Compact, Contract, Covenant

'Jim Miller has put us all in his debt. His lucid and comprehensive analysis takes the reader through the tangled history of treaty-making in Canada from early days to the very recent Nisga'a Treaty (1999) and the Tsawwassen First Nation Treaty (2007). He supplements official sources with a rich array of First Nation voices. The general public and fellow scholars will be richly rewarded by reading Miller's enlightening analysis of the history of treaty-making. Compact, Contract, Covenant is a major contribution to constitutional scholarship.' -- Alan Cairns, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo 'Compact, Contract, Covenant is the first successful comprehensive analysis of the treaty-making process and its rationale in the Canada. While many regionally focused works of this nature exist, they do not possess the same transnational, expressly historic focus as does this book. It is presented exceptionally well and is easy to read and understand.' -- Tony Gulig, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Compact, Contract, Covenant is renowned historian of Native-newcomer relations J.R. Miller’s exploration and explanation of more than four centuries of treating-making.

One of Canada's longest unresolved issues is the historical and present-day failure of the country's governments to recognize treaties made between Aboriginal peoples and the Crown. Compact, Contract, Covenant is renowned historian of Native-newcomer relations J.R. Miller's exploration and explanation of more than four centuries of treaty-making. The first historical account of treaty-making in Canada, Miller untangles the complicated threads of treaties, pacts, and arrangements with the Hudson's Bay Company and the Crown, as well as modern treaties to provide a remarkably clear and comprehensive overview of this little-understood and vitally important relationship.

Covering everything from pre-contact Aboriginal treaties to contemporary agreements in Nunavut and recent treaties negotiated under the British Columbia Treaty Process, Miller emphasizes both Native and non-Native motivations in negotiating, the impact of treaties on the peoples involved, and the lessons that are relevant to Native-newcomer relations today. Accessible and informative, Compact, Contract, Covenant is a much-needed history of the evolution of treaty-making and will be required reading for decades to come.