What were the Williams Treaties of 1923?

The Williams Treaties of 1923 were two pre-Confederation-style treaties signed in 1923 between the federal government and seven First Nations in central Ontario, specifically four Mississauga First Nation communities (Alderville, Beausoleil, Curve Lake, Hiawatha, and Mississaugas of Scugog Island) and three Chippewa First Nation communities (Chippewas of Beausoleil First Nation, Chippewas of Georgina Island, and Chippewas of Rama). The Treaties covered about 20,000 square kilometres of central Ontario north of Lake Ontario. The Williams Treaties were the last numbered-style pre-modern treaties signed in Canada and were renegotiated through the Williams Treaties First Nations Settlement Agreement of 2018.

The Treaties were named for the federal negotiator A.S. Williams. They were signed on October 31, 1923 (Mississauga Treaty) and November 15, 1923 (Chippewa Treaty). The Treaties were filed against a background of pre-existing colonial treaties (the 1764 Treaty of Niagara and the 1818 Treaty 18 had affected portions of the territory) and increasing federal concern about clearing remaining Indigenous title to facilitate provincial resource development. The federal government provided 25 dollars per individual band member as compensation, plus 500,000 dollars in trust for the seven nations collectively.

The Treaties were politically controversial from the start. The federal negotiation team had not adequately consulted Indigenous communities; many community members had not understood that the treaties extinguished hunting and fishing rights outside the small reserve boundaries. The 25-dollar individual payments were widely criticised as wholly inadequate compensation. The Williams Treaties First Nations brought litigation challenging the Treaties from the 1990s. The federal Crown's failure to negotiate in good faith with the seven First Nations was admitted in mediation; the parties developed a new settlement agreement.

The Williams Treaties First Nations Settlement Agreement was finalised on November 17, 2018. The Settlement provided 1.11 billion dollars in cash compensation (about 1.05 billion dollars to the seven First Nations and 60 million dollars in fees), plus the right to choose 11,000 acres of additional reserve land in Ontario, modernised hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering rights, and additional resource and revenue-sharing arrangements. The Settlement was signed by Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett, Ontario Indigenous Affairs Minister David Zimmer, and the Chiefs of the seven First Nations. The renegotiation is one of the largest Canadian Indigenous treaty settlements of the 21st century. The Williams Treaties story illustrates both the historical inadequacy of pre-modern treaty processes and the modern federal commitment to addressing such inadequacies through renegotiation. Most other historic numbered treaties have been interpreted by the Supreme Court of Canada (R. v. Marshall 1999, R. v. Badger 1996, and others) but not renegotiated through additional compensation.