The Grassy Narrows First Nation suffered a defeat on Friday when the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a lower court ruling that the provincial government of Ontario has the right to issue logging licenses on their traditional lands.

While Friday’s ruling was in reference to the 141-year-old treaty, known as Treaty 3, between the Crown and Ojibway Indians, it will likely influence how Canadian courts and natural resource companies approach lands under treaty nationwide.

“I agree with the Ontario Court of Appeal that Ontario and only Ontario has the power to take up lands under Treaty 3,” Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the unanimous decision.

The Grassy Narrows’ appeal of the lower court’s ruling argued that because the treaty was made with the federal Crown the provincial government should be forced to receive federal approval before issuing licenses for land use like logging and mining.

“The promises made in Treaty 3 were promises of the Crown, not those of Canada,” according to the court. “Thus, when the lands covered by the treaty were determined to belong to the province of Ontario, the province became responsible for their governance with respect to matters falling under its jurisdiction.”

However, the court also made it clear that the provincial government’s rights for development are not absolute. A “harvesting clause” in Treaty 3 gives the First Nation the right “to pursue their avocations of hunting and fishing throughout the tract surrendered,” meaning that “if the taking up leaves the Ojibway with no meaningful right to hunt, fish or trap in relation to the territories over which they traditionally hunted, fished, and trapped, a potential action for treaty infringement will arise.”