Vanishing Voices and Traditional Lands: Resisting Colonial Frameworks in Treaty-Making -University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review Forum

Abstract

This piece examine the British Columbia Treaty Commission (BCTC) and its role in perpetuating colonial frameworks that undermine Indigenous sovereignty and sever cultural ties to land.

Through an analysis of BCTC treaties, this papers explore how the process commodifies land, imposes settler-state authority, and erases Indigenous legal traditions by categorizing land and natural entities as exploitable resources rather than recognizing their relational significance in Indigenous worldviews.

Drawing on the Haida Nation’s direct negotiations with the Crown—culminating in the Rising Tide Haida Title Lands Agreement—I argue for a treaty-making paradigm that centers Indigenous legal orders, affirms self-determination, and moves beyond the constraints of the BCTC framework.

Keywords: modern treaties, indigenous rights, indigenous self-governance, Colonialism, Indigenous-Setller Relationship, British Columbia Treaty Commission, Haida Agreement, The rising tide agreement, sui generis, reconciliation, Commodification