Why some Indigenous leaders are concerned about reconciliation with King Charles
Global News
Treaty 8 Grand Chief Arthur Noskey says the Queen's death wasn't good timing, as First Nations were making progress in working with the Crown toward upholding treaty agreements.
Some Indigenous leaders and community members say they’re concerned about making progress on reconciliation with King Charles III.
Treaty 8 Grand Chief Arthur Noskey says the Queen’s death last week wasn’t good timing, as First Nations were making progress in working with the Crown toward upholding treaty agreements.
“We were building up not only the momentum, but letting (the Queen) know that the Crown and the relationship understood by our people is not what’s being delivered by administrators,” Noskey said from his office in Edmonton.
Treaty-Crown relations have been a complex issue since the inception of the agreements. Some were signed under vulnerable circumstances, while others were implemented as peace treaties, and most weren’t negotiated accurately or in Indigenous languages.
“It hasn’t resonated to what our forefathers’ expectations were. Even today, there are a lot of discrepancies,” said Noskey.
He warned the Crown’s honour is at stake if conversations with the new monarch aren’t carried on.
“I hope we don’t have to start from ground zero with King Charles.”
Canada’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ralph Goodale, has said the King may be “a little more outgoing and a little less reserved” than his mother.