Agricultural deal shows need to update treaties

Terms must be upgraded to reflect the reality of modern life and needs

The agriculture benefits settlement is becoming more of an opportunity lost than a victory gained.

Several years ago, First Nations in Treaty 8 successfully negotiated with the federal government and it was determined that the agricultural benefits owed to them under treaty were never delivered. This settlement was extended to other First Nations that were signatories to the numbered treaties.

As part of the settlement with the federal government, the clause for agriculture benefits was stricken from the treaty, which was overreach on their part. When we look at the treaties that were negotiated between the First Nations and the Crown, there are several principles that must be recognized.

First, the treaties are living documents. If the two signatories live together and share the land, the terms of the treaty must be upgraded to reflect the reality of the present technology.

For example, the medicine chest clause states that a chest of medicines be made available for the use and benefit of the Indigenous people. Medical care today consists of modern medicine supported by medicare and pharmacare.

Second, we must consider the spirit and intent of the treaty promises. The chiefs wanted a secure future for their people and the federal government wanted ownership of the land to prevent the Americans from claiming it. Both sides realized that they were making history, and their decisions would have long-term consequences.

We were promised that when the First Nation requested it, they would receive a schoolhouse on the reserve. There was no discussion about boarding schools or removing the children from the home to be indoctrinated in a foreign religion. The spirit of the treaty was neglected repeatedly.

And, third, there were oral promises made in the negotiations that were not reflected in the written text. The oral record has been retained by our people and is also part of the record in the book on the treaty negotiations by Lt.gov. Alexander Morris.

For example, treaties Nos. 1 through 11 were negotiated separately, but the original text was used. In this matter, the treaties are incremental. When asked if the negotiations would reflect this, Morris stated that what was given to one would be given to all.

So, education was added to Treaty 4, medical care to Treaty 6 and they applied to all the treaty signatories.

The treaties reflect the arrogance of the colonization to come. Since the government wanted the land for agriculture, it was assumed our people would follow suit. But, in a few years, the settlers began to develop the renewable and non-renewable resources; they expanded to manufacturing and other forms of commerce.

Our people received none or little assistance and, in some cases, fell victim to experiments such as peasant farming where our people were only allowed to use hand tools. The result was a lack of economic development and poverty became a way of life.

Now the government wants to remove the economic assistance clauses of the treaties. Our leaders are missing a golden opportunity to expand the economic assistance and bring our people into the modern economy.

We need access to capital, resource development, extraterritorial rights to develop resources, the ability to expand our land and resource base. We need resource revenue sharing and greater participation in economic opportunities.

The recent federal budget included $5 billion in loan guarantees for resource and energy projects. This is an excellent step in the right direction, but it must be supported with a wide range of educational and social capacity building.

Today, economic development is more than residential schools that trained the boys as farm hands and the girls as domestics. We need added resources for post-secondary education. Economic development doesn't exist in a vacuum. It requires educational and social supports.

Today, our population is growing rapidly and the future economic direction we take will have far-reaching effects on Canada. We must strive for full employment, wealth creation and business development. We must be full participants in the economy of the country, not just a source of labour.

I agree that we should receive compensation for the failure to provide agriculture benefits, but our leaders need to take it to the next level and build the foundation for the economy of the future.