This series of maps illustrates the historical evolution of Canada through treaty-making between 1867 and 1999, focussing on the Numbered Treaties. The Numbered Treaties were negotiated between the Dominion of Canada and the First People who inhabited newly-acquired western territories. The maps are available in pdf.
Map Date |
Description |
1867 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map (PDF 449 kb)
|
Confederation. By the time Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,
Ontario and Quebec form the Dominion of Canada, the
Robinson Treaties, Upper Canada Land Surrenders and
Peace and Friendship Treaties are already in place.
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1870 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1567 kb)
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Purchase of Rupert's Land. Canada acquires
Rupert’s Land and the adjacent North-Western Territory from
the Hudson’s Bay Company. Manitoba enters Confederation.
|
1871 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1622 kb)
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Treaty No. 1 & Treaty No. 2. The first post-Confederation
treaty, Treaty One, is concluded in August 1871 and covers
Manitoba as it existed then. Treaty Two is concluded a few
weeks later and covers areas needed for expansion and
settlement in the west and north of the Province. British
Columbia enters Confederation on the understanding that
construction of the east-west railway will begin in two years
and will be completed in ten.
|
1873 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1630 kb)
|
Treaty No. 3. After three years of negotiations, the Dominion
of Canada and the Saulteaux tribe of Ojibway Indians entered
into treaty at the North-West Angle of the Lake of the Woods.
With the Saulteaux surrendering title to an area of 14,245,000
hectares, Canada acquired land for agriculture, settlement
and mineral discovery. More importantly, Canada secured
communications with the North-West Territories, including the
route of the future Canadian Pacific Railway.
In 1873, Prince Edward Island enters Confederation, bringing
the number of provinces in the Dominion to seven.
|
1874 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1646 kb)
|
Treaty No. 4. Initiated by Indians and Métis concerned about
the declining numbers of animals which provided them with a
living. Treaty 4 covers present-day southern Saskatchewan.
Provisional boundary set in northern Ontario.
|
1875 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1651 kb)
|
Treaty No. 5. This treaty originated in two historical processes. The southern part, negotiated in 1875, was one of
the southern Prairie treaties, and was in large part a result of
the insistence of the Native people of that region that their
aboriginal rights be recognized by the Canadian government,
which had recently acquired title to their lands. The northern
part of Treaty 5 was negotiated in 1908.
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1876 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1665 kb)
|
TreatyNo. 6 - The negotiation of this treaty took place during a difficult period for the Plains Cree, who were suffering from the rapid decline of the buffalo. The documents indicate that their concerns included medical care and relief in case of need.
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1877 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1662 kb)
|
Treaty No. 7. The last of the numbered treaties negotiated
and signed during the 1870s. The treaty covers the southern
part of present-day Alberta.
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1880 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1956 kb)
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Addition of Arctic Islands. British rights to these islands pass
to Canada.
|
1881 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1956 kb)
|
Addition to Manitoba. The boundaries of Manitoba are
extended to include substantially all the area covered by
Treaties One, Two and Three.
|
1889 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1962 kb)
|
Treaty No. 6 Adhesion (Montreal Lake). Addition to Ontario
(Kenora District)
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1898 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 1984 kb)
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Creation of the Yukon. The Yukon becomes a Territory
separate from the North-West Territories. The boundaries of
Quebec are extended north, almost complementing the
revised northern boundary of Ontario.
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1899 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 2057 kb)
|
Treaty No. 8. The first of the northern treaties covered an area
of 324,900 sq miles and represents the most
geographically extensive treaty activity undertaken. It
comprises what is now the northern half of Alberta, the
northeast quarter of British Columbia, the northwest corner of
Saskatchewan, and the area south of Hay River and Great
Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories.
|
1905 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 2048 kb)
|
Treaty No. 9. In response to continuous petitions from the
Cree and Ojibwa people of northern Ontario, and in keeping
with its policy of paving the way for settlement and
development, the federal government in 1905-1906 negotiated
Treaty 9, also known as the James Bay Treaty. For the first
and only time, a provincial government took an active role in
negotiations. Together with the area acquired by adhesions in
1929-1930, Treaty 9 covers almost two-thirds of the are that
became northern Ontario.
In 1905, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan are
created.
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1906 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 2028 kb)
|
Treaty No. 10. Covers 220,000 square kilometres
of northern Saskatchewan and Alberta. Unlike the land in
southern Saskatchewan, the Treaty 10 lands were deemed
unsuitable for agriculture and so the federal government did
not respond to demands from the region’s Native people for a
treaty until the early 20th century, when the mixed-blood
people of northern Saskatchewan began to demand
compensation for loss of aboriginal rights and the Provinces
of Saskatchewan and Alberta had been created.
|
1908 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 2033 kb)
|
Adhesion to Treaty No. 5. Though requested for
many years by the Native people, this adhesion was the result
of government initiative.
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1912 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 2052 kb)
|
Ontario and Manitoba attain their present
boundaries. Quebec extends northward to absorb the Ungava
District and agrees to negotiate surrender of the Indian title to
the territory; the Quebec-Labrador boundary remains in
contention.
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1921 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 2163 kb)
|
Treaty No. 11. The last of the numbered treaties
covers most of the Mackenzie District . The land in the area
was deemed unsuitable for agriculture, so the federal
government was reluctant to conclude treaties. Immediately
following the discovery of oil at Fort Norman in 1920, however,
the government moved to begin treaty negotiations.
|
1923 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 2100 kb)
|
Williams Treaties. Treaty-making activities along the north
shore of Lake Ontario in 1783-84, variously known as the
Toronto Purchase, the Carrying Place Purchase, the Crawford
Purchases and the Gunshot Treaty, produced lingering
uncertainties that are resolved in large part by the Chippewa
and Mississauga Agreements negotiated in 1923.
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1949 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 2185 kb)
|
Newfoundland and Labrador enter Confederation.
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1999 Canada - Territorial
Evolution Map
(PDF 2585 kb)
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Creation of Nunavut.
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Historical Treaties of Canada
(PDF 1615 kb)
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Historical Treaties of Canada
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