 |
PDF Version
| Word Version | Rich
Text Format | Text Format The Numbered Treaties - also called the Land Cession
or Post-Confederation Treaties - were signed between 1871 and 1921, and granted
the federal government large tracts of land throughout the Prairies, Canadian
North and Northwestern Ontario for white settlement and industrial use. In exchange
for the land, Canada promised to give the Aboriginal
peoples various items: cash, blankets, tools, farming supplies, and so on. The
impact of these treaties can be still felt in modern times. For instance, in March
2002, an Alberta court judge ruled that all Aboriginals covered under Treaty Eight
do not have to pay federal taxes, regardless if they live on a reserve
or not. By that point, the treaty had been 103 years old!
Numbered
Treaties One to Five, 1871 - 1875
Revision of Treaties
One and Two, 1875
Treaty Number Six, 1876
Treaty Number Seven, 1877
Numbered
Treaties Eight to Eleven, 1899 - 1921
Other Interesting
and Important Documents
Numbered
Treaties One to Five, 1871 - 1875
The first five Numbered Treaties
covered areas in what was then part of the new province of Manitoba and the Northwest
Territories - now parts of northwestern Ontario and southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan
and Alberta. The purpose of these treaties was to secure land from the
Aboriginals for settlement and agricultural and industrial development. In the
wording of these treaty documents, the Aboriginals were to give up their rights
to the land "forever." Notably, the government provided farm supplies
and new clothes to help transform Aboriginal society from nations hunters and
gatherers into civilized farmers like their European counterparts.
In
return for giving up their land rights, the Aboriginals received:
-
Reserve lands to live on. Usually, just 600 square meters were provided
to each family of five. However, in Treaties Three and Four only, the Aboriginals
were able to successfully negotiate 2.5 square kilometers for each family of five. -
Cash, the amount of which differed between each treaty. However, the amount
usually grew with each subsequent treaty as the Aboriginals' demands grew. -
An allowance for blankets and hunting/fishing tools. -
Farming
assistance. -
Schools on reserve land, whenever desired by the Aboriginals. -
A census to keep track of how many Aboriginals there were in each band,
mainly for financial compensation purposes. -
The right to hunt
and fish on all ceded land not used for settlement, lumbering or mining. However,
this was only promised in writing from Treaty Number Three onward. -
The right for the government to build public buildings, roads and other crucial
pieces of infrastructure In return for the aforementioned items,
the Aboriginals had to:
- Promise they would keep the peace and
maintain law and order.
- Never possess any liquor on their reserves.
(The introduction of alcohol to the Aboriginals had led to instances of disorder.)
Note: Some Aboriginal nations would not sign these treaties at first,
but would wish to be added on at a later date. This is called an adhesion.
See also Other Interesting and Important Documents
at the bottom of this page for more letters and other primary source documents
on this topic.
Treaty
Number Six, 1876
At a first glance, Treaty Number Six,
signed by the Plains and Woods Cree Aboriginals, is very similar to the first
five. This time, however, the government faced more resistance as the Aboriginals
had some very serious concerns.
- More European settlers were
moving onto the Prairies at an alarming rate, and, as they moved westward, they
displaced Aboriginals from their land.
- The buffalo had virtually
disappeared from this region as well, and other big game animals like deer were
not as plentiful. Therefore, more and more Aboriginals were now facing starvation.
- Diseases like smallpox were effectively wiping out Aboriginal nations.
Copyright/Source
Poundmaker,
a famous Cree chief, refused
to sign the treaty and felt that the government was trying to grab land from his
nation unfairly. However, by December 1882, he would be forced to sign the treaty
because the buffalo had disappeared to the point where the Aboriginals in his
nation would otherwise face starvation. By then, he felt that it was in the Cree's
best interest to at least take as much money and resources from the government
as possible. 
Copyright/Source
Additionally, Treaty Number Six is unique because
it is the only treaty of its sort with a provision for health care. One clause
allows a medicine chest to be kept in the home of an Indian agent for the use
and benefit of the Aboriginals. Some Aboriginals have felt that this provision
extends to everyone who signed the Numbered Treaties. Others even went so far
to later interpret this provision as an eternal promise by the federal government
to provide free health care to every Aboriginal person in Canada.
Treaty Number Seven, 1877 This treaty was signed by a number
of Aboriginal bands, including the Blackfoot
and Stoney Indians, among others,
in present-day southern Alberta. It is very similar to the ones the preceded it,
with just a few notable exceptions: - There was no health care
provision as there had been in Treaty Six.
- These bands
were more successful in negotiating for more money and supplies than previous
Aboriginal negotiators.
This would be the last Numbered Treaty signed
between the government and the Aboriginals until 1899.
Numbered Treaties Eight
to Eleven, 1899 - 1921 Treaties Eight to Eleven were signed
over a period of two decades. The terms and conditions are very similar to the
first seven, except there was no health care provision as there was in Treaty
Six. - Treaty Eight was signed in 1899 so the federal government
could obtain Aboriginal lands to the north of Treaty Six found in present-day
northern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and south-central Northwest Territories.
- Treaty Nine was signed in 1905 and 1906, and dealt with lands in
northern Ontario.
- Treaty Ten was signed in 1906 and saw land
cession deals struck in northern Alberta.
- Treaty Eleven was
signed in 1921 and dealt with land in the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
These treaties are all very similar and most of the numbered treaties
that preceded them. However, one concept new to Treaty Eight was the creation
of small family reserves for individual families. This was to meet the needs of
small band groupings like the Woodland
Cree and Dene tribes that lived in this area. Despite the fact that
northern Aboriginals were not faring well, the government learned in 1898 that
some bands were not interested in signing Treaty Number Eight. These bands
did not want to live on reserves like their southern counterparts, and they feared
signing the treaty would virtually destroy their way of life. Treaty
Number Seven, 1877 Some members of these tribes expressed
concerns about the perpetual nature of these treaties, and virtually all remained
suspicious of the government track record. For instance, northern Aboriginals
looked closely at attempts to turn the Prairie Aboriginals into farmers, something
that had, by 1899, shown signs of outright failure. Many Aboriginals on Prairie
reserves were suffering from poverty and starvation. Thus, there was now
a growing belief that the government would eventually curtail Aboriginal fishing
and hunting rights, since the land allowed for these activities shrunk considerably
in these latter numbered treaties. The government refuted this during all numbered
treaty negotiations, and, to allay this fear, provided more cash for fishing net
twine and gun ammunition. Also, previous treaties had called for the government
to take a census of all Aboriginals living on reserves for the purposes of paying
them a lump sum of cash every year. However, the government had by this point
lost count of many Aboriginals living on reserves. Even today, we do not know
precisely how many Aboriginals are in Canada because of the poor census taking
in the late 1800s. All of these things would weigh heavily on the minds
of many Aboriginals who agreed to sign Treaties Eight to Eleven.
|
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the federal government
was paying about three-quarters of its spending on Aboriginals on those living
on the Prairies, even though they made up only about one quarter of the total
Aboriginal population in Canada. | | |
| For more information on the Numbered
Treaties, visit: | Other
Interesting or Important Documents - Indian
treaties and surrenders, from 1680 to 1890, Volume I
- Indian
treaties and surrenders, from 1680 to 1890, Volume II
- Letter
from Adams G. Archibald to Wemyss Simpson, July 22, 1871
(On Treaty
Number One)
- Letter
from Archibald to Simpson, July 29, 1871
(On Treaty Number One)
- Letter
from Simpson to Archibald, July 30, 1871
(On Treaty Number One)
- Letter
from Simpson to Archibald, Nov. 3, 1871
(On Treaty Number Two)
- Letter
from Alexander Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 14, 1873
(On
Treaty Number Three)
- Report
of Commissioner Dawson, 26th December 1873
(On Treaty Number Three)
- First
Letter from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 17, 1874
(On
Treaty Number Four)
- Second
Letter from Morris, Oct. 17, 1874
(On Treaty Number Four)
- Letter
from Christie and Dickieson to Morris, Oct. 7, 1875
(On Treaty Number
Four)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 11, 1875
(On Treaty
Number Five)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Nov. 17, 1875
(On Treaty
Number Five)
-
Letter from Howard and Reid to Morris, Oct. 10, 1875
(On Treaty Number
Five)
- Letter
from Howard to Morris, Oct. 10, 1875
(On Treaty Number Five)
- Letter
from Morris to Howard and Reid, July 14, 1876
(On Treaty Number Five)
-
Letter from Howard to Morris, Oct. 14, 1876
(On Treaty Number Five)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 4, 1875
(On changes
to Treaties One and Two)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 5, 1875
(On changes
to Treaties One and Two)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Aug. 2, 1875
(On changes
to Treaties One and Two)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, July 8, 1876
(On changes
to Treaties One and Two) |
