Ethic of Mutual Respect, an ― The Covenant Chain and Aboriginal-crown Relations

Over the course of a century, until the late 1700s, the British
Crown, the Iroquois, and other Aboriginal groups of eastern North
America developed a system of alliances and treaties that came to be
known collectively as the Covenant Chain.



In An Ethic of Mutual Respect, Bruce Morito offers a
philosophical interrogation of the predominant current reading of the
historical record regarding the Covenant Chain. Through this fresh
perspective, he overturns assumptions about early First Nations--Crown
relationships and demonstrates the relevance of the Covenant Chain to
the current relationship. By examining the forms of expression
contained in colonial documents, the Record of Indian Affairs, and
related materials, Morito locates the values and moral commitments that
underpinned the parties' strategies for negotiation and
reconciliation. What becomes apparent is that these interactions
developed an ethic of mutually recognized respect that was coherent and
neither culturally nor historically bound. This ethic, Morito argues,
remains relevant to current debates over Aboriginal and treaty rights
as they pertain to the British Crown tradition. Real change is possible
if the focus can be shifted from piecemeal legal and political disputes
to the development of an intercultural ethic based on trust, respect,
and solidarity.Bruce Morito is a professor of philosophy in the
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Athabasca University.

Bruce Morito is a professor of philosophy in theFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Athabasca University.