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“Sacred Trust”: Rethinking Late British Decolonization in Indigenous Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2019

Joel Hebert
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Abstract

This article considers the political activism of Canada's Indigenous peoples as a corrective to the prevailing narrative of British decolonization. For several decades, historians have described the end of empire as a series of linear political transitions from colony to nation-state, all ending in the late 1960s. But for many colonized peoples, the path to sovereignty was much less straightforward, especially in contexts where the goal of a discrete nation-state was unattainable. Canada's Indigenous peoples were one such group. In 1980, in the face of separatism in Quebec, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pledged to renew the Canadian Confederation by bringing home the constitution, which was still retained by the British Parliament. But many Indigenous leaders feared that this final separation of powers would extinguish their historic bilateral treaties with the British crown, including the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that guaranteed Indigenous sovereignty in a trust relationship with Britain. Indigenous activists thus organized lobbying campaigns at Westminster to oppose Trudeau's act of so-called patriation. This article follows the Constitution Express, a campaign organized by the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs in 1981. Maneuvering around the nuances of British political and cultural difference, activists on the Constitution Express articulated and exercised their own vision of decolonization, pursuing continued ties to Britain as their best hope for securing Indigenous sovereignty in a federal Canada.

Type
Original Manuscript
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , July 2019 , pp. 565 - 597
Copyright
Copyright © The North American Conference on British Studies 2019 

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References

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102 Richard Luce, Answers to Written Questions, House of Commons, 1 April 1982, Parliamentary Debates, 6th series, vol. 21, col. 165W. Presumably some of these correspondents wrote in favor of patriation.

103 Bruce George, Speech to the House of Commons, 8 March 1982, Parliamentary Debates, Commons, 6th series, vol. 19, col. 667–68.

104 TNA, FCO 82/1069, Martin Berthoud, “Canadian Indians,” 12 November 1981.

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106 “Native Leaders Are Disgusted by Amendments,” Vancouver Province, 6 November 1981.

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108 Mark Wolfson, Speech to the House of Commons, 17 February 1982, Parliamentary Debates, 6th series, vol. 18, cols. 359–60.

109 “Churchill Enjoys a Pow-Wow,” Daily Mirror (UK), 7 December 1981.

110 TNA, FCO 82/1069, Patrick Madahbee to Robert Banks MP, 6 November 1981.

111 Unnamed member of the House of Lords, quoted in Mandell and Pinder, “Tracking Justice,” 191.

112 Terry Waite to Edward Scott, archbishop of Canada, 16 November 1981, Runcie/ACP/1981/4, doc. no. 12, Robert Runcie papers, Lambeth Palace Library.

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116 Mandell and Pinder, “Tracking Justice,” 192.

117 Christian, interview.

118 Louise Mandell, interview by Vicki Lynn George, Vancouver, 6 March 2006, “Constitution Express—A Multimedia History,” https://archive.org/details/ConstitutionExpress-AMultimediaHistory-LouiseMandell.

119 TNA, FCO 82/1069, John James, Truro Peace Pipe Lodge, to John Nott, 2 November 1981. See also Paul Yockney, “AFC Bonanza: The Peace Pipe Lodge,” 30 July 1983, Azook Community Interest Company, http://cornishmemory.com/item/YOCN_5_635.

120 Wayne Christian, interview by Vicki Lynne George, Vancouver, 1 February 2006, “Constitution Express—A Multimedia History,” https://archive.org/details/ConstitutionExpress-AMultimediaHistory-WayneChristian

121 Mandell, interview by George.

122 TNA, FCO 82/1069, J. M. Creswell to Martin Berthoud, 10 November 1981.

123 TNA, FCO 82/1073, Michael Jopling to Humphrey Atkins, 23 November 1981.

124 TNA, FCO 82/1073, Atkins to Jopling, 18 December 1981.

125 Woodward and George, “Canadian Indian Lobby of Westminster,” 133.

126 Arthur Manuel, quoted in “Proceedings (Original), Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, 14th Annual General Assembly,” 26–28 October 1982, p. 81, Fourteenth Annual General Assembly Meeting Minutes and Resolutions Binder, UBCIC RC.

127 George Manuel, quoted in “Summarized Minutes of 6th Special General Assembly.”

128 Wayne Christian, “Chiefs Council Meeting,” 10 September 1981, p. 6, 1981 Chiefs Councils Binder, UBCIC RC.

129 Christian, interview.

130 Ivor Crewe, “The Most Unpopular Prime Minister since Polls Began,” Times (London), 9 October 1981.

131 Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, from Grantham to the Falklands (New York, 2013), 481.

132 Wayne Christian, “13th Annual General Assembly Meeting Minutes,” 28–30 October 1981, p. 59, Thirteenth Annual General Assembly Minutes Binder, UBCIC RC.

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137 Christian, “13th Annual General Assembly Meeting Minutes,” 28–30 October 1981, p. 59, Thirteenth Annual General Assembly Minutes Binder, UBCIC RC.

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141 Michael Havers, “Bill of Rights,” 16 July 1976, LCC 1/3/12, CPA.

142 Margaret Thatcher, quoted in “The Benefits of Free Competition,” London Evening News, 25 April 1979, Margaret Thatcher Foundation, http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104041.

143 TNA, FCO 82/1055, Lord Moran to Martin Berthoud, “The Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” 5 October 1981 (emphasis in original).

144 Enoch Powell, Speech in the House of Commons, 3 March 1982, Parliamentary Debates, 6th series, vol. 19, col. 364.

145 Enoch Powell, Speech in the House of Commons, 23 February 1982, Parliamentary Debates, 6th series, vol. 18, col. 830.

146 Margaret Thatcher, Oral Answers to Questions, House of Commons, 11 December 1979, Parliamentary Debates, 6th series, vol. 975, col. 1073.

147 TNA, PREM 19/826, Willie Whitelaw to Margaret Thatcher, “Cabinet: Home and Social Affairs Committee, A Bill of Rights,” 21 May 1981.

148 TNA, PREM 19/132, Margaret Thatcher, quoted in Michael Alexander to Paul Lever, “Patriation of the Canadian Constitution,” 6 October 1980, Margaret Thatcher Foundation, http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/118158.

149 TNA, FCO 82/822, Telegram from Lord Carrington to Sir John Ford, UK High Commissioner to Canada, 28 October 1980.

150 Derek Walker Smith, Speech to the House of Commons, 17 February 1982, Parliamentary Debates, 6th series, vol. 18, col. 308.

151 Bernard Braine, Speech to the House of Commons, 23 February 1982, Parliamentary Debates, 6th series, vol. 18, col. 772.

152 Bruce George, Speech to the House of Commons, 23 February 1982, Parliamentary Debates, 6th series, vol. 18, col. 813.

153 George, Speech to the House of Commons, col. 348.

154 TNA, FCO 82/1040, Francis Pym, quoted in “Patriation of the Canadian Constitution: Note of Meeting with Canadian High Commissioner,” 23 January 1981.

155 Moore, Margaret Thatcher, 378.

156 Clive Linklater et al., “The Constitution Story,” Saskatchewan Indian, April 1982, 8.

157 Donald Steward, Speech to the House of Commons, 17 February 1982, Parliamentary Debates, 6th series, vol. 18, col. 343.

158 Linklater et al., “Constitution Story,” 8.

159 TNA, FCO 82/1069, M. A. Macleod to Margaret Thatcher, 3 November 1981.

160 “Did You See the Two Red Indians Last Sunday?,” Sunday Post (Scotland), 15 November 1981.

161 TNA, FCO 82/1069, North America Department, “Remembrance Sunday: The Cenotaph Ceremony,” n.d. [ca. 6 November 1981].

162 Red Indians was the common British term for Indigenous peoples from North America, as opposed to “Indians” from South Asia. Oxford English Dictionary Online, s.v. “Red Indian, n.”

163 “Did You See the Two Red Indians?”

164 TNA, FCO 82/1070, Chris J. Jones to Margaret Thatcher, 18 November 1981.

165 TNA, FCO 82/1070, Chris J. Jones to Margaret Thatcher, 18 November 1981.

166 Kate Williams, “Cyd-Safiad (Standing Together): The Politics of Alliance of Welsh and American Indian Rights’ Movements, 1960s–Present” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota, 2012), chap. 4.

167 Williams, “Cyd-Safiad,” 196.

168 Dafydd Williams, quoted in Williams, “Cyd-Safiad,” 199.

169 “IRA Switches Attack,” Vancouver Province, 27 October 1981.

170 Gareth Parry, “Yard's Biggest Hunt Yet to Find IRA Explosives,” Guardian (UK), 17 November 1981.

171 George Manuel, quoted in “Summarized Minutes of 6th Special General Assembly.”

172 Christian, quoted in “Summarized Minutes of 6th Special General Assembly.”

173 John George, “Chiefs Council Meeting,” 10 September 1981, p. 6, 1981 Chiefs Councils Binder, UBCIC RC.

174 Christian, “Chiefs Council Meeting,” 10 September 1981, p. 6.

175 Adam, “Band Manager's Report,” 2.

176 “Bonn: Constitution Express to London via Europe,” Coyoti Prints, December 1981, 7.

177 Patrick Keatley, “Violence Warning by Chief,” Guardian (UK), 5 November 1981.

178 “Thatcher Sidesteps Issue,” Vancouver Sun, 4 November 1981, A2.

179 “Indians Study Court Action against UK,” Vancouver Province, 12 November 1981.

180 Russell, Canada's Odyssey, 301–2.

181 “Canada House Evacuated,” Vancouver Province, 28 October 1981.

182 Sanders, “Prior Claims,” 1:235.

183 “Natives Leave UBC Museum,” Kamloops News, 20 November 1981.

184 Conversation with Moya Waters, associate director, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, 6 April 2017.

185 George Manuel, quoted in “UBC Museum Occupied in Indian ‘War’ for Rights,” Vancouver Sun, 19 November 1981.

186 George Manuel, quoted in “Protesters Urge Indians to Fight for Their Rights,” Globe and Mail, 20 November 1981.

187 “Protesters Urge Indians.”

188 Bob Manuel, quoted in “Chief Happy with Protests,” Vancouver Sun, 25 November 1981.

189 Wayne Christian could not say for sure whether the Constitution Express had established links with IRA contacts. But he did not discount the possibility, noting that the UBCIC had discussed contacting the Gaddafi regime in Libya, a plan they quickly dropped owing to the strong opposition of Jewish staff and allies. Christian also recalled that his phone was routinely tapped by Canadian intelligence, and as a result, the leadership refrained from sharing sensitive information with him for fear of it leaking to the authorities. Christian, interview. In his 1993 biography of George Manuel, which was based on interviews with key Indigenous leaders, including the late Bob Manuel, Peter McFarlane writes that a “well-disciplined contingent from the IRA carrying banners in support of the First Nations’ cause in Canada” joined the Constitution Express on its march through Paris. Peter McFarlane, Brotherhood to Nationhood: George Manuel and the Making of the Modern Indian Movement (Toronto, 1993), 292. However, Christian did not remember this, and McFarlane was unable to substantiate the story. Personal correspondence with Peter McFarlane, 23 April 2017.

190 Editorial, Indian Voice, November/December 1981, 4.

191 Christian, interview.

192 Deb van der Gracht, “Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau Didn't Realize How Close His … ,” UPI, 24 November 1981, http://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/11/24/Prime-Minister-Pierre-Trudeau-didnt-realize-how-close-his/5184375426000/.

193 Taylor, “Rights Abrogated,” 2.

194 “Trudeau Takes Tough Line over Rights Lies Challenge,” Vancouver Sun, 23 November 1981.

195 Christian, interview.

196 “Aboriginal Rights Reinstated,” Vancouver Province, 27 November 1981. See also Henderson, First Nations Jurisprudence, 33.

197 Section 35 quoted in Erin Hanson, “Constitution Act, 1982, Section 35,” Indigenous Foundations, University of British Columbia, http://Indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/constitution_act_1982_section_35/.

198 See Ardith Walkem and Halie Bruce, eds., Box of Treasures or Empty Box? Twenty Years of Section 35 (Penticton, 2003).

199 Woodward and George, “Canadian Indian Lobby of Westminster,” 129; Henderson, First Nations Jurisprudence, 34. Denning was forced to retire later in 1982 after publishing libelous comments about the inability of black jurors to be impartial. Like other British political grandees, his sympathetic role in the Indigenous constitutional drama might best be ascribed to colonial paternalism. Alan Rusbridger, “Lord Denning Sets Date for Retirement,” Guardian (UK), 29 May 1982; David Leigh, “Denning Will Apologize,” Observer (UK), 30 May 1982.

200 Mandell and Pinder, “Tracking Justice,” 194.

201 TNA, FCO 82/1156, Louise Mandell to Margaret Thatcher, 29 January 1982.

202 Mandell and Pinder, “Tracking Justice,” 196.

203 Lord Morris, Speech to the House of Lords, 25 March 1982, Parliamentary Debates, vol. 428, col. 1073. See also William Hickey, “The Ermine Flies in the Lords … ,” Daily Express, 31 March 1982, 15.

204 See Henderson, First Nations Jurisprudence.

205 See Manuel and Derrickson, Unsettling Canada; Coulthard, Red Skin, White Masks; Simpson, Mohawk Interruptus.