Attempt to Take Chakastapaysin Reserve Through Order-in-Council

This event represents the various means through which the Crown repeatedly attempted to reduce the amount of land owned by Indigenous people in the province, despite the legally binding nature of Treaty agreements, which dictated that First Nations people would be accorded reserves. As well, many Indigenous bands were enduring famine, starvation and repeated epidemics in the late 19th and early 20th century, placing them in a position of vulnerability as it related to their survival. While the government frequently neglected to fulfill other treaty agreements, such as providing Indigenous people with sufficient equipment for farming (please see entries on severalty system and peasant farming) and failing to distribute sufficient aid in the form of medical care and food rations. Left with dwindling food and financial resources in an introduced cash economy, Indigenous peoples were forced to negotiate the selling or surrendering of their reserve land.