britain had transferred whatever jurisdiction over "indians and lands reserved for the indians" it may have had to the province of canada in the 1840s. this authority devolved to the federal government at confederation in 1867 and would have applied to the area of the north-western territory and rupert's land that came into the canadian confederation in 1870, including the part that became alberta in 1905. the british government, in an exchange of letters at the time of the transfer of the nwt, sought assurances that canada would provide the crown's obligation to first nations.