Why wasn't Canada and United States celebrating this historic day? They Signed the legal Documents, too. Amazing.


Treaty Days reminder of how Canada was built
Doug Cuthand,
Published: Friday, June 20, 2008

Spring in Indian country means Treaty Days, with a government treaty party travelling from community to community.

The scene at each stop is essentially the same. People gather at the band hall or some other appropriate place and receive their annual treaty pay -- a princely sum of $5.

It's a time-honoured ceremony. You walk up to the Indian Agent or his equivalent, and he/she checks off your name and passes a $5 bill to an RCMP member dressed in formal red serge. The RCMP officer than passes the money to you and shakes your hand.


Years ago, we had to have a chest X-ray before we received our treaty money. It was a part of the tuberculosis screening process, but we were told that they wanted to see if we were worth $5.

This is our tradition that goes back to the signing of the treaties. The treaty process began in Saskatchewan in 1874 for Ttreaty 4, 1875 for Treaty 5, 1876 for Treaty 6, 1889 for Treaty 8 and 1906 for Treaty 10. The treaties were necessary to secure the land base for the future of Western Canada.

This process was not followed in British Columbia, to its detriment. That province today remains in perpetual turmoil because of the failure to recognize the First Peoples.

Canada wanted to secure its western Prairie region at a time when the United Sates was bent on westward expansion. The doctrine of Manifest Destiny was in full swing and the Americans wanted to lay claim to as much of North America as possible.

Signing treaties was Canada's way to gain sovereignty over the West without the expense of military intervention. At treaty signing, the chiefs and headmen pledged allegiance to the Crown and agreed to follow the laws of the land. In return, they received a number of promises such as education, assistance in times of famine, a medicine chest, economic assistance and other social programs. The Crown received the land base to build Western Canada.

Each chief was given a British flag to fly from his lodge. This was his symbol of authority and of his allegiance to the Crown. It would identify the band as a treaty First Nation. It also provided the Canadian government with a valuable symbol of sovereignty over the land at a time when the Americans were disputing Canada's ownership of the Plains.

First Nations governments, which traditionally operate under the authority of the chief and council, were left untouched. Also religion, culture and language were never a subject of negotiation. Subsequent legislation such as the Indian Act would outlaw and control our way of life.

Bands were promised a section of land for each family of five. The chiefs were told to select land away from places such as the Cypress Hills and were sent north or to the Qu'Appelle Valley. Otherwise, the choice of the reserve location was the decision of the First Nation.

Reserve land is treated by the government as land held in trust for Indians, but we see it as land we held back and retained for ourselves.

The $5 in treaty money annually meant that a family could purchase provisions for the coming winter. At the time of signing it was a valuable contribution to the well-being of First Nations people. The chief receives $20 and each headman gets $10.


Today, we still receive $5. While it buys much less now, the money represents an important link to our past and reminds us that our treaties are real.

From time to time First Nations leaders point out that the treaties should be upgraded to a modern context and the $5 brought in line with modern reality. Comparing the cost of living of the late 1800s with the present would be an interesting exercise.

More than half our people today live and work off the reserve, and it's next to impossible for them to return home for Treaty Day. In order to accommodate this population, Treaty Day is now held in the larger cities. For me to return to the reserve for Treaty Day and collect $5, it would cost me more than $50 in gasoline. Somehow the economics don't make sense.
All Canadians benefited from the treaties. Some people look at treaty rights as being exclusive to First Nations peoples, but all Canadians have treaty rights that include access to and ownership of this beautiful land.

   

'cuz we don't get a cheque to go wild with...and buy a litre of milk at the Northern Store.

   

The Purpose of Treaty-Making
With respect to the purposes of treaty-making, the parties came to the following common
understandings:
• The treaties were to provide for peace and good order between the parties, and
among the First Nations.
• The treaty-making process was a means to build lasting and meaningful alliances
between the parties that would foster the future well-being of the people they represented.
• The treaties were foundational agreements that were entered into for the purpose of
providing the parties with the means of achieving survival and stability, anchored on
the principle of mutual benefit.
• The relationship between the Treaty First Nations and the Crown is one in which the
parties have both benefits and responsibilities with respect to one another. The
treaties created mutual obligations that were to be respected by the parties.
Everyone in Saskatchewan (and to a lesser degree, in Canada as a whole) is a beneficiary
of the Prairie treaties. Once treaties had opened the Prairies to peaceful settlement, western
grain and coal fed and fuelled Canada’s industrialization. Had the treaties not been made, the
development of Canada’s economy would have been delayed for a generation or longer, and
Canada could have lost the west to the United States in the American quest for what they conceived
to be their “manifest destiny” to control the continent, at least as far north as the 54th
parallel. Saskatchewan enjoys a dynamic, competitive economy today in large part due to the
enormous bounty reaped over the past century as a result of the treaty relationship.
A century ago, First Nations and European settlers alike reckoned their economic
prospects in terms of good farmland, livestock, and animal-powered machinery. Education
meant little more than basic literacy and numeracy, and the entire pharmacy in regular use
among Canadian physicians could reasonably have been packed into a single “medicine
88 Treaties as a Bridge to the Future
chest.” The Province of Saskatchewan had not yet been organized, and the Crown relied largely
on Indian Agents and the Northwest Mounted Police to implement treaty obligations.
As we heard from Treaty Elders, today Treaty First Nations still look to the treaty relationship
for assuring the means of livelihood. In contemporary society, making a living
requires more than the tools and implements described in the written texts of the treaties. Like
other Canadians, Treaty First Nations require access to new technologies and large-scale organization.
This places a premium on diversified knowledge and skills. Innovation and productivity
will be crucial, increasing the importance of the quality of education and health services.
7.5 The Treaty Relationship in the Future
In looking to the future, the present-day representatives of the treaty parties outlined the
following principles as appropriate to guide the conduct of the treaty partners:
• The treaty relationship is one in which the parties expect to resolve differences
through mutual discussion and decision.
• The parties share a common commitment to reinvigorate the treaty relationship, and
to build on a partnership that can address the well-being of both parties in a respectful
and supportive way.
• Canada and Treaty First Nations can enter into arrangements whereby Treaty First
Nations exercise jurisdiction and governance over their lands and people, building
upon the foundation of their treaty relationship with Canada. These agreements
should not alter the treaties; rather they should implement the treaty partnership in a
contemporary way while respecting the principles of treaty-making.
• The parties recognize that the participation of the Government of Saskatchewan is
required for there to be significant progress on the implementation on Treaty First
Nations’jurisdiction and governance within Saskatchewan, and they believe that the
principles of the treaty relationship are beneficial for all people in Saskatchewan.
As the Exploratory Treaty Table has shown, a serious and sustained dialogue can restore
a level of trust and cooperation between the parties, and eventually find practical ways of
strengthening the treaty partnership. Good will and cooperation among governments are a necessary,
but insufficient, condition for that renewal; the treaty relationship also depends upon
the commitment, good will, and participation of individual Canadians.
7.6 Public Education
The parties recognized a fundamental need for the public to be fully and effectively
informed about the treaties, and about the treaty renewal process which has now begun. It is
imperative to launch a strong public awareness and involvement program, conducive to a climate
of broad public understanding and support for renewing the treaty relationship. Such a
campaign can benefit from the increasing participation of civic actors such as the rural and
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urban municipalities, churches and business leaders, and service organizations of First Nations
people.
The required message is simple. As stated by Saulteaux Elder Danny Musqua at one of the
Exploratory Treaty Table meetings, the treaties are “not only for Indians to benefit. The white
people are going to benefit out of that, too.”
7.7 Our Vision
The chief goal of this process has been to create conditions for mutual respect at all levels
of the treaty relationship, from the representatives of governments seated at the Treaty Table,
to the individual citizens of Treaty First Nations and Saskatchewan. We have sought to restore
the mutual kindness associated with the treaty relationship by Treaty Elders. This climate must
now be reinforced at the political level, and widened to include an even greater cross-section
of Saskatchewan people.
The future of Saskatchewan, and indeed of western Canada as a whole, will be determined
in no small measure by efforts to heal relationships with First Nations. First Nations are growing
as a demographic and economic reality, and their prosperity will have a significant impact
on their neighbours. Revitalizing the treaty relationship has the potential for becoming a unifying
force that redefines and enriches what it means to be Canadian, and what is distinctive
about living in the Prairies.
Afirst step has now been taken. The parties have shown a commendable measure of mutual
respect and flexibility. There is growing public interest in the process, and growing expectations
about the importance of the outcome. Let us not disappoint the ancestors, or the children
yet to come.