Cover photo: Photo of the Great Peace from a painting for Canada Post
"You say that you are our father and I am your son.
We say, ‘We will not be like Father and Son, but like Brothers’.
This wampum belt confirms our words. These two rows will symbolize two paths or two vessels, traveling down the same river together. One, a birch bark canoe, will be for the Indian People, their laws, their customs and their ways. We shall each travel the river together, side by side, but in our own boat. Neither of us will make compulsory laws or interfere in the internal affairs of the other. Neither of us will try to steer the other’s vessel.”
From a 1614 agreement between the Haudenosaunee Nations and representatives of the Dutch government, declaring peaceful coexistence. The agreement, which took place in what would become New York State, has been kept by the Haudenosaunee to this date.
From the time of European settlement in early 16th century North America, original Indigenous residents had to respond to the sudden influx of newcomers arriving on their shores in large wooden vessels. The visitors had a different appearance, spoke an unfamiliar language and practiced unusual habits which originated far away across the water to the east. They came to take resources for use and sale, farm annual grasses and other foodstuffs, raise domestic animals and build settlements. Many were escaping the difficult circumstances of their original homeland. Over time, their activities became a challenge for the local Indigenous people who had initially approached the newcomers in friendship and peace. However, as the new communities of Europeans became permanent, Indigenous people became concerned they would not be respected and their way of life would be threatened.
The early treaties
The first formal treaty between the Onkwehonweh (original people) of Turtle Island (North America) occurred in 1613 between Dutch settlers and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). The Dutch were moving up the Hudson River into Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) territory which was part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The treaty was called Gusweñta: "Two Row Wampum." Wampum is from wampumpeag, the Algonguin word meaning "a string of white shell beads." The Mohawks had discovered unknown people setting up homes on Indigenous territory in "empty rooms" (land.) The Onondaga who were also part of the Confederacy decided to ask the visitors their intentions. Since neither spoke each other's language, this was a difficult exercise. However, eventually each group communicated their interests.
The Dutch traders and settlers had arrived in a large boat with sails, so they asked to be addressed as the "Father" of the contract and the local Indigenous people would be the "Son." The Haudenosaunee disagreed with this idea and proposed they be equals and address each other as "Brothers." Considering the strength and numbers of the Haudenosaunee, the Dutch decided to agree and a wampum belt out of purple and white quahog shells was created.
Two Row Wampum became the basis for all future interactions between the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch along with other colonial governments who occupied their land: the French, British and Americans. The agreement stated: "Together we will travel in Friendship and in Peace Forever, as long as the grass is green, as long as the water flows downhill, and as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and as long as our Mother Earth will last.”
Signing such a treaty was significant for the Haudenosaunee since the contract described their philosophy of non-domination in the place they lived and the people and other species they lived with. In their world view, groups were expected to communicate and act together to attain peace, friendship and respect for each other and the land. This model existed in three ways: nation-to-nation, between spouses and partners and among human beings and the natural world.
Meanwhile in the territory to the north, which would later become the province of Quebec, clashes continued for many more decades between the Indigenous people living there and French newcomers who had arrived in the mid-17th century. The visitors took furs for trade, cut down trees, created farms and built settlements. They arrived by the shipload and soon afterwards their population surged and the homelands of the original people were overtaken. Many conflicts ensued; lives were lost and destruction prevailed. Finally, all parties agreed to meet and discuss possibilities for harmony during an event called "The Great Peace." A display from the McCord Museum in Montreal tells us:
"In 1701, Montreal played host to 2000 to 3000 visitors who danced, feasted, smoked peace pipes and listened to speeches by the representatives of some 40 First Nations. The French bestowed on the ceremony all the splendour of the court of France, while the Aboriginal participants brought the refined protocol of their traditional diplomacy. The Great Peace marked the end of almost 100 years of war between the French and the Iroquois. For New France, it ushered in a period of growth and prosperity. “The hatchet has stopped. Here we have buried it deep down in the earth, so that neither side will take it up again.” (Quarante Sols, Huron Chief) “We will give the tree of Peace you have planted such deep, strong roots that neither winds, nor storms, nor any other accident will bring it down.” (L’Aigle, Iroquois from the Sault)
History repeats itself
In truth, Europeans who settled in eastern North America from the 17th century onwards, if they originated in England, France or Holland had more in common with the local Indigenous people than they imagined. Over 10,000 years before, the Indigenous ancestors of European people had encountered a similar invasion. Paleolithic tribes who subsisted as hunter-gatherers for millennia in Europe's wild lands were invaded by Neolithic farmers originating in the south. Their "newcomers" travelled in boats filled with children and farm animals. They came ashore on seacoasts and river banks. Soon after, they cut down forests and took the plentiful resources for personal use and trade. Then, they planted crops. The local Paleolithic residents were overwhelmed by such strange behavior and felt powerless. They were unable to comprehend the cultural assault which eventually forced them to change their lives.
Many thousands of years later in the 17th century, Europe's original farmers had evolved considerably. They employed metal tools to facilitate their work: more efficient ploughs for farming, saws for logging, sturdier implements for cooking and guns for hunting and defense. Religion offered a moral base and traditional culture prevailed. The land was cared for because it offered important resources and a place to farm. Wild nature was respected, but mostly kept at a distance.
The colonization of territories an ocean away in the vast wild spaces of North America introduced another way of life. The Europeans called it "The New World" but such a name did not respect the original communities of Indigenous people who inhabited and cared for this place for millennia. Their world view was vastly different. They stressed crucial connections to place, human relationships with the natural world, human to human bonds and the inherent value of community. They shaped the landscape through hunting, gathering, planting, aquaculture, burning and creating permanent traps. But strict social-ecological systems kept their relationships healthy. This was paramount since they − like the original Paleolithic tribes − had to depend predominately on wild areas for sustenance and each other for support. Indigenous people did not own the land; they took care of it, along with all the species who lived there. Instead of concentrating on personal rights, they stressed responsibilities. Mutual support and reciprocity was practiced between all the species because they were on the same level. Domination of one over the other was not favoured; human beings were connected to all creation.
In contrast, the Europeans in the 17th century used annual agriculture and domestic animals for sustenance. Their religion had mostly evolved to practice human-centric views and a cultural separation from nature. However, over the next two centuries, religious dependence gradually decreased and the notion of an individual world view strengthened. Community and tradition diminished in importance. A rational and humanistic approach developed. The use of machinery grew and market economics rose in prominence. This encouraged further notions of dominance over nature. Major societal changes occurred in Europe during the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. The western world moved towards more private land ownership and the commodification of natural resources. This meant privileged members of society gained additional power.
With European colonial expansion around the globe, these ideas intensified as new territories across the ocean full of vast natural areas were "discovered" and claimed for the mother country. Nature looked even more infinite than ever before. Amassing natural wealth was a financial benefit for European empires and colonial expansion took pressure off overpopulated homelands. As well, some settlers in the new country followed the example of their original wealthy landlords back home who thought taking from the earth and controlling other people was their "right." With the growth of slavery, mechanized tools and armies to subdue any people who were in the way of progress, the health of wild lands in North America and its resident people and species began to suffer.
"The 20th century shall be the century of Canada and Canadian development” Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier, 1904
Fast forward to the 20th century; the story of The Great Peace and Two Row Wampum were in the distant past. New France and all the other colonizing nations certainly experienced a long “period of growth and prosperity.” But this came at great expense. Newcomers had moved across the whole country, continually taking land and water resources for their benefit. They began with furs in the 16th century and soon added trees, fish, minerals, hydro power, fossil fuels and land for agriculture. It became commonplace for the predominant western world view to cut great swaths from the landscape. This was aided by an increase in technology and science. If the natural world was originally respected in the first days of western-style economics, now there was little to stand in the way of making money from the earth. Nature only had value in human-created economics when it was taken and sold.
If Canadian Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier thought the 20th century would be his country’s century − he meant for the newcomers and their descendants. The way Canada's government and people treated common-pool resources − those which looked free for the taking − was first come, first served. The person with the most money would take as much as possible to sell it on the market. By the end of the century this method had caused a major increase in pollution, species loss and extreme changes to weather systems. As in the days of the Two Row Wampum agreement − the powerful and privileged claimed to be the Father and nature and the Indigenous people or anyone else who sought to care for them were the Son. They were to sit quiet and obey authority.
Very recently in 2020, Canada has felt a very direct continuation of this history as clashes occurred between Indigenous people and the British Columbia and Federal governments who support the expansion of the liquid natural gas industry. The Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet'suet'en First Nations in Northern BC had continually proclaimed they did not want the Coastal Gas Pipeline to cross their unceded territories from the source of liquid natural gas created by hydraulic fracking in northeastern BC to a shipping port at Kitimat on the west coast. Wet'suet'en land defenders had set up sites of resistance in the path of the construction and the BC government gained an injunction from the BC Supreme Court to evict the resisters.
On February 6th, scores of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) mounted their first raid at night and they continued for days afterwards. These modern 21st century clashes between Indigenous land defenders and police were difficult to view. The First Nations were camping out in their lands. They drummed and sang traditional songs, lit sacred fires and engaged in ceremony. They wore traditional regalia. Their colourful blankets depicted animals from their clans. They repeated constantly that their ancestors were supporting and guiding them. They were peacefully standing firm against the continual onslaught of industry in their territories. In extreme contrast, the RCMP were outfitted in plastic riot gear. They carried weapons which they aimed at the resisters. They arrived in cars and helicopters and had dogs trained to attack. The plight of the resisters who were forcibly arrested and taken away from their territory was then communicated by word and image to people in Canada and beyond. Supportive solidarity events happened all over the country and the world as people from all walks of life marched, gathered and blocked important transportation routes like rail lines, shipping ports, bridges and roads. They also occupied government buildings and offices.
Two Row Wampum continues
One particularly interesting interchange happened on February 11th in Tyendinaga, Mohawk Territory, in what is now Ontario. The original Haudenosaunee Confederacy
includes land in Quebec and Ontario.
The local Mohawk First Nation set up a blockade on the rail lines near Wymans Road. One Mohawk member, Kanenhariyo was there to meet the members of the Crown. He stood on one side of a table where he laid out two belts woven with shells on a skin next to an eagle fan. One was a Two Row Wampum Belt and the other a Silver Covenant Chain wampum belt. Facing him were police women from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Kanenhariyo started out by saying:
"We travel along the road of life as individuals. We're not supposed to control one another…And so the Europeans came here, we said “this is the rules of the land.” You don't take control over the deer. You don't [steer] them in their land. Or you don't take control over the fish. They have their land...And each of the different groups of the human beings, we have our own culture, our own way. You're not supposed to interfere with each other. Even if we have a little dispute from time to time, we don’t get to cause genocide on them. That’s a rule of this land and we offered that to you and you accepted that. And that didn't change. The old people when I was young would say: '…we’re in our canoe traveling along in this river of life.’ And you are in your ship. And you’ve got your rules… your government and…your own language and your own way of doing things. And we said we’ll allow you to have those things. We didn’t try to strip them from you. And we said we’re going to be in our vessel. We’re going to have our way. The agreement was that we are not going to steer each other’s vessels."
Kanenhariyo then spoke at length in his Mother language. Afterwards he translated what he said which was called “The Thanksgiving Address.” In between talking about specific parts of human society and nature which people should be thankful for, Kanenhariyo said: “Now we wrap our minds together as one." And he repeated the item. And then asked everyone around him: “Agreed?” He told a story which illustrated that human beings had a lot in common and they could talk about their differences and come to some agreement. Afterwards he addressed the OPP members directly: “I don’t mean to be disrespectful but when you people came here you didn’t remember that (our agreement). Then he continued to discuss the historical relationship between the Mohawks and the sovereigns of Canada from the 1700s to today.
To see 6 police women stand and try and be patient during the hour long session with Kanenhariyo is fascinating to watch. Clearly they were not accustomed to discussions of fish, plants, planets and ancestors. And the OPP did not often hear they did not have the authority to evict the Mohawks from their land who had upheld their end of the bargain with the Crown for centuries. But now the situation had gotten much worse. The resistance of the Wet'suet'en and the strong arrests carried out by the RCMP in BC had impacted many Indigenous groups and created similar actions across the whole country. The Mohawk stand with their western cousins. When Kanenhariyo discussed the process where the government once laid train track across Mohawk land without consent, he said:“We have heartfelt feelings for those people in Wet’suwet’en territory because what’s being done to them has been done to us. Right here.” This was a difficult point for the Mohawk because they had not caused any violence when the government constructed a railway on their territory. Kanenhariyo was worried the present situation was not being handled well. He said Canadians should be ashamed of the actions of the RCMP and the response from the Prime Minister. He felt those actions were foolish and they might escalate in a negative way. After some time, the policewomen asked if it was okay to go home and maybe the Mohawks also wanted to go home. And so the Mohawks responded together: “We are home! This is our home.”
Prosperity is only offered to some in our common home
With regard to respecting Indigenous people and their river of life, Canada hasn’t made a lot of progress during the last 400 years. Valuing and stewarding land and water ecosystems have found little place in common discussions. And the reasons are the same today as they were for the last four centuries. The newcomer's worldview never had robust social systems for appreciating nature for its own sake. They continue to act as if they are above natural law. There are rarely conversations which acknowledge that the natural world offers people true wealth when it is left to act on its own. That means, without humans endlessly helping themselves and intervening.
From the very beginning, the way the Europeans treated common-pool resources − nature that looked like it was free for the taking − was first come, first served. The person with enough money, motivation and strength takes as much as possible and uses it up or sells it on the market. Destroying the earth is the norm even if these actions cause major increases in pollution, species extirpation and changes to weather systems. In fact, there are clear incentives to do just that – the government continues to back resource extraction every step of the way. As in the days of the original Two Row Wampum agreement − the powerful and privileged claim to be the Father and natural systems and Indigenous people or anyone else who cares for nature are the Son. They are to sit quietly and obey authority.
When natural capital disappears, the government tries to put things back in the best way they know how: farming and processing. Fur farms, tree farms, fish hatcheries and fish farms. Even though nature is very hard to copy, Canada and its western view keep going. The predominant paradigm believes humans can do anything they want because they have technology and money. When the first oil wells were used up, people went after the dirty oil: tar sands, deep sea drilling and fracked gas. These require major processing systems and using up more resources like water, minerals and fossil fuels. When governments wanted more power, instead of using or selling less, they built massive dams on mighty rivers and changed the whole environment. Canada created Departments for the Environment, Fisheries, Forestry, Minerals and Natural Resources. But once again, these groups existed mostly for financial purposes and to create work for people rather than emphasize stewardship methods. The government funded a lot of scientific research but rarely acted on the recommendations. There were some good intentions along the way, but these often got sidetracked by business and politics.
Nature is called “the environment” as if it was not attached to human reality. Landscapes are "managed," but only for the benefit of the people in charge. Those who want to protect and care for living systems are viewed as impeding our modern growth economy. Unlike the teachings of the Two Row Wampum and Indigenous people, the country of Canada continues to focus on the unsustainable notion of economic growth for its own sake. The market remains their master, even if these views don't even make good economic sense.
The Land Ethic is discussed
Over the years, many people have offered positive ideas which could help our broken relationship with nature. In the mid 20th century, American conservationist and writer Aldo Leopold wrote a landmark book "A Sand County Almanac" where he discussed a "Land Ethic." He believed that if people became more attached to the land, they would learn to better care for its welfare. He had noticed a lack of responsibility in these connections: “There is as yet, no ethic dealing with man’s relation to the land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it. Land…is still property. The land relation is still strictly economic, entailing privileges but not obligations.”
Leopold tried to offer nature-oriented solutions to human issues almost a century ago. And yet, the wider society was not ready to receive them. He proposed that the earth and other species should be viewed as rightful citizens. “All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts… "The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include the soils, waters, plants and animals, or collectively: the land… In short, (it) changes the role of homo sapiens from conqueror of the land community to plain member and citizen of it.” He encouraged his society to transition back to a stronger relationship with the earth. “We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
Like the Indigenous view, Leopold imagined that ethical discussions should not only include the human-to-human and human-to-society interactions but also ‘biota’ – the flora, fauna, soil, water and air. He believed ethics should guide ecology; this idea would encourage “a kind of community instinct in-the-making.” He sensed that human community had to incorporate ethics and place into their world view. And education should encourage an ecological conscience which existed beyond economic considerations.
Indigenous solutions have always been in plain view
The Indigenous people of Canada and the world continue to practice their own social systems and traditional ecological knowledge as best they can. And yet, Canada still has no strong land and water ethic. It has the most fresh water in the world, the biggest boreal forests, three oceans and extensive biodiversity. However, the country continues to practice a colonial paradigm as if the store will always be full and new goods will be delivered at the back door forever. Nature is not meant to be mastered; it is meant to be respected. Canadians should know that. For many, nature acts as an influential teacher because it is always so close at hand. Making money from the land has never been a strong model and it never will be. Privileged individuals whose global footprints are huge can't continue to keep their unsustainable standard of living alongside the earth’s other less privileged seven and a half billion people. There needs to be checks and balances. Being accountable to no one and nothing is a recipe for disaster. Even when the tragedy of global climate change and species loss stare these people in the face, they continue their inaction.
A shift in view is urgent. Indigenous people hold the key. They speak for all our ancestors who operated intelligently for millennia on a living planet. Canada is blessed to have Indigenous residents who practice an alternate view which stands in the way of more pollution, more species loss, more death and destruction. Indigenous people and their allies are offering a better way. They are putting their bodies on the line for all they hold dear to support a healthy planet, healthy humanity and healthy community. After four hundred years of trying to ignore the truth, it's about time Canada joined them.
Celia Brauer is Staff and Co-founder of the False Creek Watershed Society.
Her Anthropology Masters Research studied Indigenous approaches to sustainability.
March 13, 2020
The photo below is of downtown Vancouver in the late 19th century after settlers clearcut the whole area of old-growth confers. Before the 1860s, these forests included the biggest trees on the planet. They grew over 400 feet high for over a thousand years.
"You say that you are our father and I am your son.
We say, ‘We will not be like Father and Son, but like Brothers’.
This wampum belt confirms our words. These two rows will symbolize two paths or two vessels, traveling down the same river together. One, a birch bark canoe, will be for the Indian People, their laws, their customs and their ways. We shall each travel the river together, side by side, but in our own boat. Neither of us will make compulsory laws or interfere in the internal affairs of the other. Neither of us will try to steer the other’s vessel.”
From a 1614 agreement between the Haudenosaunee Nations and representatives of the Dutch government, declaring peaceful coexistence. The agreement, which took place in what would become New York State, has been kept by the Haudenosaunee to this date.
From the time of European settlement in early 16th century North America, original Indigenous residents had to respond to the sudden influx of newcomers arriving on their shores in large wooden vessels. The visitors had a different appearance, spoke an unfamiliar language and practiced unusual habits which originated far away across the water to the east. They came to take resources for use and sale, farm annual grasses and other foodstuffs, raise domestic animals and build settlements. Many were escaping the difficult circumstances of their original homeland. Over time, their activities became a challenge for the local Indigenous people who had initially approached the newcomers in friendship and peace. However, as the new communities of Europeans became permanent, Indigenous people became concerned they would not be respected and their way of life would be threatened.
The early treaties
The first formal treaty between the Onkwehonweh (original people) of Turtle Island (North America) occurred in 1613 between Dutch settlers and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). The Dutch were moving up the Hudson River into Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) territory which was part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The treaty was called Gusweñta: "Two Row Wampum." Wampum is from wampumpeag, the Algonguin word meaning "a string of white shell beads." The Mohawks had discovered unknown people setting up homes on Indigenous territory in "empty rooms" (land.) The Onondaga who were also part of the Confederacy decided to ask the visitors their intentions. Since neither spoke each other's language, this was a difficult exercise. However, eventually each group communicated their interests.
The Dutch traders and settlers had arrived in a large boat with sails, so they asked to be addressed as the "Father" of the contract and the local Indigenous people would be the "Son." The Haudenosaunee disagreed with this idea and proposed they be equals and address each other as "Brothers." Considering the strength and numbers of the Haudenosaunee, the Dutch decided to agree and a wampum belt out of purple and white quahog shells was created.
Two Row Wampum became the basis for all future interactions between the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch along with other colonial governments who occupied their land: the French, British and Americans. The agreement stated: "Together we will travel in Friendship and in Peace Forever, as long as the grass is green, as long as the water flows downhill, and as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and as long as our Mother Earth will last.”
Signing such a treaty was significant for the Haudenosaunee since the contract described their philosophy of non-domination in the place they lived and the people and other species they lived with. In their world view, groups were expected to communicate and act together to attain peace, friendship and respect for each other and the land. This model existed in three ways: nation-to-nation, between spouses and partners and among human beings and the natural world.
Meanwhile in the territory to the north, which would later become the province of Quebec, clashes continued for many more decades between the Indigenous people living there and French newcomers who had arrived in the mid-17th century. The visitors took furs for trade, cut down trees, created farms and built settlements. They arrived by the shipload and soon afterwards their population surged and the homelands of the original people were overtaken. Many conflicts ensued; lives were lost and destruction prevailed. Finally, all parties agreed to meet and discuss possibilities for harmony during an event called "The Great Peace." A display from the McCord Museum in Montreal tells us:
"In 1701, Montreal played host to 2000 to 3000 visitors who danced, feasted, smoked peace pipes and listened to speeches by the representatives of some 40 First Nations. The French bestowed on the ceremony all the splendour of the court of France, while the Aboriginal participants brought the refined protocol of their traditional diplomacy. The Great Peace marked the end of almost 100 years of war between the French and the Iroquois. For New France, it ushered in a period of growth and prosperity. “The hatchet has stopped. Here we have buried it deep down in the earth, so that neither side will take it up again.” (Quarante Sols, Huron Chief) “We will give the tree of Peace you have planted such deep, strong roots that neither winds, nor storms, nor any other accident will bring it down.” (L’Aigle, Iroquois from the Sault)
History repeats itself
In truth, Europeans who settled in eastern North America from the 17th century onwards, if they originated in England, France or Holland had more in common with the local Indigenous people than they imagined. Over 10,000 years before, the Indigenous ancestors of European people had encountered a similar invasion. Paleolithic tribes who subsisted as hunter-gatherers for millennia in Europe's wild lands were invaded by Neolithic farmers originating in the south. Their "newcomers" travelled in boats filled with children and farm animals. They came ashore on seacoasts and river banks. Soon after, they cut down forests and took the plentiful resources for personal use and trade. Then, they planted crops. The local Paleolithic residents were overwhelmed by such strange behavior and felt powerless. They were unable to comprehend the cultural assault which eventually forced them to change their lives.
Many thousands of years later in the 17th century, Europe's original farmers had evolved considerably. They employed metal tools to facilitate their work: more efficient ploughs for farming, saws for logging, sturdier implements for cooking and guns for hunting and defense. Religion offered a moral base and traditional culture prevailed. The land was cared for because it offered important resources and a place to farm. Wild nature was respected, but mostly kept at a distance.
The colonization of territories an ocean away in the vast wild spaces of North America introduced another way of life. The Europeans called it "The New World" but such a name did not respect the original communities of Indigenous people who inhabited and cared for this place for millennia. Their world view was vastly different. They stressed crucial connections to place, human relationships with the natural world, human to human bonds and the inherent value of community. They shaped the landscape through hunting, gathering, planting, aquaculture, burning and creating permanent traps. But strict social-ecological systems kept their relationships healthy. This was paramount since they − like the original Paleolithic tribes − had to depend predominately on wild areas for sustenance and each other for support. Indigenous people did not own the land; they took care of it, along with all the species who lived there. Instead of concentrating on personal rights, they stressed responsibilities. Mutual support and reciprocity was practiced between all the species because they were on the same level. Domination of one over the other was not favoured; human beings were connected to all creation.
In contrast, the Europeans in the 17th century used annual agriculture and domestic animals for sustenance. Their religion had mostly evolved to practice human-centric views and a cultural separation from nature. However, over the next two centuries, religious dependence gradually decreased and the notion of an individual world view strengthened. Community and tradition diminished in importance. A rational and humanistic approach developed. The use of machinery grew and market economics rose in prominence. This encouraged further notions of dominance over nature. Major societal changes occurred in Europe during the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. The western world moved towards more private land ownership and the commodification of natural resources. This meant privileged members of society gained additional power.
With European colonial expansion around the globe, these ideas intensified as new territories across the ocean full of vast natural areas were "discovered" and claimed for the mother country. Nature looked even more infinite than ever before. Amassing natural wealth was a financial benefit for European empires and colonial expansion took pressure off overpopulated homelands. As well, some settlers in the new country followed the example of their original wealthy landlords back home who thought taking from the earth and controlling other people was their "right." With the growth of slavery, mechanized tools and armies to subdue any people who were in the way of progress, the health of wild lands in North America and its resident people and species began to suffer.
"The 20th century shall be the century of Canada and Canadian development” Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier, 1904
Fast forward to the 20th century; the story of The Great Peace and Two Row Wampum were in the distant past. New France and all the other colonizing nations certainly experienced a long “period of growth and prosperity.” But this came at great expense. Newcomers had moved across the whole country, continually taking land and water resources for their benefit. They began with furs in the 16th century and soon added trees, fish, minerals, hydro power, fossil fuels and land for agriculture. It became commonplace for the predominant western world view to cut great swaths from the landscape. This was aided by an increase in technology and science. If the natural world was originally respected in the first days of western-style economics, now there was little to stand in the way of making money from the earth. Nature only had value in human-created economics when it was taken and sold.
If Canadian Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier thought the 20th century would be his country’s century − he meant for the newcomers and their descendants. The way Canada's government and people treated common-pool resources − those which looked free for the taking − was first come, first served. The person with the most money would take as much as possible to sell it on the market. By the end of the century this method had caused a major increase in pollution, species loss and extreme changes to weather systems. As in the days of the Two Row Wampum agreement − the powerful and privileged claimed to be the Father and nature and the Indigenous people or anyone else who sought to care for them were the Son. They were to sit quiet and obey authority.
Very recently in 2020, Canada has felt a very direct continuation of this history as clashes occurred between Indigenous people and the British Columbia and Federal governments who support the expansion of the liquid natural gas industry. The Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet'suet'en First Nations in Northern BC had continually proclaimed they did not want the Coastal Gas Pipeline to cross their unceded territories from the source of liquid natural gas created by hydraulic fracking in northeastern BC to a shipping port at Kitimat on the west coast. Wet'suet'en land defenders had set up sites of resistance in the path of the construction and the BC government gained an injunction from the BC Supreme Court to evict the resisters.
On February 6th, scores of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) mounted their first raid at night and they continued for days afterwards. These modern 21st century clashes between Indigenous land defenders and police were difficult to view. The First Nations were camping out in their lands. They drummed and sang traditional songs, lit sacred fires and engaged in ceremony. They wore traditional regalia. Their colourful blankets depicted animals from their clans. They repeated constantly that their ancestors were supporting and guiding them. They were peacefully standing firm against the continual onslaught of industry in their territories. In extreme contrast, the RCMP were outfitted in plastic riot gear. They carried weapons which they aimed at the resisters. They arrived in cars and helicopters and had dogs trained to attack. The plight of the resisters who were forcibly arrested and taken away from their territory was then communicated by word and image to people in Canada and beyond. Supportive solidarity events happened all over the country and the world as people from all walks of life marched, gathered and blocked important transportation routes like rail lines, shipping ports, bridges and roads. They also occupied government buildings and offices.
Two Row Wampum continues
One particularly interesting interchange happened on February 11th in Tyendinaga, Mohawk Territory, in what is now Ontario. The original Haudenosaunee Confederacy
includes land in Quebec and Ontario.
The local Mohawk First Nation set up a blockade on the rail lines near Wymans Road. One Mohawk member, Kanenhariyo was there to meet the members of the Crown. He stood on one side of a table where he laid out two belts woven with shells on a skin next to an eagle fan. One was a Two Row Wampum Belt and the other a Silver Covenant Chain wampum belt. Facing him were police women from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Kanenhariyo started out by saying:
"We travel along the road of life as individuals. We're not supposed to control one another…And so the Europeans came here, we said “this is the rules of the land.” You don't take control over the deer. You don't [steer] them in their land. Or you don't take control over the fish. They have their land...And each of the different groups of the human beings, we have our own culture, our own way. You're not supposed to interfere with each other. Even if we have a little dispute from time to time, we don’t get to cause genocide on them. That’s a rule of this land and we offered that to you and you accepted that. And that didn't change. The old people when I was young would say: '…we’re in our canoe traveling along in this river of life.’ And you are in your ship. And you’ve got your rules… your government and…your own language and your own way of doing things. And we said we’ll allow you to have those things. We didn’t try to strip them from you. And we said we’re going to be in our vessel. We’re going to have our way. The agreement was that we are not going to steer each other’s vessels."
Kanenhariyo then spoke at length in his Mother language. Afterwards he translated what he said which was called “The Thanksgiving Address.” In between talking about specific parts of human society and nature which people should be thankful for, Kanenhariyo said: “Now we wrap our minds together as one." And he repeated the item. And then asked everyone around him: “Agreed?” He told a story which illustrated that human beings had a lot in common and they could talk about their differences and come to some agreement. Afterwards he addressed the OPP members directly: “I don’t mean to be disrespectful but when you people came here you didn’t remember that (our agreement). Then he continued to discuss the historical relationship between the Mohawks and the sovereigns of Canada from the 1700s to today.
To see 6 police women stand and try and be patient during the hour long session with Kanenhariyo is fascinating to watch. Clearly they were not accustomed to discussions of fish, plants, planets and ancestors. And the OPP did not often hear they did not have the authority to evict the Mohawks from their land who had upheld their end of the bargain with the Crown for centuries. But now the situation had gotten much worse. The resistance of the Wet'suet'en and the strong arrests carried out by the RCMP in BC had impacted many Indigenous groups and created similar actions across the whole country. The Mohawk stand with their western cousins. When Kanenhariyo discussed the process where the government once laid train track across Mohawk land without consent, he said:“We have heartfelt feelings for those people in Wet’suwet’en territory because what’s being done to them has been done to us. Right here.” This was a difficult point for the Mohawk because they had not caused any violence when the government constructed a railway on their territory. Kanenhariyo was worried the present situation was not being handled well. He said Canadians should be ashamed of the actions of the RCMP and the response from the Prime Minister. He felt those actions were foolish and they might escalate in a negative way. After some time, the policewomen asked if it was okay to go home and maybe the Mohawks also wanted to go home. And so the Mohawks responded together: “We are home! This is our home.”
Prosperity is only offered to some in our common home
With regard to respecting Indigenous people and their river of life, Canada hasn’t made a lot of progress during the last 400 years. Valuing and stewarding land and water ecosystems have found little place in common discussions. And the reasons are the same today as they were for the last four centuries. The newcomer's worldview never had robust social systems for appreciating nature for its own sake. They continue to act as if they are above natural law. There are rarely conversations which acknowledge that the natural world offers people true wealth when it is left to act on its own. That means, without humans endlessly helping themselves and intervening.
From the very beginning, the way the Europeans treated common-pool resources − nature that looked like it was free for the taking − was first come, first served. The person with enough money, motivation and strength takes as much as possible and uses it up or sells it on the market. Destroying the earth is the norm even if these actions cause major increases in pollution, species extirpation and changes to weather systems. In fact, there are clear incentives to do just that – the government continues to back resource extraction every step of the way. As in the days of the original Two Row Wampum agreement − the powerful and privileged claim to be the Father and natural systems and Indigenous people or anyone else who cares for nature are the Son. They are to sit quietly and obey authority.
When natural capital disappears, the government tries to put things back in the best way they know how: farming and processing. Fur farms, tree farms, fish hatcheries and fish farms. Even though nature is very hard to copy, Canada and its western view keep going. The predominant paradigm believes humans can do anything they want because they have technology and money. When the first oil wells were used up, people went after the dirty oil: tar sands, deep sea drilling and fracked gas. These require major processing systems and using up more resources like water, minerals and fossil fuels. When governments wanted more power, instead of using or selling less, they built massive dams on mighty rivers and changed the whole environment. Canada created Departments for the Environment, Fisheries, Forestry, Minerals and Natural Resources. But once again, these groups existed mostly for financial purposes and to create work for people rather than emphasize stewardship methods. The government funded a lot of scientific research but rarely acted on the recommendations. There were some good intentions along the way, but these often got sidetracked by business and politics.
Nature is called “the environment” as if it was not attached to human reality. Landscapes are "managed," but only for the benefit of the people in charge. Those who want to protect and care for living systems are viewed as impeding our modern growth economy. Unlike the teachings of the Two Row Wampum and Indigenous people, the country of Canada continues to focus on the unsustainable notion of economic growth for its own sake. The market remains their master, even if these views don't even make good economic sense.
The Land Ethic is discussed
Over the years, many people have offered positive ideas which could help our broken relationship with nature. In the mid 20th century, American conservationist and writer Aldo Leopold wrote a landmark book "A Sand County Almanac" where he discussed a "Land Ethic." He believed that if people became more attached to the land, they would learn to better care for its welfare. He had noticed a lack of responsibility in these connections: “There is as yet, no ethic dealing with man’s relation to the land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it. Land…is still property. The land relation is still strictly economic, entailing privileges but not obligations.”
Leopold tried to offer nature-oriented solutions to human issues almost a century ago. And yet, the wider society was not ready to receive them. He proposed that the earth and other species should be viewed as rightful citizens. “All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts… "The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include the soils, waters, plants and animals, or collectively: the land… In short, (it) changes the role of homo sapiens from conqueror of the land community to plain member and citizen of it.” He encouraged his society to transition back to a stronger relationship with the earth. “We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
Like the Indigenous view, Leopold imagined that ethical discussions should not only include the human-to-human and human-to-society interactions but also ‘biota’ – the flora, fauna, soil, water and air. He believed ethics should guide ecology; this idea would encourage “a kind of community instinct in-the-making.” He sensed that human community had to incorporate ethics and place into their world view. And education should encourage an ecological conscience which existed beyond economic considerations.
Indigenous solutions have always been in plain view
The Indigenous people of Canada and the world continue to practice their own social systems and traditional ecological knowledge as best they can. And yet, Canada still has no strong land and water ethic. It has the most fresh water in the world, the biggest boreal forests, three oceans and extensive biodiversity. However, the country continues to practice a colonial paradigm as if the store will always be full and new goods will be delivered at the back door forever. Nature is not meant to be mastered; it is meant to be respected. Canadians should know that. For many, nature acts as an influential teacher because it is always so close at hand. Making money from the land has never been a strong model and it never will be. Privileged individuals whose global footprints are huge can't continue to keep their unsustainable standard of living alongside the earth’s other less privileged seven and a half billion people. There needs to be checks and balances. Being accountable to no one and nothing is a recipe for disaster. Even when the tragedy of global climate change and species loss stare these people in the face, they continue their inaction.
A shift in view is urgent. Indigenous people hold the key. They speak for all our ancestors who operated intelligently for millennia on a living planet. Canada is blessed to have Indigenous residents who practice an alternate view which stands in the way of more pollution, more species loss, more death and destruction. Indigenous people and their allies are offering a better way. They are putting their bodies on the line for all they hold dear to support a healthy planet, healthy humanity and healthy community. After four hundred years of trying to ignore the truth, it's about time Canada joined them.
Celia Brauer is Staff and Co-founder of the False Creek Watershed Society.
Her Anthropology Masters Research studied Indigenous approaches to sustainability.
March 13, 2020
The photo below is of downtown Vancouver in the late 19th century after settlers clearcut the whole area of old-growth confers. Before the 1860s, these forests included the biggest trees on the planet. They grew over 400 feet high for over a thousand years.
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