Canadian Aboriginal law

Canadian Aboriginal Law enforces and interprets certain treaties between the Crown and Indigenous people, and manages much of their interaction.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 is the foundation document creating special land rights for Indigenous peoples within Canada (which was called "Quebec" in 1763).

[citation needed] After Canada's acquisition of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory in 1870, the eleven Numbered Treaties were imposed on the First Nations from 1871 to 1921.

When Canada confederated in 1867 the new state inherited legal responsibilities from the colonial periods under France and Great Britain, most notably the Royal Proclamation of 1763 which made it illegal for British subjects to buy land directly from Indian nations, because only the Crown could add land to the British Empire from other sovereign nations through treaties.

During the negotiations around Canadian Confederation, the framers of Canada's constitution wanted the new federal government to inherit Britain's former role in treaty-making and land acquisition, and specifically assigned responsibility for "Indians and lands reserved for Indians" to the federal government (rather than the provinces), by the terms of Section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867.

The Indian Act replaced any laws on the topic passed by a local legislature before a province joined Canadian Confederation, creating a definitive national policy.