Citizenship 9 • Peace and Friendship Treaties: Student Inquiry Docket
Teacher Guide

Citizenship 9 • Treaty Reference Docket

Unit 2: Rights, Treaties & Truth and Reconciliation • Room 8 • Mr. Waugh

DOC ID: CIT9-TR10
SIDE A: EVIDENCE
STUDENT NAME:
CODE (3 LETTERS):
SECTION (CIRCLE ONE): 901 / 902 / 903
DATE:
WORD HELP: Truckhouse — a Crown-run trading post where Mi'kmaq traded furs for supplies  •  Peltry — animal furs  •  Ceded — given up land by treaty (unceded = never given up)
[BOX 1] Primary Source Text: 1752 & 1760–61 Treaties EVIDENCE PARSE (4 PTS)
"Saving only unto the said tribe the free liberty of Hunting & Fishing as usual... And that a Truckhouse shall be established at Fort Edward or elsewhere, for furnishing the Indians with necessaries in Exchange for their Peltry [furs] and other commodities." — 1760 Peace and Friendship Treaty
PARTNER TALK 💬 (1 MIN) Partner Check: Read the clause aloud. One partner finds what was promised; the other searches for any mention of giving up land. Debate: If the Mi'kmaq never sold or surrendered the land, what does that mean for who holds inherent rights under Room 8 today?
Step 1: Underline or circle the words "as usual" and "Truckhouse" in the quote above.
Step 2: In your own words, what two specific things did the British Crown promise in this clause?
Step 3: These treaties never surrendered or sold any land (unceded). Why does that historical fact still matter for citizens living in Nova Scotia today?
[BOX 2] Worldview Collision: Who Has the Authority to Regulate? WORLDVIEW DEBATE (4 PTS)
PARTNER SPAR 💬 (2 MIN) The Standoff (St. Mary's Bay 2020): Lobster traps in the water outside federal season.
• Left Seat (Harvester): "Our 1760 treaty rights are protected by Canada's Constitution. We fish under Netukulimk to sustain our families. We do not need a federal licence."
• Right Seat (DFO Officer): "Federal conservation laws protect lobster stocks from collapse. Commercial seasons and quotas must apply to everyone on the water."
Spar: Who has the legal authority to set the rules here? Can both sides be right?
Mi'kmaw Worldview: Netukulimk

Taking only what is needed for sustenance without compromising future generations.

Where does this fisher's authority come from? Why do they believe no government permit is needed to feed their community?

Crown Worldview: State Regulation

Government licenses, commercial seasons, quotas, and state-granted permissions.

Why does the government believe that federal conservation laws, seasons, and licenses must apply to everyone on the water?

[ TURN SHEET OVER • CONTINUE TO SIDE B ]

Citizenship 9 • Treaty Reference Docket

Unit 2: Rights, Treaties & Truth and Reconciliation • Room 8 • Mr. Waugh

DOC ID: CIT9-TR10
SIDE B: RULING & VERDICT
STUDENT NAME:
CODE (3 LETTERS):
SECTION (CIRCLE ONE): 901 / 902 / 903
[BOX 3] The Modern Precedent: Donald Marshall Jr. & Moderate Livelihood CASE PRECEDENT (4 PTS)
In 1993, Donald Marshall Jr. caught and sold 463 pounds of eels without a federal DFO licence. In 1999 (R. v. Marshall), the Supreme Court acquitted him, confirming that the 1760 Treaty protects the right to fish for a moderate livelihood. Immediately, the 1999–2000 Burnt Church crisis erupted over fishing rules, followed in 2020 by the St. Mary's Bay dispute over who has the authority to regulate.
PARTNER TALK 💬 (1 MIN) The Dollar Debate: The Supreme Court said treaty fishers can earn a “moderate livelihood”—but never set a dollar cap or season limit! Spar with your partner: What annual income is a “moderate livelihood” today? $40,000? $80,000? $150,000? Why did leaving that number blank cause the 2020 lobster dispute?
Step 1: Why did Canada's Supreme Court rule that a 1760 treaty promise is higher law than a modern fishing regulation?
Step 2: Why did leaving "moderate livelihood" undefined lead directly to the 2020 dispute at St. Mary's Bay?
[BOX 4] Civic Synthesis: "We Are All Treaty People" SYNTHESIS & CITIZENSHIP (6 PTS)
PARTNER TALK 💬 (1 MIN) Dinner-Table Reality Check: Someone tells you: “Treaties are only for Indigenous people, they don't involve me.”
Spar your response: If the 1760 treaty is what allowed non-Indigenous people to settle here peacefully without conquest on unceded land, what is ONE benefit we enjoy from it? And what do we owe back?
The Peace and Friendship Treaties gave away no land. Mi'kma'ki is unceded. Those treaties are still active law in Nova Scotia today. As a citizen living here in 2026:

A. Treaties are two-way agreements. What is ONE right or benefit non-Indigenous citizens enjoy today because these treaties allow peaceful coexistence on unceded land? (3 PTS)

B. What is ONE active civic responsibility you carry as a treaty partner (e.g., in resource protection, holding government to its promises, or learning the true history)? (3 PTS)

TOTAL: ______ / 18 PTS (teacher use) DOC ID: CIT9-TR10