Governor General Lecture highlights Maritime roots of Aboriginal treaties

Over the last four decades, there has been a tradition of treaty making between Aboriginal peoples and the Crown, both in pre- and post-confederation Canada. This tradition began with early commercial contracts and peace and friendship treaties in eastern Canada that formed the foundation for these agreements.

On Monday, Sept. 19, Jim Miller, the Canada Research Chair in Native-Newcomer Relations, will give the first of this year’s Royal Society of Canada (RSC) Governor General Lecture Series. The lecture, “We are all Treaty People: Maritime Beginnings,” takes place at 4:00 p.m. Monday evening in the McInnis Room of the Dalhousie Student Union Building.

What: “We are all Treaty People: Maritime Beginnings”
When: Monday, Sept. 19, 2011 at 4:00 p.m.
Where: McInnis Room, Dalhousie Student Union Building, 6136 University Ave.
Admission: Free

Dr. Miller, also a professor of history at the University of Saskatchewan, has broken new ground with a series of studies on government and church policies towards Aboriginal people. His major published works include the first general account of indigenous-immigrant relations, Skyscrapers Hide the Heavens: A History of Indian-White Relations in Canada (now in its third edition); the first history of residential schooling, Shingwauk’s Vision: A History of Native Residential Schools; and the first overview of treaty-making, Compact, Contract, Covenant: Aboriginal Treaty-Making in Canada.

He has served as president of the Canadian Historical Association and co-editor of the Canadian Historical Review and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1998. He is a Tier I Canada Research Chair and was selected for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s Gold Medal for Achievement in research.

Established in 2004, the RSC Governor General Lecture Series is the first national research lecture series in Canada. The lectures, with topics ranging from stem cells to law and society, inform Canadians of recent advances in research as well as the policy implications from that research.

The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scholars, artists and scientists. It is Canada's national academy, whose objective is to promote learning and research in the arts and sciences. The RSC consists of nearly 2,000 Fellows, men and women who are selected by their peers for outstanding contributions to the natural and social sciences, in the arts and in the humanities. As Canada's national academy, the RSC exists to recognize academic excellence, to advise governments and organizations, and to promote Canadian culture.