n. & adj. — Law, Aboriginal, especially First Nations
a First Nations group that has signed a treaty with the Canadian government.
Type: 5. Frequency — Some First Nations groups in Canada signed treaties with the British before Confederation in 1867, and with the Canadian government thereafter. Each treaty is different, although many lay out terms surrounding reserve lands, annuities and hunting and fishing rights (see AANDC reference). Digital archive research suggests that the term was first used in Canada, where it is also most prevalent (see Chart 1).
See also COD-2, s.v. "treaty band", which is marked "Cdn".
See also: band ((1)) ((n.)) (def. 2a) Band List Indian Register treaty Indian treaty rights
- Also found in the negative, i.e. non-treaty band, early on; as of 1915 in our sources (see the quotations).
- 1890  The Sioux of the "Bird Tail Creek" Reserve, No. 57, have this season about two hundred and thirty acres under crop, all of which is light. The land is much lighter than that of the Treaty bands, and consequently the drought affected it more than it did heavier land. It has the advantage, however, of being earlier, and although the yield will not be heavy the sample will be good. 
- 1915  Non-treaty bands at Fort Rae have suffered greatly through the absence of the Cariboo herd, which did not pass that way during the winter of 1912-13, also owing to a partial failure of the fall fishery. Relief was furnished in extreme cases by the Hudson Bay and Northern Trading Companies. 
- 1947  There are no educational facilities for the Indians of the non-treaty bands. There are no hospital facilities at all for them, and as I indicated earlier, the increase in disease among them is staggering. 
- 1966  The treaty band, granted full liquor privileges in January, has been raising a storm in the Lakeside Hotel here, assistant manager Len Dircks said yesterday. 
- 1988  Indian Affairs Minister Bill McKnight has said that Ottawa won't give monetary compensation to the small Cree band, which claims it has not received the same benefits other treaty bands did during the 48-year dispute. 
- 1993  Treaty band chiefs, some of whom represent agreements signed with the British Crown before Canadian Confederation, claim they now exist as nations in their own right and they refuse to recognize provincial jurisdiction over their lands. 
- 2001  "First Campbell proposes a referendum on treaties, which we oppose even though we're not a treaty band, and now he wants to hurt our livelihood, our food resources, our culture and our future," said an angry Anwinn Siwallace, chief of 1,300 Nuxalk in northwestern Bella Coola. 
- 2012  "Another important motivating factor," Jungen said, "is both Duane and I come from treaty territories where hunting and fishing rights are guaranteed, but even though those are guaranteed, there's always government and industry interests which try to contest those rights. So it's important, not only for my band, but also for Duane's band as well, to have documented proof that treaty band members are exercising their treaty rights of hunting and fishing. 
- 2016  "That did have an effect because we're in Treaty 4 country (which covers Southern Saskatchewan and part of western Manitoba) and this is their territory, but we know this is our territory," he said. "It took the Department of Justice three years to work out the details with the treaty bands." 
Images:
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 12 Oct. 2012