Treaty 6, between the Queen and bands of Cree and Stoney First Nations, was negotiated and signed at Fort Carlton and Duck Lake in August, and at Fort Pitt in September, 1876. Not all Plains Cree would sign the treaty at first, and many would become disillusioned after signing. Treaties were signed with First Nations in Canada between 1871 and 1921. He was succeeded by his son, Apseenes (Young Sweet Grass). Treaty 6 peoples have also protected their treaty rights through land claims and lawsuits. to the signing of a treaty had strong cultural and spiritual significance. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. What Treaty 6 peoples are close to Edmonton? After explaining the treaty terms, the Duck Lake chiefs and headmen also signed the treaty. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. [3] Sweet Grass was ten years older, so Big Bear recognized him as the superior chief. Amendments to the Indian Act in 1985 re-established Indian status to over 750 members of the band. Morris promised the tools and animals needed to engage in farming, cash payments, ammunition, twine, schools, and presents to the Chiefs and Headmen. Please have a look around. The pipe stem was presented to the Governor and Treaty Commissioners where they stroked the stem. On 5 September, the commissioners arrived at Fort Pitt, where they were to negotiate the treaty with the Indigenous peoples there. The treaty boundaries extend across central portions of present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan. For example, in May 2008, the Beaver Lake Cree Nation in Alberta filed a lawsuit against the provincial and federal governments because proposed oil, gas, forestry and mining activities threatened their rights to hunt and fish on treaty lands; the case is still ongoing. Children typically lived a carefree and adventurous childhood. That afternoon, Treaty Six was signed by the Treaty Commissioners, the Lieutenant Governor, followed by Chiefs Mistawasis, Ahtahkakoop, and 11 other Chiefs, and 44 Headmen. He was succeeded by his son, Apseenes (Young Sweet Grass); he was unable to hold the band together, which began to splinter. Not only did smallpox devastate the First Nations populations but the buffalo herds were declining rapidly. They agreed with much of what was being said, however, they wanted to ensure their survival, and that the Great Queen Mother would look after them. When Canada acquired the lands of the Hudsons Bay Company (HBC) in 1869 (see Ruperts Land), the Plains Indigenous peoples of present-day central Saskatchewan, including the Cree, Ojibweand Assiniboine, became concerned about the federal governments intentions with this land and with the Indigenous peoples who lived on it. Indigenous peoples are subject to the same tax rules as any other resident in Canada unless their income is eligible for the tax exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act. That is all.. There was much discussion around the term of calamity and pestilence. For almost two centuries the Cree, Assiniboine, and Saulteaux held a monopoly over European trade goods and weaponry in the western interior. They had sent a war party to a Blackfoot camp and killed 18 Blackfeet in addition to stealing horses. The amount of power wielded by Cree chiefs varied from person to person. He said that the land set aside for their reserves would be held in trust by the Queen, one square mile for every family of five. Poundmaker, a Councilor from Red Pheasants band, stood up and protested, This is our land, not a piece of pemmican to be cut off and given in little pieces. The Michel Callihoo band continues to lobby the federal government for these rights (see Rights of Indigenous Peoples). Also, he did not want his people to be under the rule of the Crown, and said to the people, I heard the Governor was coming and I said I shall see him; when I see him I will make a request that he will save me from what I most dread that is: the rope to be about my neck. Big Bear, a proud Cree, was using a metaphor to describe that he did not want to be treated like a horse, to be broken to a halter and rope (Ray, Miller and Tough 142). [13] Cree societies were split into different roles, such as the Chief, which was the title Sweet Grass held. Newcomers would receive a peaceful co-existence with First Nations people, access to lands for settlement, farming, railways, and future industrial development. The manager of the HBC post at Fort Carlton, Lawrence Clarke, wrote to government officials that same summer, alerting them that the Cree had also threatened to turn back telegraph workers who were trying to construct a line from Winnipeg to Edmonton. As a result of Big Bears words and stance in opposition to Treaty, the government began to see him as a threat. Since the signing of Treaty 6 in 1876, there have been disagreements between Indigenous signatories and the federal government, stemming from misunderstandings about the true meaning and intention of the treaty terms. They wanted assurance of their spiritual and physical survival (Price 20). Included would be a medicine chest kept at the Indian Agents homes for the use of the First Nations but at the discretion of the Indian Agent. Its used to categorize all Indigenous Peoples from across Canada as one big homogenized group. Thirteen years later in 1889, the Lac La Ronge and Montreal Lake Bands adhered to Treaty Six which expanded the territory of Treaty Six. Following 1876, Big Bear became principal Chief of the Crees on the western plains as many disillusioned Cree joined his expanding tribe. There were also village elders and warriors. He was succeeded by his son, Apseenes (Young Sweet Grass); he was unable to hold the band together, which began to splinter. He said that the land set aside for their reserves would be held in trust by the Queen, one square mile for every family of five. Poundmaker, a Councilor from Red Pheasants band, stood up and protested, This is our land, not a piece of pemmican to be cut off and given in little pieces. Chief Sweetgrass (Weekaskookwasayin) signed Treaty 6 on September 9, 1876, with the Fort Pitt Indians but was killed about six months later. On the Sweetgrass reserve, the mortality rates would grow after 1885 to 185 per every 1000 people on the reserve. Adhesions continued into the 20th century, with the bands of Rocky Mountain House (May 1944 and 1950), Witchekan Lake (November 1950) and Cochin (August 1954 and May 1956). He suggested to Morris that the government needed to preserve what buffalo herds were left, so that they could all share equally. After the raid, they moved back to the reserve with the captured supplies without another incident. "The Blackfoot and the Cree were fighting to gain control of the Cypress Hills boundaries and in the fall of 1870 there was a battle between them called the Battle of Belly River. Big Bear and Little Pine led the Crees and attacked a Blood First Nations camp. [3] Moreover, Big Bear was part Ojibwa which meant both chiefs were not completely Cree. Jill St. Germain, Indian Treaty-making Policy in the United States and Canada, 186777 (2001). Who negotiated Treaty 6? On 27 July 1876, Morris left for Fort Carlton to negotiate a treaty with the Plains Indigenous peoples of Saskatchewan. Welcome to Archive of European Integration - Archive of European . The talks then adjourned, and the Indigenous leaders spoke in council for the next two days. The bearer of the sacred stem Wah-wee-kah-nich-ka-oh-tah-mah-hote (the man you strike on the back) carried the decorated pipe stem, and walked slowly along the semi circle of people to the front. At the beginning of 1870, buffalo were plentiful within the plains. In another significant difference from Treaty 6, Treaty 7 states that the Crown would pay for teachers salaries instead of the maintenance of school buildings. [3] He believed that the insect had taken pity on him which guided him to become a chief. Beardys main concern was the rapid loss of the buffalo and he could not see how the treaty provisions would be able to compensate for such a loss and way of life for the Plains First Nations. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Medals, flags, and uniforms were presented as well as treaty payments. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. At the time when Sweet Grass was Chief, The Canadian government had pictured what the Indigenous communities were and never changed them. Crf. [8] Children did not wear much clothing and boys wore nothing until the age of five. It belonged to no one man and could not be sold (, In 1871, a delegation of Chiefs went to Fort Edmonton to meet with Chief Factor W.J. Gov. Morris statement about reserves was immediately met with resistance by Pitikwahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker), a local leader who became a great chief in the 1880s. Just before the Treaty party left Fort Pitt, Big Bear arrived and asked to speak with Morris. Recognize Edmonton sits within Treaty No. The overall goal that Sweet Grass wanted to achieve was an end to factionalism that had been plaguing the Plains Cree for years. Other members of the negotiating team included treaty commissioners William Joseph Christie (an HBC officer) and James McKay (Mtis fur trader and politician), as well as translators, assistants and NWMP escorts. Morris said little to ease the concerns of Beardy and promised that they too would receive the same as the other bands including agricultural assistance for a new way of life. (, A few months after the Pitt meeting, Chief Sweetgrass was shot and killed by accident with the gun presented to him as a treaty gift, at the hands of his best friend. We heard our lands were sold and we did not like it; we dont want to sell our lands; it is our property, and no one has the right to sell them. Fearing starvation and unrest, many of the initially hesitant chiefs signed adhesions to the treaty in the years to come, including Minahikosis (who signed in July 1879) and Mistahimaskwa (who signed on 8 December 1882 at Fort Walsh). Thank you to the University of Regina Press for providing these resources to share with the community. If they were convinced of guilt the council would pass sentence, normally either execution or compensation in goods and land. In Morris address he described the governments genuine concern for the welfare of their Indian brothers and sisters and asked them to take his words with much thought and to look to the future, what I will promise, and what I believe and hope you will take, is to last as long as the sun shines and yonder rivers flow. (, During discussions, Gov. Similarly, clauses promising farming assistance and reserve schools can be interpreted as a promise to provide general economic assistance for Indigenous businesses and access to modern education. The Dominion of Canada bought Ruperts Land for the sum of 300,000 pounds from the Hudsons Bay Company on March 8, 1869 and at the same time the Crown transferred North West territories to Canada. Even more important, the Chiefs felt that the Treaties would impose European values on the Cree. On 31 March 1958, the Department of Indian Affairs enfranchised the entire Michel Callihoo band, meaning that they lost their legal rights as status Indians in exchange for other rights, such as voting (see Indian; Indigenous Suffrage). In 2013, the City of Edmonton created Treaty No. [18] Chiefs within Cree society were chosen by the consent of the band. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Chief Weekaskookwasayin (Sweet Grass) permitted Morris to explain those terms to the congregation. [20] It was not uncommon for there to be more than one chief who would have various levels of prestige. It covered 117 articles, including the establishment of a code of law and form of government between the five nations. Both organizations concluded that the Indigenous signatories believed that they were agreeing to share the land and its resources, rather than to completely surrender it to the federal government. Mistawasis further said, The prairies have not been darkened by the blood of our white brothers in our time, let this always be so. In the years of 1872 to 1875 there was pressure on the Canadian government from the First Nations in the prairies to address treaties. [3] Upon reporting his sighting back to the others, they decide to kill the man and steal his horses. By this time, the only known buffalo herds left were located in the Cypress Hills. Big Bear and others seen the presents as traps, something to soften them up before negotiations." Let us not think of ourselves but our childrens children, let us show our wisdom by choosing the right path while we yet have a choice. 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