. These treaty-partnerships mediate between First Nations and provincial and federal governments. This presentation will briefly explore some of the history of treaty-making in Canada along with a discussion of modern treaty negotiations in British Columbia and the northern territories.

Dr. Jay T. Johnson is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Kansas. Originally from Kansas City, Kan., and of Munsee Delaware and Western Cherokee descent, Dr. Johnson teaches cultural geography and Indigenous Nations studies courses. His current research interests concern the broad area of Indigenous peoples’ cultural survival with specific regard to the areas of resource management, political activism at the national and international levels, and the philosophies and politics of place which underpin the drive for cultural survival. Much of his work is comparative in nature but focuses predominately on New Zealand and North America.