Vancouver Island University (VIU) and the Snuneymuxw First Nation are pleased to announce they will co-host a major conference on the pre-Confederation treaties made by the British Crown and First Nations on Vancouver Island from 1850 to 1854. The conference will be held at VIU in Nanaimo on May 10 and 11, 2012, and is expected to attract more than 200 participants from across Canada.

The theme for the conference is “The Pre-Confederation Treaties of Vancouver Island – Fulfilling Treaty Promises and Living in Treaty Relationships.” In exploring this theme, the conference will combine two overlapping streams:

1) First Nation visions for a treaty relationship in the 21st century founded on these pre-Confederation treaties; and

2) current and future academic research about these living treaties.

The conference will also include a public education and information program in Nanaimo. The basic aim of this program will be to inform the public about the pre-Confederation treaties, and to have a dialogue on what the treaties mean for all of us today.

For more information about this exciting conference and other activities associated with it, contact:

Chief Douglas White III Kwulasultun 

Snuneymuxw First Nation 

250.740.2300

dougswhite@gmail.com

Toni O’Keeffe

Executive Director, Communications and Public Relations

Vancouver Island University

250.740.6341

Toni.O’Keeffe@viu.ca