Aboriginal Reconciliation: An Historical Perspective*

Today if someone mentions the word ‘treaty’ in the Aboriginal context, the usual next question is ‘Why a treaty?’ The educated English reader of the 19th Century press would have been more likely to ask the opposite question ‘Why not a treaty?’ Treaties with the indigenous people were a normal part of the colonising process. Treaties were concluded by the British in New Zealand, and with many Indian tribes in Canada and the United States.