Treaties

Not present at the initial treaty negotiations, Chief Moosomin signed on to Treaty 6 on behalf of his community agreeing to the treaty terms set out in 1876. The written version of Treaty 6 provided signatories with reserves for farming, annual annuities, annual chief salaries, farming implements, education, hunting, fishing and trapping rights, and aid (most notably in times of famine or epidemic).

In response to low fur prices and poor hunting and fishing conditions the Wood Cree of Lac La Ronge and Montreal Lake sought to gain the economic benefits of Treaty 6. These groups agreed to the same terms of Treaty 6 signed earlier, which provided signatories with reserves for farming, annual annuities, annual chief salaries, farming implements, education, hunting, fishing and trapping rights, and aid (most notably in times of famine or epidemic). However, they requested that agricultural items be exchanged for goods they expected to be more useful in the forested environment, such as ammunition. This adhesion added over 10,000 square miles of land to the Treaty 6 area providing the Canadian government with the ability to freely expand logging into the region.

In the presence of Edgar Dewdney Indian Commissioner in the North-west Territories, Lucky Man and Little Pine agreed to the terms of Treaty 6. The written Treaty 6 document provided signatories with reserves for farming, annual annuities, annual chief salaries, farming implements, education, hunting, fishing and trapping rights, and aid (most notably in times of famine or epidemic), in exchange for a cession of community land rights.

The Mosquito nation agreed to the terms of Treaty 6 at Battleford. Treaty 6 provided signatories with reserves, annuities, farming implements, education, hunting, fishing and trapping rights, and aid (most notably in times of famine or epidemic).

In response to the depletion of bison and recurring epidemics Indigenous peoples on the Plains north of the Treaty 4 boundaries entered into a new treaty with the Dominion of Canada. They hoped to ensure future community prosperity. Alexander Morris was the treaty commissioner. In comparison to other treaties, the Treaty 6 negotiations focused more specifically on medical assistance and famine relief. On 23 August multiple Indigenous leaders agreed to the terms of Treaty 6, which provided signatories with reserves for farming, annual annuities, annual chief salaries, farming implements, education, hunting, fishing and trapping rights, and aid (most notably in times of famine or epidemic), in exchange for sharing 120,000 acres of land in western Canada. Additional signings occurred on 28 August.

In 1893 various grievances were brought to the attention of the Canadian government in a petition, including: refusing to provide aid to those unable to work; Indian agent disrupting First Nations sales of commodities; being forced to work for meager payment, and the need for rations to be issued.

In 1883 the Department of Indian Affairs decided to reduce funding for Indian Affairs as part of an overall reduction in government spending. Furthermore, a large portion of the reduced DIA funding was used to experiment with the creation of residential schools.

Aboriginal signatories of Treaty 4 took the opportunity presented by the visit of Governor General Lorne to Western Canada to outline their grievances with treaty implementation. They continued to assert their right under the treaty to have their livelihoods ensured. Lorne was asked if the treaty terms could be improved in order to ensure that this could happen.

At Fort Qu'Appelle, Kawkeeshiway (Loud Voice) expressed his displeasure that the treaty was not being implemented as they understood the agreement. Specifically, the government was not providing the means for subsistence negotiated in the treaty.

Macdonald’s National Policy focused on expanding transport and reach across the country; linking it sea to sea using a transcontinental railroad, encouraging Western settlement (by Europeans, Americans, and Eastern Canadians), and encouraging domestic production with protective tariffs. In order to accomplish this, Indigenous lands in the west were sought for railroad construction and land settlement. For instance, the occupation of these lands was undertaken through treaty and reserve policies. In 1878, Macdonald made himself head of the Department of the Interior, giving himself ultimate control over settlement policy and Indigenous policy in the North-West.