A traditional Snuneymuxw Village site in downtown Nanaimo is being returned to the nation, and an 1854 treaty played a part in getting the deal done.

Between 1850 and 1854, fourteen treaties were concluded on Vancouver Island between First Nations and the Hudson’s Bay Company.

They were negotiated on the company’s side by James Douglas, and are sometimes collectively referred to by some as the Douglas treaties.

The Sarlequun treaty of 1854 covers the area around Nanaimo. Midcoast Morning spoke with history professor John Lutz to put the treaties in context.