Paulette Caveat
Encyclopedia
In 1973, a group of Dene
chiefs filed a caveat at the land titles office in Yellowknife
, Northwest Territories
to gain a legal interest in 400000 square miles (1,035,995.2 km²) of land in northern Canada
. The chiefs wanted to claim the land by virtue of their aboriginal rights, and prevent further development until ownership had been settled.
It came to be known as the Paulette Caveat, named after François Paulette, who was chief of the Fort Smith Chipewyan at the time, and one of the chiefs who initiated the caveat.
If the caveat was allowed, all development in the area could be halted until land claims were settled. The land office referred the caveat to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories
and Justice William Morrow, the only sitting judge of that court at the time.
Morrow held a six-week hearing process in several communities in the Northwest Territories, some only accessible by plane. He wanted to find out if aboriginal people had understood that they were signing over their land to the government, when they signed Treaty 8 and Treaty 11, several decades earlier.
Morrow listened to testimony from elderly people in the communities who witnessed the signing of land treaties decades earlier. Morrow even held his court at the bedside of elderly people unable to make it to the makeshift courtrooms.
Many witnesses testified that the people who signed the treaties were under the impression that they were committing to a peace and friendship deal with the Canadian government and the white man.
Morrow found that the Dene did not understand the treaties to have relinquished their traditional rights to the land. He ruled that the chiefs had sufficiently established a case for claiming aboriginal rights so as to warrant the filing of a caveat.
The finding was appealed by the federal government and later overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada
, but only on a point of law. The higher court didn't question Morrow's definition of aboriginal rights.
The ruling prompted the need to clarify land rights in the resource-rich land in northern Canada. It was the precursor to further negotiations between the Dene and the federal government to establish and clarify land rights, talks that are still going on in the present day.
Canadian Aboriginal case law
Dene
The Dene are an aboriginal group of First Nations who live in the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dené speak Northern Athabaskan languages. Dene is the common Athabaskan word for "people" . The term "Dene" has two usages...
chiefs filed a caveat at the land titles office in Yellowknife
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Yellowknife is the capital and largest city of the Northwest Territories , Canada. It is located on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, approximately south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of the Yellowknife River...
, Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
to gain a legal interest in 400000 square miles (1,035,995.2 km²) of land in northern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The chiefs wanted to claim the land by virtue of their aboriginal rights, and prevent further development until ownership had been settled.
It came to be known as the Paulette Caveat, named after François Paulette, who was chief of the Fort Smith Chipewyan at the time, and one of the chiefs who initiated the caveat.
If the caveat was allowed, all development in the area could be halted until land claims were settled. The land office referred the caveat to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories
Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories
The Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories is the name of two different superior courts for the Canadian territory of the Northwest Territories, which have existed at different times.The first Supreme Court of the North-West Territories was created in 1885...
and Justice William Morrow, the only sitting judge of that court at the time.
Morrow held a six-week hearing process in several communities in the Northwest Territories, some only accessible by plane. He wanted to find out if aboriginal people had understood that they were signing over their land to the government, when they signed Treaty 8 and Treaty 11, several decades earlier.
Morrow listened to testimony from elderly people in the communities who witnessed the signing of land treaties decades earlier. Morrow even held his court at the bedside of elderly people unable to make it to the makeshift courtrooms.
Many witnesses testified that the people who signed the treaties were under the impression that they were committing to a peace and friendship deal with the Canadian government and the white man.
Morrow found that the Dene did not understand the treaties to have relinquished their traditional rights to the land. He ruled that the chiefs had sufficiently established a case for claiming aboriginal rights so as to warrant the filing of a caveat.
The finding was appealed by the federal government and later overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
, but only on a point of law. The higher court didn't question Morrow's definition of aboriginal rights.
The ruling prompted the need to clarify land rights in the resource-rich land in northern Canada. It was the precursor to further negotiations between the Dene and the federal government to establish and clarify land rights, talks that are still going on in the present day.
See also
- The Canadian Crown and First Nations, Inuit and MétisThe Canadian Crown and First Nations, Inuit and MétisThe association between the Canadian Crown and Aboriginal peoples of Canada stretches back to the first interactions between North American indigenous peoples and European colonialists and, over centuries of interface, treaties were established concerning the monarch and aboriginal tribes...
Canadian Aboriginal case law
- Numbered TreatiesNumbered TreatiesThe numbered treaties are a series of eleven treaties signed between the aboriginal peoples in Canada and the reigning Monarch of Canada from 1871 to 1921. It was the Government of Canada who created the policy, commissioned the Treaty Commissioners and ratified the agreements...
- Indian ActIndian ActThe Indian Act , R.S., 1951, c. I-5, is a Canadian statute that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves...
- Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982Section thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982 provides constitutional protection to the aboriginal and treaty rights of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The section, while within the Constitution Act, 1982 and thus the Constitution of Canada, falls outside the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms...
- Indian Health Transfer Policy (Canada)Indian Health Transfer Policy (Canada)The Indian Health Transfer Policy of Canada, provided a framework for the assumption of control of health services by Aboriginal Canadians and set forth a developmental approach to transfer centred on the concept of self-determination in health. Through this process, the decision to enter into...