Covenant Chain

Covenant Chain is an alliance between the Great Lakes Anishinabek and the British.

In Anishinabek News

• July 2014: The Treaty of Niagara reaffirmed the political foundation for these relations in 1764. The 2014 gathering at Fort George aimed to open a dialogue on the modern meaning of this relationship.
• March 2019: Alan Ojiig Corbiere argued that this alliance was intended to protect the Anishinaabe people rather than the British. The concept is considered foundational to the understanding of the Robinson Huron Treaty.
• May 2021: Counsel argued that the Robinson Huron Treaty was intended to function within this framework of regular, ongoing negotiations.
• July 2021: The alliance was formalized through the exchange of a great wampum belt at Niagara in 1764. Additional nations were brought into the alliance during meetings at Detroit in 1765. The Treaty of Lake Ontario in 1766 served as another venue to expand this diplomatic relationship.
• December 2022: Rachel Manitowabi noted that her people went to Niagara in 1764 to establish this understanding of resource and land sharing. The relationship requires the provincial Crown to respond when the symbolic chain is tugged during times of need.
• January 2023: The book Compact, Contract, Covenant: Aboriginal Treaty-Making in Canada explores this concept's inclusion in post-1760 treaty practices.
• January 2023: This legal principle was offered by the British to the Anishinabek to guide their ongoing relationship. The chain is described as being made of silver, requiring regular polishing to prevent the relationship from tarnishing. Scott McLeod noted that this chain has not been polished since 1850, leading to unaddressed grievances.
• July 2024: The Supreme Court of Canada judgment was noted for incorrectly dating this alliance to the seventeenth century. The alliance was partially established at the Treaty of Easton.