AMC News

The Treaties remain in force, yet First Nations continue to be denied land restitution, revenue sharing, and authority over our children, laws, and economies.

Today, King Charles III rises in the Senate to deliver his first Speech from the Throne as Canada’s monarch. As part of the city’s preparations for this Royal Visit, downtown Ottawa is cordoned off, and traffic restrictions are in place. The streets are filled with security – but not with the Treaty people who share a sacred relationship with the Crown.

Most First Nations are watching from the outside, once again treated as bystanders to a ceremony that could not exist without us.

Across the city, the King is being honoured: welcomed at the Canada Reception Centre, celebrated at Lansdowne Park, and hosted for tree-planting ceremonies at Rideau Hall. But the reality beneath the pageantry is stark. The King walks freely on lands his ancestors claimed without consent – while the descendants of this land’s original Nations remain locked out of the very relationship the Crown claims to honour.

Our ancestors entered into Treaties 1 through 11 long before the creation of the provinces. These were not acts of surrender. They were sacred agreements founded on mutual respect, grounded in spiritual law, and intended to foster peaceful coexistence for as long as “the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow.”

These Treaties remain in force. They are constitutional obligations under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. They are recognized under international law. And they continue to guide the vision of our Nations.

Yet today, First Nations continue to be denied land restitution, revenue sharing, and authority over our children, laws, and economies. In a moment meant to symbolize national unity, we are physically and symbolically shut out. This contradiction speaks volumes about the state of the Crown–First Nations relationship.

But while the barricades in Ottawa separate us from the halls of power, they do not separate us from one another. This week, First Nations leaders from across Turtle Island are standing together on Parliament Hill – not just as representatives of their respective Nations, but in shared strength and unity. From the Prairies to the North, from the boreal to the coasts, we are united in our call: honour the Treaties, recognize our authority, and remember the promises made to our ancestors.

This moment is not about protest. It is about presence. It is about reminding Canadians and the world that we are still here – governments unto ourselves, carrying laws and teachings that long predate the Crown and Parliament. When the Crown came to our lands, we did not disappear. We stood and made Treaty.

Now, we are standing again. United. Not as stakeholders, but as sovereign Nations whose relationship with the Crown is foundational to the very existence of Canada. This unity—across Treaty territories, provincial boundaries, and colonial constructs—is our strength.

To Prime Minister Mark Carney and to His Majesty: we are not guests on this land. We are the original Nations, still upholding our end of the Treaties. Let this be the last time we are left outside looking in.

It is time to honour the Treaties – not in ceremonial speeches, but in real and transformative action.

View the article on the Hill Times website here.