Yes, but the crux of the matter is that treated Aboriginals are submitting oral versions. How do you dispute that? Somehow the law, as reflected by the Supreme Court, has done a 360 and has given more weight to "telephone game" hearsay and unrecorded history, inasmuch close to written agreements ... which should be more or less irrefutable given the witnessed procedures undertaken within the historic development of British and French legalities.
If I was a paranoid, untrusting of settlers, Aboriginal type, I'd stay away from validating any agreements, written and signed or orally agreed. Afterwards, if I was part of a reserve of 100 - 2500 people and was told to ask the 1-5 white officers to leave the reserve ... and if I didn't like that ... one would think that the rest of the people would simply over-ride the few. You know, if the conditions were that bad and all. We are talking about strong, wild and fearless warriors of the land.
If I thought the stacking of beaver pelts in a certain way was unfair, I wouldn't accept the exchange on those terms. All these deals have occured in a way that now is being said to be unfair, yet, somehow the deals were repeated throughout a fairly long history. A history largely based on cooperation and trade, up until the comfortable wilderness reserves started looking like hunting camps in comparison to the modern and progressive society of the settlers.
"I don't know what happened, I guess we just kept being swindled by the white man. We must not have the capability of making any choice for ourserlves, duh."
Yet with all other indigenous cultures there has been -- and where existent -- largely still is, a vibrant merchant barter or bargaining system de facto. So how do you explain being "taken advatage of" or being "tricked" soooooo many times by the "settlers?"
One could also argue that the emerging economy seen at the time of the formation of the Hudson's Bay Company was the best the Aboriginals had ever seen since "time immemorial."
Things that make you go, hmmm.
When will the courts and governments and "FNs" start talking plainly? Perhaps when the rest of Canada begins to see who indeed keeps being tricked with revised versions of everything.
