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Since
Confederation in 1867, the Canadian government had pursued a policy of recognizing
Native land claims only when the lands they occupied were required for settlement
or development. The Athabasca region in Canada's northwestern interior was no
exception. For more than two centuries, British and Canadian parties had explored
the region and carefully inventoried its natural resources. Such was their diligence
that, by the late 1880s, the federal government was well aware of the extent of
the tar sands and was calling the petroleum field "inexhaustible" and "the most
extensive ... in America, if not the world." Reports
of destitute Natives in the northwest were circulating around Ottawa for more
than 20 years following Confederation. However, federal authorities only began
to show an interest in settling the land claims of Athabasca's First Nations and
Métis in the late 1890s. The government's change of heart coincided with the discovery
of gold in the Yukon. |
(C-015251)
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