Treaty Research Report - Treaty Five (1875)

From the Author's Conclusion:

"Treaty Five straddled two different phases in the treaty-making process in western Canada - the early plains treaties and the later northern treaties. The negotiation of the initial accord and subsequent adhesions reflect the changes in government priorities during the intervening quarter century and the Natives people's continuing interest in securing the apparent guarantees and assistance of a federal treaty. As elsewhere in the west and north, the Native people defended their particular interests and sought changes in the agreement where possible. The government, however, held firm in the face of considerable opposition and maintained its own agenda and schedule. In the end, Treaty Five was essentially the government's treaty, drafted to suit federal priorities and offering the bare minimum to the Native signatories. For their part, the Native people accepted the accord, welcoming the gratuities and annuities and counting on the government's promises of assistance in the changing times.

The subsequent history of Treaty Five has occasionally proven controversial. Questions of reserve allocations, treaty lists, hunting and trapping rights and, much later, flooding of Native lands as a result of provincial hydro-electric developments demonstrated that the signing of the treaties did not end the government's commitment to the Native people around Lake Winnipeg and north to the 60th parallel. On the contrary, the Natives' acceptance of the treaty locked them and the federal government into a permanent relationship; the terms of the treaty provided the context within which subsequent dealings had to operate. As such, the origins and negotiations of Treaty Five and adhesions provide a much needed background to any understanding of subsequent relations between the Native people and the Government of Canada."