Canada Belongs to Canadians: Why 1867 Settled the Question of Sovereignty
Forget the myths. Canada’s sovereignty wasn’t decided by who got here first—it was forged in conquest, sealed in law, and handed to the people in 1867.
In today’s political climate, it’s become fashionable to talk about “unceded land,” historical wrongs, and who was here “first.” But too often, this conversation turns into a form of cultural amnesia—a forgetting of the very real and very legal events that created Canada as a sovereign nation.
Let’s walk through the facts, not the feelings.
We are on land claimed by the British Crown in 1759, after the fall of New France at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. That was not a land-sharing agreement. That was conquest—recognized under the global standard of the day, and still foundational in international law.
Britain took possession of the territory through force, and then ratified its authority through governance, treaties, and law. From that point on, the land that would become Canada was under British sovereignty.
That fact may be inconvenient to some—but it is undeniable.
Now, let’s look deeper.
My Viking ancestors arrived on these shores around 1000 AD. They established a settlement in what is now Newfoundland—centuries before the Iroquois, the Sioux, or even the French. But that didn’t make the Vikings sovereign rulers of Canada. Their presence, while historically fascinating, was fleeting.
The Iroquois, whom modern narratives often frame as original inhabitants of parts of Ontario and Quebec, actually migrated into this region in 1784—after the American War of Independence. They were granted land by the British Crown in recognition of their loyalty. In other words, they were invited north, and granted land—not indigenous to this region in the historical sense.
Ask the Hurons about land claims! Oh, wait! They were wiped out by the Iroquois.
After being weakened by disease and internal divisions, the Huron Confederacy was attacked by the Iroquois Confederacy, particularly the Mohawk and Seneca, who were expanding their territory and influence—largely motivated by control of the fur trade. In a brutal campaign from 1648 to 1650, the Iroquois destroyed many Huron villages, killed or absorbed survivors, and effectively shattered the Huron Confederacy.
Aftermath:
Some survivors were adopted into Iroquois nations.
Others fled to the Jesuit mission at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, which was eventually abandoned.
Remaining groups resettled, notably in Lorette, Quebec, and parts of Ontario, where modern Wendat descendants still live today.
As for the Sioux, their story is one of tragedy and movement. They arrived in what is now Western Canada around 1876, having been driven out of the United States by war and starvation. Like many, they sought refuge. But they were not “here first.”
So, who was here first?
It depends where you’re standing. Canada is a massive landmass that was home to hundreds of different tribal groups, many of whom were in constant competition, war, or migration. There is no single group that can credibly claim to be the original owners of all Canada—because Canada, as a single, unified nation, simply didn’t exist.
That changed in 1867.
The British North America Act (now called the Constitution Act) created Canada as a self-governing dominion. The British Crown did not give Canada to a tribe, nor to a corporation, nor to a foreign power. It gave Canada to Canadians. That moment in 1867 marked a clear legal transition—where the Crown transferred its governing authority to a new, sovereign political entity: the people and Parliament of Canada.
From that day forward, Canada belonged to itself.
This wasn’t just ceremonial. It was constitutional. Binding. Recognized internationally.
Let’s be honest: you don’t inherit a nation by showing up first. You inherit it by building it, defending it, and accepting responsibility for its future.
Confederation wasn’t a coincidence. It was a culmination. Of settlements built. Of governments formed. Of laws written and parliaments opened. It was the result of people who carved towns out of wilderness, created economies, and declared their right to self-govern.
They didn’t just take the land—they built a nation on it.
And here’s where the modern debate loses the plot.
The constant repetition of the phrase “unceded land” in political events and news articles is not just historically inaccurate—it’s legally meaningless in many cases. Where land claims are valid, they should be pursued through legal channels, not through guilt-based propaganda or historical revisionism.
But the blanket narrative that all Canadian territory is “stolen” or “illegitimate” is absurd. It denies the legitimacy of Canada itself—and by extension, the rights of its citizens.
This kind of rhetoric is not reconciliation. It’s erasure.
It erases the hard work of millions of Canadians—of all backgrounds—who built this country. It erases the legal foundation of our sovereignty. And it erases the truth about how nations are actually formed in the real world.
Empires rise and fall. Conquests happen. Treaties are signed. Constitutions are enacted. This is not unique to Canada—it’s the story of every nation on earth.
And to pretend that Canada is somehow illegitimate because of events that happened before Confederation is like saying the United States doesn’t exist because of the Louisiana Purchase, or that Italy has no right to govern itself because the Romans once ruled Gaul.
It’s nonsense.
Now, none of this is to say that injustices didn’t happen. They did. The treatment of Indigenous peoples throughout Canadian history deserves serious reflection, and in many cases, real redress.
But redress doesn’t mean dismantling the very idea of Canada. It doesn’t mean pretending that sovereignty never transferred. It doesn’t mean erasing 1867 from our national memory.
The truth is simple: Canada belongs to Canadians.
To those who live here, work here, build here, and uphold the law here. Not to the ghosts of history. Not to imported ideologies. Not to groups who want to rewrite the rules of modern democracy to fit ancient tribal claims or globalist agendas.
The sovereignty of Canada was earned through blood, law, and governance. It was recognized through treaty, through Crown authority, and ultimately, through Confederation.
If you reject that, you’re not rejecting injustice—you’re rejecting Canada itself.
And that’s the real danger in this conversation.
Because the more we allow our institutions to be weakened by guilt narratives and ideological distortion, the less capable we are of protecting the very freedoms we all claim to value.
So let’s stand firm on this one point of clarity:
We are Canadians.
We are the rightful stewards of this land.
And in 1867, the world agreed: Canada belongs to us.