Treaty Education: Join the Conversation

1. Treaty Education: Join the Conversation Mark Smith Director of Process February 13, 2019

2. ROLE & MANDATE • The BC Treaty Commission advocates and facilitates for the recognition and protection of Indigenous title and rights in BC through modern treaties. • The only legally established tripartite body in Canada whose mandate it is to support reconciliation. • 3 part mandate: • Facilitation • Funding Allocation for First Nations for negotiations • Public Education • BCTC is also mandated to support the implementation of the UN Declaration, TRC’s Calls to Action, Canada’s 10 Principles

3. BCTC’s Public Education Mandate • To fulfill this mandate the Treaty Commission: • Reports on the status of treaty negotiations • Engages the public on treaty negotiations at conferences, tradeshows, special events, community forums, meetings, and schools • Educates and engages youth on reconciliation • Meets with federal and provincial departments to advocate for treaty negotiations • Creates and distributes publications to share best practices with First Nations and the public • Organizes and hosts forums that create a venue for sharing knowledge, experiences, and best practices • Maintains a website with current and historical information on treaty negotiations • Engages with the public using social media

4. What’s the deal with treaties? • Education kit that introduces treaty negotiations in BC • Includes a publication, 20-minute video, and worksheet • Created for Social Studies 10 and First Nations Studies 12 classes • Video is available on YouTube

5. Nisga’a Dancing in Both Worlds • 44-minute video created in collaboration with the Surrey School District to mark the ten-year anniversary of the Nisga’a treaty • While the Nisga'a video and lesson plans were developed specifically for the Social Studies 11 curriculum, the resources are also relevant to Social Studies 10, First Nations 12, and Social Justice 12. • Video is available on YouTube

6. Publication: What’s in these treaties? • Overview of the first two modern treaties negotiated under the BC treaty negotiations process

7. Youth Workshop: Mock Negotiations • Workshop that has been presented at Gathering Our Voices youth conference • The goal is to demonstrate how negotiations can lead to reconciliation and to empower youth to take on leadership roles in their communities • Youth are split into groups, assigned a role (Community Leader, Chief Negotiator etc.) and presented a fictitious scenario • Youth are then tasked to reconcile the different opinions within their group, and the difference interests of the other two groups

8. Youth Workshop: Mock Negotiations • Working to offer the workshop and the materials to teachers throughout the province • Youth often begin the workshop reserved and skeptical, but by the end are engaged, develop creative solutions, and understand the value of negotiations • LEARNING OUTCOMES • Reconciliation through Negotiations • “Reconciliation is not always the outcome you expect.” • Empowerment through Negotiations • “I thought this was going to be motivational speaking about empowerment, but this was way more fun!” • Real Careers and Leadership Development • “This felt so real!”

9. British Columbia’s Curriculum • The BC Ministry of Education recently redesigned its curriculum to include more Indigenous perspectives, and provides a number of Aboriginal Education Resources.  • These resources include maps of First Nations and languages in BC, information on reconciliation, and specific details about the new curriculum. • The Ministry also encourages Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreements (EAs) that strive to “enhance the educational achievement of Aboriginal students.” • These are working agreements between school districts, First Nations communities within the district, and the Ministry.

10. First Nations Education Steering Committee • Established in 1992, FNESC works to advance quality education for all First Nations students in British Columbia and to support communities in their efforts to improve the success of First Nations students. • FNESC works at the provincial level to provide services in the areas of research, communications, information dissemination, advocacy, program administration and networking. • FNESC also strives to share current information about available programs, government policies and initiatives and education issues that impact First Nations learners.

12. Modern Treaties and the United Nations • The Treaty Commission has become increasingly involved in advocating for modern treaties on an international level. • For the past three years, the Treaty Commission has attended the international meetings of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), and twice submitted recommendations that were accepted into the session’s final report.

13. Modern Treaties and the United Nations • The Treaty Commission’s 2016 annual report focused on how the UN Declaration can be implemented through treaty negotiations – an established mechanism for advancing Indigenous rights and reconciliation in Canada. • The 2016 UNPFII session report contains a recommendation from the Treaty Commission that governments engage in good-faith negotiations by unequivocally recognizing Indigenous rights to lands, territories, and resources, while fully rejecting the extinguishment of these rights.

14. Modern Treaties and the United Nations • At the 2018 UNPFII session, the Treaty Commission submitted a recommendation that governments “directly reference and incorporate into their negotiation policies and frameworks for treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and mechanisms for free, prior and informed consent.” 

15. Modern Treaties and the United Nations • The Treaty Commission has extended its work to the UN’s Expert Mechanism on Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), which provides advice to the Human Rights Council on the rights set out in the UN Declaration. • In 2018 the Treaty Commission attended the ENMRIP session to continue to advocate for fairly negotiated and honourably implemented modern treaties for all Indigenous Peoples.

16. HAY ČXʷ Q̓Ə | Thank you STAY CONNECTED www.bctreaty.ca