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While many Aboriginal
nations were skeptical of dealing with the new federal government,
they had little choice. Declining buffalo herds and disease put
many nations on the verge of extinction. They also risked the loss
of their culture and way of life in the face of European settlement.
To survive, many Aboriginals negotiated the surrender of land for
very little in return: cash and supplies. They were left with small
reserves
that the government hoped they would farm.
Meanwhile, smaller treaties were signed in central and eastern
Canada throughout this period as well, which saw the Aboriginals
give up parts of their reserve land for white settlement, lighthouses
and shooting ranges.
Topics in this section:
Numbered Treaties One to Five, 1871 - 1875
Revision of Treaties One and Two, 1875
Other Treaties
Other interesting or Important Documents
Numbered Treaties One to Five
Numbered Treaties One to Five, 1871
- 1875
The first five Numbered Treaties, which are also called
the Land Cession
or Post-Confederation Treaties, covered areas in what was then part
of the new province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. These
are now parts of northwestern Ontario and southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan
and Alberta.
The purpose of these treaties was to secure land from the Aboriginals
for European 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."
Typically, the government would provide farm supplies and new clothes
to help transform Aboriginal society from what Europeans viewed
as a simple hunting and gathering basis, into independent pioneer
farmers like their European counterparts.
In return for giving up their land rights, the Aboriginals would
receive:
- 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 Aboriginal
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, and
keep liquor off reserves. Europeans viewed liquor as a corrupting
influence on aboriginal peoples. In addition, there was a strong
prohibitionist sentiment in the last half of the nineteenth century
and the first part of the twentieth century.
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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.
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The Revision of Treaties One and
Two, 1875
Despite the fact the Aboriginals were to surrender their right to
the land "forever," the first and second Numbered Treaties
were renegotiated and changed in 1875. The Chipewans
who had signed these early treaties were, by this time, upset that
oral promises made by government representatives in 1871 had not
been included in the written treaties. They began to approach other
Aboriginals in the region in an attempt to discourage them from
singing similar treaties.
In the end, the federal government reluctantly gave more money,
clothes and farm supplies to the Aboriginals who signed the first
two Numbered Treaties. The Chipewans, in return, had to drop all
of their claims to all so-called "outside" or oral promises.
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For more information on the Numbered Treaties,
visit:
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Other Treaties
Copyright/Source
There were other treaties signed in central and eastern Canada
during the late 1860s and 1870s as well. These treaties are minor
in comparison to the Numbered Treaties, but they are, nevertheless,
interesting.
For example, in the early 1870s the Mi'kmaq
of New Brunswick gave up land on a reserve to the province for white
settlement. Other examples include treaties allowing for the construction
of lighthouses and shooting ranges on Aboriginal land.
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
(Treaty Number One)
- Letter
from Archibald to Simpson, July 29, 1871
(Treaty Number One)
- Letter
from Simpson to Archibald, July 30, 1871
(Treaty Number One)
- Letter
from Simpson to Archibald, Nov. 3, 1871
(Treaty Number Two)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 4, 1875
(On revisions to treaties one and two)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 5, 1875
(On revisions to treaties one and two)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Aug. 2, 1875
(On revisions to treaties one and two)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, July 8, 1876
(On revisions to treaties one and two)
- Letter
from Alexander Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 14, 1873
(Treaty Number Three)
- Report
of Commissioner Dawson, 26th December 1873
(Treaty Number Three)
- First
Letter from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 17, 1874
(Treaty Number Four)
- Second
Letter from Morris, Oct. 17, 1874
(Treaty Number Four)
- Letter
from Christie and Dickieson to Morris, Oct. 7, 1875
(Treaty Number Four)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 11, 1875
(Treaty Number Five)
- Letter
from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Nov. 17, 1875
(Treaty Number Five)
- Letter
from Howard and Reid to Morris, Oct. 10, 1875
(Treaty Number Five)
- Letter
from Howard to Morris, Oct. 10, 1875
(Treaty Number Five)
- Letter
from Morris to Howard and Reid, July 14, 1876
(Treaty Number Five)
- Letter
from Howard to Morris, Oct. 14, 1876
(Treaty Number Five)
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