The Nlha7kapmx Meeting at Lytton, 1879, and the Rule of Law

In 1879, the Nlha7kapmx (Thompson) peoples, with the assistance of Indian Reserve Commission Gilbert Malcolm Sproat, sought to create a structure of local government, comprised of an elected head chief and councilors as well as hereditary chiefs, that would have the power to make rules and regulations for their community over matters such as schools, medicine, fishing and hunting, and many aspects of personal conduct. The proposal emulated the structure of Indian band governance set out in Canada's Indian Act. After describing the events that led to the proposal and the people involved, this paper argues that the meeting and the proposal which resulted was a Nlha7kapmx initiative and part of an attempt to cultivate an alliance with the Queen in order to secure fair treatment from a White settler society that was refusing to honour its colonial obligations to negotiate treaties. Using Joseph Raz's conception of the rule of law, this paper suggests that the Nlha7kapmx were attempting, through the proposed system of government and an appeal to the Queen, to impose the rule of law on their relations with White settler society British Columbia. The angry reaction from White British Columbia, and the refusal of the Dominion government to endorse the proposal, shattered what might have become a relationship based on trust and the rule of law.