The Indian Act of 1876 4 institutionalized Canada’s racist policies by denying to Indigenous people the basic rights that were available to every other Canadian like: The colonial government determined that in order to secure the land for future settlement and development, the Indigenous population needed to be moved onto reserves where they could be more easily controlled, marginalized and kept out of the way. It was understood by the Haudenosaunee that the Two Row agreement would last forever, that is, “as long as the grass is green, as long as the water flows downhill, and as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. As nations move together side-by-side on the River of Life, they are to avoid overlapping or interfering with one another.
One row symbolizes the Haudenosaunee people with their law and customs, while the other row symbolizes European laws and customs. The two purple rows symbolize two paths or two vessels travelling down the same river.
Three rows of white beads symbolizing peace, friendship, and respect separate the two purple rows. The belt consists of two rows of purple wampum beads on a white background.
In 1764, the Treaty of Niagara, attended by over 2000 Indigenous leaders ratified the Proclamation and established a new alliance between the British and Indigenous people who used their traditional way of representing treaties – the wampum belt. The Proclamation “explicitly stated that Aboriginal title has existed and continues to exist, and that all land would be considered Aboriginal land until ceded by treaty” 1. King George III issued the Royal Proclamation in 1763 – 259 years ago.
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