Comments in brackets are not part of the original document. They have been added to assist the reader with difficult words.

Transcription

1 #1 Letter from Sir John A. Macdonald The following is an excerpt from a letter sent from Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald to Adams George Archibald, Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, on November 18, Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. November 18, 1870 Sir, We are looking anxiously for your report as to Indian titles both within Manitoba and without; and as to best means of extinguishing [terminating] Indian titles in valley of Saskatchewan. Would you kindly give us your views on that point, officially and unofficially? We should take immediate steps to extinguish Indian titles somewhere in Fertile Belt in valley of Saskatchewan, and open it for settlement. There will orwise be an influx of squatters who will seize upon most eligible positions and greatly disturb symmetry [organization] of future surveys. (Signed) Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald As quoted in Joseph Pope (ed.), Correspondence of Sir John Macdonald: Selections from correspondence of Right Honourable Sir John Alexander Macdonald, G. C. B (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1921), p. 141, Internet archive, March 17, 2010, org/stream/correspondenceof00macduoft#page/n7/mode/2up (Accessed March 29, 2012).

2 #2 Negotiations for Treaties 1 and 2 Excerpt from a book The treaties of Canada with Indians of Manitoba and North-west territories, that was published in 1880 and was written by Alexander Morris, Lieutenant- Governor of Manitoba from 1872 to Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. The treaties of Canada with Indians of Manitoba and North-west territories Alexander Morris, 1880 The Indians in Manitoba, in fall of 1870, had applied to Lieutenant-Governor to enter into a treaty with m, and had been informed that in ensuing [following] year negotiations would be opened with m. They were full of uneasiness, owing to influx [increase] of population and had in some instances obstructed [blocked] settlers and surveyors. In view of anxiety and uneasiness prevailing, se gentlemen were of opinion that it was desirable to secure extinction [termination] of Indian title not only to lands within Manitoba, but also so much of timber grounds east and north of Province as were required for immediate entry and use, and also of a large tract [area] of cultivable [able to be used for agriculture] ground of Portage, where re were very few Indian inhabitants. It was refore resolved to open negotiations at Lower Fort Garry, or Stone Fort, with Indians of Province, and certain adjacent timber districts. Alexander Morris, The treaties of Canada with Indians of Manitoba and North-west territories: Including negotiations on which y were based, and or information relating reto (Toronto, ON: Belfords, Clarke and Company Publishers, 1880), pp GoogleBooks, 2012, (Accessed March 29, 2012).

3 #3 Treaties 1 and 2 signed Excerpt from a letter sent by Indian Commissioner Wemyss M. Simpson to Secretary of State for Provinces, on November 3, Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. November 3, 1871 Sir, The negotiation with se bands refore occupied little time, and on 21st August, 1871, a treaty was concluded by which a tract [area] of country three times as large as Province of Manitoba was surrendered by Indians to Crown. Of land ceded [surrendered in a treaty] in Province of Manitoba, it will be hardly necessary for me to speak, as His Excellency Governor-General is already in possession of accurate information touching its fertility and resources; but I may observe that, valuable as are se lands, y are fully equaled if not exceeded by country of which Government now comes into possession, by virtue of treaty concluded at Manitoba Post. Already, settlers from Provinces in Canada and elsewhere are pushing ir way beyond limits of Province of Manitoba; and re is nothing but arbitrary [subjective] limits of that province. The Indians of both parts have a firm belief in honor and integrity of Her Majesty s representatives, and are fully impressed [convinced] with idea that amelioration [improvement] of ir present condition is one of objects of Her Majesty in making se treaties. Alexander Morris, The treaties of Canada with Indians of Manitoba and North-West Territories, including negotiations on which y were based, and or information relating reto (Toronto, ON: Belfords, Clarke and Company, 1880), p. 42, GoogleBooks, 2012, google.ca/ebooks/reader?id=bxysaaaaiaaj&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=gbs.pa42 (Accessed December 14, 2011).

4 #4 Negotiations for Treaty 3 Excerpt from a letter sent on October 14, 1873, by Alexander Morris, who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba from 1872 to 1877 in which Morris documents negotiations of Treaty 3. Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. October 14, 1873 Sir, The Chief of Lac Seul band came forward to speak. Ors tried to prevent him, but he was secured [granted] a hearing. He stated that he represented four hundred people in north; that y wished a treaty; that y wished a schoolmaster to be sent m to teach ir children knowledge of white man; that y had begun to cultivate soil and were growing potatoes and Indian corn, but wished or grain for seed and some agricultural implements and cattle. The Chief spoke under evident apprehension [uneasiness] as to course he was taking in resisting or Indians, and displayed much good sense and moral courage. He was followed by Chief Blackstone, who urged or Chiefs to return to council and consider my proposals. Being desirous of inducing [convincing] m to practice agriculture and to have means of getting food if ir fishing and hunting failed, we would give m certain implements, cattle and grain, once for all, and extra two dollars per head of a money payment. This proposal was received favourably but spokesmen came forward and said y had some questions to ask before accepting my proposal. They wanted suits of clothing every year for all bands, and fifty dollars for every Chief annually. This I declined, but told m that re were some presents of clothing and food which would be given m this year at close of treaty. They n asked that no fire-water should be sold on ir reserves, and I promised that a regulation to this effect should be introduced into treaty. They asked what reserves would be given [to] m, and were informed by Mr. Provencher that reserves of farming and or lands would be given m as previously stated, and that any land actually in cultivation by m would be respected. They asked if mines would be irs; I said if y were found on ir reserves it would be to ir benefit, but not orwise. (Signed) Alexander Morris Alexander Morris, The treaties of Canada with Indians of Manitoba and North-West Territories, including negotiations on which y were based, and or information relating reto (Toronto, ON: Belfords, Clarke and Company, 1880), pp , GoogleBooks, 2012, books.google.ca/ebooks/reader?id=bxysaaaaiaaj&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=gbs.pa49 (Accessed March 29, 2012).

5 #5 Canadian Pacific Railway lands Advertisement produced in 1883 by Canadian Pacific Railway, promoting new settlements in Manitoba and North West Territories. The Reserved Sections Along Main Line as far as Moose Jaw, that is, sections within one mile of Railway, are now offered for sale on advantageous terms, but only to parties prepared to undertake ir cultivation within a specified time. The Highly Valuable Lands in Sourn Manitoba, allotted to Company south of Railway Belt, have been transferred to Canada North West Land Company, to whom intended purchasers must apply. Land ticket, Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia, September 2006, File:Land_Ticket.jpg (December 14, 2011) Public Domain

6 #6 Negotiations for Treaty 6 Excerpt from a report sent by Alexander Morris to Canadian government on December 4, 1876, regarding negotiations for Treaty 6. Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. December 4, 1876 Negotiations for Treaty 6 They saw buffalo, only means of ir support, passing away. They were anxious to learn to support mselves by agriculture, but felt too ignorant to do so, and y dreaded that during transition period y would be swept off by disease and famine already y have suffered terribly from ravages of measles, scarlet fever and smallpox. It was impossible to listen to m without interest, y were not exacting [did not make big demands], but y were very apprehensive of ir future, and thankful, as one of m put it, a new life was dawning upon m. -Alexander Morris Alexander Morris, The treaties of Canada with Indians of Manitoba and North-West Territories, including negotiations on which y were based, and or information relating reto (Toronto, ON: Belfords, Clarke and Company, 1880), pp , GoogleBooks, 2012, books.google.ca/ebooks/reader?id=bxysaaaaiaaj&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=gbs.pa185 (Accessed March 29, 2012).

7 #7 Excerpt from Treaty 1 Excerpt from Treaty 1, signed at Lower Fort Garry in 1871 that was negotiated with Chippewa and Swampy Cree by Lieutenant-Governor Archibald, representative of Crown. Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. Treaty 1 Lieutenant-Governer Archibald Lower Fort Garry, 1871 Your Great Mor [The British Queen] wishes good of all races under her sway. She wishes her red children to be happy and contented. She wishes m to live in comfort. She would like m to adopt habits of whites, to till land and raise food, and store it up against a time of want. Your Great Mor, refore, will lay aside for you lots of land to be used by you and your children forever. She will not allow white men to intrude upon se lots. She will make rules to keep m for you, so that as long as sun shall shine, re shall be no Indian who has not a place that he can call his home, where he can go and pitch his camp, or if he chooses, build his house and till his land. As quoted in Gerald Friesen, The Canadian prairies: A history (Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 1987), pp

8 #8 Aboriginal request for help Petition sent in 1871 by Sweet Grass (Wikaskokiseyin), Cree Chief from North Saskatchewan River, to Lieutenant- Governor Alexander Morris. Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. Great Far, I shake hands with you, and bid you welcome. We heard our lands were sold and we did not like it; we don t want to sell our lands; it is our property, and no one has a right to sell m. Our country is getting ruined of fur-bearing animals, hirto our sole support, and now we are poor and want help we want you to pity us. We want cattle, tools, agricultural implements [tools], and assistance in everything when we come to settle our country is no longer able to support us. Make provision for us against years of starvation. We have had great starvation past winter, and small-pox took away many of our people, old, young, and children. We want you to stop Americans from coming to trade on our lands, and giving firewater, ammunition and arms to our enemies Blackfeet. We made a peace this winter with Blackfeet. Our young men are foolish, it may not last long. We want you to come and see us and to speak with us. If you can t come yourself, send someone in your place. (Signed) Cree Chief Wikaskokiseyin Alexander Morris, The treaties of Canada with Indians of Manitoba and North-West Territories, including negotiations on which y were based, and or information relating reto (Toronto, ON: Belfords, Clarke and Company, 1880), pp , GoogleBooks, 2012, books.google.ca/ebooks/reader?id=bxysaaaaiaaj&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=gbs.pa170 (Accessed March 29, 2012).

9 #9 Interest in negotiating a treaty The following document is a petition of Chokitapix (Blackfeet) Chiefs to Lieutenant-Governor Morris, President of Council for North West Territories. Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. [A]t a general Council of Nation held by respective tribe of Blackfeet, Bloods and Peigans in Fall of 1875, it was decided to draw attention of our honourable Council of North West to following facts. 2. That in Winter of 1871 a message of Lieut. Governor Archibald was forwarded to promise us that Government, or white man, would not take Indian lands without a Council of Her Majesty s Commissioner and respective Chiefs of Nation. 3. That white men have already taken best location and built houses in any place y pleased in our hunting grounds. 4. That Half-breeds [Métis] and Cree Indians in large Camps are hunting Buffalo, both summer and Winter in very centre of our lands. 5. That land is pretty well taken up by white men and no Indian Commissioner has visited us yet. 6. That we pray for an Indian Commissioner to visit us at Hand Hills, Red Deer River, this year and let us know time that he will visit us, so that we could hold a Council with him, for putting a stop to invasion of our Country, till our Treaty be made with Government. 7. That we are perfectly willing Mounted Police and Missionary should remain in Country, for we are much indebted to m for important services. 8. That we feel perfectly confident that representatives of Our Great Mor, Her Majesty Queen, will do prompt [quick] Justice to her Indian children. Praying that Ottawa Government will grant us our Petition, or do in matter what to you and your Honourable Council of North West may seem meet; -Your Petitioners Remain, Your Excellency s Humble Servants. As quoted in Walter Hildebrandt, Dorothy First Rider and Sarah Carter, The true spirit and original intent of Treaty 7 (Montreal, QC: McGill- Queen s University Press, 1996), pp

10 #10 Disagreements surrounding Treaty 6 Response from three prominent Cree Chiefs, Mistawasis (Big Child), Ahtahkakoop (Star Blanket) and Wikaskokiseyin (Sweet Grass), to concerns made by Chief Poundmaker in 1876 surrounding negotiations of Treaty 6. Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. Mistawasis: I speak directly to Poundmaker and The Badger and those ors who object to signing this treaty. Have you anything better to offer our people?... [T]he Great White Queen Mor [ British Queen] has offered us a way of life when buffalo are no more. Gone y will be before many snows have come to cover our heads or graves if such should be. Ahtahkakoop: [His people could not] stop power of white man from spreading over land like grasshoppers that cloud sky and n fall to consume every blade of grass and every leaf on trees in ir path. I for one will take hand that is offered. I will accept Queen s hand for my people. Wikaskokiseyin: I have pity on all those who have to live by buffalo. If I am spared until this time next year I want my bror to commence [begin] to act for me, reby that buffalo may be protected. It is for that reason I give you my hand. If spared, I shall commence at once to clear a small piece of land for myself, and ors of my kinsmen will do same. We will commence hand in hand to protect buffalo. As quoted in J. R. Miller, Compact, contract, covenant: Aboriginal treaty-making in Canada (Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 2009), pp , 180.

11 #1 Western expansionists Excerpt from a book written by historian J.R. Miller entitled Compact, Contract, Covenant: Aboriginal Treaty-Making in Canada that was published in Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. If Canada s political leaders looked forward, y could also see that ir best plans for West required peaceful relations that could best be secured through treaties. As Ontario expansionists never tired of emphasizing, success of new Dominion was dependent on successful development of Prairies. Attracting farmers to Plains was essential if region was to mature and play a role in nation s future. Obviously, settling West would be difficult, perhaps impossible, if newcomers could not settle in peace. The military option that United States was pursuing from 1871 onward to pacify its West was simply not available to Canada. For one thing, Dominion could not afford it. At a time when entire budget of federal government was $19 million, Americans were expending $20 million annually on ir western Indian wars. The final reason that treaties were only thinkable approach to integrating Rupert s Land into new dominion was transcontinental railway. Could Canada build a line to Pacific Ocean, as Ottawa was committed to do, through a Prairie region beset by Indian wars? Acquisition of West required agricultural settlement, which necessitated a railway to bring farmers and ir goods into region and ir produce out to tidewater. Constructing a railway through West made peaceful relations with First Nations indispensable [important], and good relations were not likely, as a variety of First Nations had made clear, without treaties. J. R. Miller, Compact, contract, covenant: Aboriginal treaty-making in Canada (Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 2009), p. 156.

12 #2 Aboriginal motivations Excerpt from Canada in Making, a website created through a collaboration between National Library and Archives of Canada, Historica, Early Canadiana Online, and or partners that describes Aboriginal motivations for signing Numbered Treaties. Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. While many Aboriginal nations were sceptical of dealing with new federal government, y had little choice. Declining buffalo herds and disease put many nations on verge of extinction. They also risked loss of ir culture and way of life in face of European settlement. To survive, many Aboriginals negotiated surrender of land for very little in return: cash and supplies. They were left with small reserves that government hoped y would farm : First five numbered treaties, Canada in making, 2005, aboriginals/aboriginals7_e.html#numbered (Accessed December 14, 2011) Produced by Canadiana.org

13 #3 Development of treaty system Excerpt from an article written by Anthony Hall entitled Indian Treaties published as part of The Canadian encyclopedia in Comments in brackets are not part of original document. They have been added to assist reader with difficult words. The development of treaty system throughout much of western Canada was based as much on economic pragmatism [practicality] as it was on any particular legal view of aboriginal rights. During 1870s US government was spending over $20 million a year fighting plains Indians. This amount was larger than entire budget of whole central government in Canada; with se facts of finance before m, federal officials chose to rely heavily on treaties to bring about a relative degree of peaceful acquiescence [acceptance] among Indian inhabitants of territories scheduled to be opened up for settlement. [ ] In deciding wher or not to enter se agreements with Crown, Ojibwa, Cree and Assiniboine Indians often faced a horizon of fairly limited choices. It was generally made clear to m that non-native newcomers would soon be taking control of most of ir lands wher or not treaty deals were reached. Thus y had option eir of fighting to resist incursion [invasion] of outsiders, perhaps ineffectively, or y could accept some government assistance in making adjustments to enormous changes that were surely coming down on land. For native people on Prairies, demise of great life-sustaining buffalo herds made prospects for future seem especially bleak [unwelcoming]. Thus, to some Indians treaties seemed to present an avenue of adaptation at a moment when all or paths of survival appeared blocked. [ ] By and large Indian leaders who most readily accepted treaties were Christians. Their missionaries were often important go-betweens in encouraging a degree of trust between Crown representatives and native groups. Also prominent among those advancing treaty process were a number of Metis, who were perhaps best placed to act as intermediaries [mediators] between Indians and newcomers at this crucial time of transition for both societies. Anthony J. Hall, Indian treaties, The Canadian encyclopedia, 2012, index.cfm?pgnm=tce&params=a1arta (Accessed December 14, 2011).