Vast Area Leased for a Pittance for Decades: Indigenous Groups Now Demand Billions
Canadian authorities have cheated 21 First Nations out of billions. The Supreme Court has ruled in their favor, and the tribes are now fighting to secure compensation. In Ontario, a 175-year-old treaty dispute is finally reaching its boiling point.
Since 1850, a coalition of 21 Indigenous communities, known as the "First Nations," has leased a 92,400 km² territory to the Canadian government and Ontario for an annual fee. Over time, the region has become home to one of the world’s largest nickel mining industries, alongside significant copper, uranium, timber, and fishing operations.
Yet the payment has remained frozen at 4 Canadian dollars per person since 1875, despite a unique treaty clause tying compensation to resource development profits.
In 2010, a legal fund began pursuing restitution for the tribes, alleging breach of contract. By 2024, Canada’s Supreme Court sided with the First Nations, declaring the government had "ridiculed" the original treaty and acted "dishonorably" toward Indigenous descendants.
In response, the federal government offered 3.6 billion CAD in January 2025—a sum the tribes dismissed as woefully inadequate.
"The government’s refusal to honor its treaty obligations has led to 175 years of broken promises, lies, and neglect," said Wilfred King, Chief of Gull Bay First Nation, in a statement announcing plans to seek compensation that is "fair, generous, and honorable." The claimed debt could exceed 100 billion CAD.
Payments Meant to Grow "From Time to Time"
The unusual arrangement, where Canada leases part of its own territory, began in the 1840s. As a British colony, Canada issued mining licenses in what is now Ontario—land still inhabited by Indigenous peoples. In 1849, tribal leaders confronted Governor General Lord Elgin in Montreal, demanding a treaty and citing their support for Britain during the War of 1812. After a year of negotiations, the Robinson Huron and Robinson Superior Treaties were signed, named after the Great Lakes regions they covered and Crown negotiator William Robinson.
A special clause stipulated that annual payments would increase "from time to time" if resource revenues justified it without burdening the government.
"We agreed to share our copper, gold, silver, and minerals on the condition that the Crown shared the profits. This was a partnership. We expect those promises to be respected," Chief Dean Sayers of Batchewana First Nation told The Narwhal in 2023.
A Fight for Future Generations
Legal battles have dragged on for years. Both Canada and Ontario have tried shifting blame: in 2020, Ontario argued unpaid royalties were the federal government’s responsibility. But Justice Patricia Hennessy countered, "Treaties are part of Canada’s constitutional framework—they are not mere contracts."
In 2024, the Robinson Huron Treaty group settled out of court for 10 billion CAD, split equally by Ontario and Ottawa. However, the Robinson Superior Treaty communities continue litigation to determine exact owed amounts. The Supreme Court has ordered both governments to submit a new offer by January 26, 2025.
First Nations leaders rejected the 3.6 billion CAD proposal, calling it a dismissal of evidence showing "how much wealth Canada and Ontario extracted from our lands," Chief King stated. "They refuse to acknowledge what we’ve lost due to their treaty breaches. This offer doesn’t redress 175 years of hoarding our resources." Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates the debt could approach 126 billion CAD.
Michipicoten First Nation Chief Patricia Tangie told The Guardian the struggle bridges past and future:
"Just as our ancestors secured benefits for us in 1850, we now fight for the next seven generations. We continue so our children and grandchildren won’t suffer as our people have for over 150 years."