Time to consider treaty relationship in context

Every First Nation across Saskatchewan holds a treaty day each spring. This is one of the oldest government functions in Western Canada, and it’s steeped in tradition and symbolism.

Officials from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development set up at all treaty First Nations and provide treaty payments to band members. Each individual receives a payment of $5, band councillors get $10, and the chief $20. It’s an important symbol of the treaty relationship between First Nations and the Crown.

A few decades ago, the treaty party was accompanied by an X-ray crew that took an image before the treaty money was handed out. Tuberculosis was rampant, and Treaty Day was an excellent time to Xray the community. Today, health staff often are on hand to check people’s blood sugar for diabetes.

The treaty payment of $5 a year isn’t much in today’s terms, but back in the 1800s it was a considerable sum. It was usually given out in the fall, and a family could buy flour, beans, salt pork and other food supplies for the winter.

Today, most reserves close their schools and set up displays of students’ work. Other community groups also might take part. The chief usually speaks before the treaty payments begin. Each individual is looked up in the band list, with the name checked off. The money is then handed to a red serge clad RCMP officer, who then shakes hands with the recipient and hands over the cash.

In this manner the treaty is recognized and renewed.

Saskatchewan is covered by treaties 4,5, 6, 8 and 10. Government officials travelled across the Prairies in the 1870s and in 1874 signed Treaty 4, which covers southern Saskatchewan and central Manitoba. Next came Treaty 5, which was mainly a Manitoba treaty but includes the Saskatchewan First Nations of Red Earth, Shoal Lake and Cumberland House.

Treaty 6 covers central Saskatchewan and Alberta, and includes mainly Cree and Assiniboine First Nations. Treaty 8 covers the Dene bands in northern British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is the largest of the numbered treaties, covering an area larger than France. Treaty 10 covers northeast Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and the Dene bands of Black Lake and Hatchet Lake.

The numbered treaties all contain much the same text. However, as the treaty party moved to new territories it negotiated additional clauses. For example, Treaty 4 contains a clause about education, and Treaty 6 includes the medicine chest clause that guarantees medical care. When the chiefs asked about these additional promises, they were told that what was promised in one treaty would apply to all. In this manner the numbered treaties are incremental.

Under the terms of the treaties, the reserve acreage was determined based on the formula of a section of land for a family of five. When the reserves were surveyed later, some had a lower head count than the true population and the land surveyed was less than the First Nation’s entitlement.

The Treaty Land Entitlement Agreement was signed in the 1990s to correct this historic wrong. It was an example of the treaties being implemented in a modern context. TLE has proven to be an economic engine for some First Nations.

The treaties are still in force, and will remain so in perpetuity. However, the other side of the treaties has gone unheralded. While aboriginal people are well aware of the treaties, other Canadians are mostly unaware of the impact of the treaties.

While First Nations people maintain that we have “treaty rights,” other Canadians, too, must realize that they have treaty rights, as well. Canadians have gained the rich farmland of the West, the wealth of the forests, and the minerals beneath the earth. The treaties laid the foundation for the land base of one of the richest countries. The very land on which you live, farm or conduct business was provided by the treaties.

The treaties between the Crown and First Nations are the building blocks of modern Canada. By signing treaties, Canada gained sovereignty over the Prairies at a time when the Americans were prepared to claim the West.

Today, we still have unfinished business to place the treaties in a modern context and negotiate a fair share of resource revenues. The treaties are now an important part of the Constitution, and the courts continue to point to their legal weight in resource development and environmental impact considerations.

Treaties were meant to be agreements on sharing the land and its resources. It’s time view treaties in this context.