OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has exonerated six First Nations chiefs who were executed by British Columbia's colonial government more than 150 years ago.
Trudeau stood in the House of Commons on Monday to deliver a “statement of exoneration” for the Tsilhqot'in chiefs, who were hanged following a deadly confrontation with white road builders during the so-called “Chilcotin War of 1864.”
“They acted as leaders of a proud and independent nation facing the threat of another nation,” Trudeau said, as six current leaders of the B.C. First Nation listened from the floor of the legislative chamber.
“As settlers came to the land in the rush for gold, no consideration was given to the rights of the Tsilhqot'in people who were there first,” he added. “No consent was sought.”
After the workers were killed, five chiefs arrived at what they believed would be peace talks with government representatives. Instead, they were arrested, tried and hanged, and a sixth chief was executed the following year in New Westminster.
The Tsilhqot'in have long disputed the government's authority to execute the six chiefs as criminals, describing the confrontation as an altercation between warring nations.
Trudeau said that while apologies cannot alone make right the wrongs of the past, they are an important part of reconciliation and renewing Canada's relationship with Indigenous people.
He said he looks forward to visiting Tsilhqot'in territory in the summer at the invitation of the nation's leadership to deliver a statement of exoneration directly to the Tsilhqot'in people.
At various points while the speech was read, MPs broke into applause, prompting the Tsilhqot'in chiefs to hold up feathers in salute.
In the Opposition's response, MP Cathy McLeod, the Conservative critic for Indigenous affairs, said the six Tsilhqot'in war chiefs did what anyone would have done in the same situation - defended their land, their families and their way of life.
“Moments such as this cannot change behaviour from another era,” McLeod told the Commons. “We can however recognize a clear lasting and profound impact that past actions have had and scars that have not been healed.”
Guy Caron offered the New Democrats' support for the exoneration and called the apology long overdue, as well as calling for the creation of a national Indigenous peoples day as a statutory holiday.
“Thank you for your patience with our young country as we strive to do better,” he said to the Tsilhqot'in leaders.
The B.C. government apologized for the executions in 1993 and installed a commemorative plaque at the site of the hangings.
Following the exoneration, Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett was to hold a press conference alongside the Tsilhqot'in Nation leadership.
