Numbered Treaty Overview The Numbered Treaties - also called the Land Cession or Post-Confederation Treaties - were signed between 1871 and 1921, and granted the federal government large tracts of land throughout the Prairies, Canadian North and Northwestern Ontario for white settlement and industrial use. In exchange for the land, Canada promised to give the Aboriginal peoples various items: cash, blankets, tools, farming supplies, and so on. The impact of these treaties can be still felt in modern times. For instance, in March 2002, an Alberta court judge ruled that all Aboriginals covered under Treaty Eight do not have to pay federal taxes, regardless if they live on a reserve or not. By that point, the treaty had been 103 years old! Numbered Treaties One to Five, 1871 - 1875 The first five Numbered Treaties covered areas in what was then part of the new province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories - now parts of northwestern Ontario and southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The purpose of these treaties was to secure land from the Aboriginals for 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." Notably, the government provided farm supplies and new clothes to help transform Aboriginal society from nations hunters and gatherers into civilized farmers like their European counterparts. In return for giving up their land rights, the Aboriginals received: * 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 the Aboriginals’ 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. * Never possess any liquor on their reserves. (The introduction of alcohol to the Aboriginals had led to instances of disorder.) Note: 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. Supporting documents in Early Canadiana Online: Treaty Number One, 1871 URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0315 Treaty Number Two, 1871 URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0318 Treaty Number Three, 1873 URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0322 Adhesion of Lac Seul Indians, 9th June 1874 (Treaty Number Three) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0331 Treaty Number Four, 1874 URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0332 Adhesion of the Fort Ellice Saulteaux Indians (Treaty Number Four) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0337 Adhesion of Saulteaux and Assiniboine Indians (Treaty Number Four) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0338 Adhesion of Cree, Saulteaux and Assiniboine Indians (Treaty Number Four) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0339 Treaty Number Five, 1875 URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0344 See also Other Interesting and Important Documents at the bottom of this page for more letters and other primary source documents on this topic. 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 Chippewans who had signed these early treaties were, by this time, upset that oral promises made by government representatives back in 1871 had not been included in the written treaties. The Chippewa nations began to approach other Aboriginals in the region in an attempt to discourage others from singing other 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. In return, the Chipewans had to drop all of their claims to all so-called "outside" (oral) promises. Supporting documents in Early Canadiana Online: Memorandum, 27th April, 1875 URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0128 Privy Council Report on the Memorandum, 30th April, 1875 URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0340 See also Other Interesting and Important Documents at the bottom of this page for more letters and other primary source documents on this topic. Treaty Number Six, 1876 At a first glance, Treaty Number Six, signed by the Plains and Woods Cree Aboriginals, is very similar to the first five. This time, however, the government faced more resistance as the Aboriginals had some very serious concerns. * More European settlers were moving onto the Prairies at an alarming rate, and, as they moved westward, they displaced Aboriginals from their land. * The buffalo had virtually disappeared from this region as well, and other big game animals like deer were not as plentiful. Therefore, more and more Aboriginals were now facing starvation. * Diseases like smallpox were effectively wiping out Aboriginal nations. Poundmaker, a famous Cree chief, refused to sign the treaty and felt that the government was trying to grab land from his nation unfairly. However, by December 1882, he would be forced to sign the treaty because the buffalo had disappeared to the point where the Aboriginals in his nation would otherwise face starvation. By then, he felt that it was in the Cree’s best interest to at least take as much money and resources from the government as possible. Additionally, Treaty Number Six is unique because it is the only treaty of its sort with a provision for health care. One clause allows a medicine chest to be kept in the home of an Indian agent for the use and benefit of the Aboriginals. Some Aboriginals have felt that this provision extends to everyone who signed the Numbered Treaties. Others even went so far to later interpret this provision as an eternal promise by the federal government to provide free health care to every Aboriginal person in Canada. Supporting documents in Early Canadiana Online: Treaty Number Six URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0353 Adhesions to Treaty Number Six URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0362 Sharphead Indians give away Treaty Six reserve land, Sept. 11, 1897 URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/9_02042/0265 Dispatch of Alexander Morris, 4th December 1876 (On Treaty Number Six) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0182 Treaty Number Seven, 1877 This treaty was signed by a number of Aboriginal bands, including the Blackfoot and Stoney Indians, among others, in present-day southern Alberta. It is very similar to the ones the preceded it, with just a few notable exceptions: * There was no health care provision as there had been in Treaty Six. * These bands were more successful in negotiating for more money and supplies than previous Aboriginal negotiators. This would be the last Numbered Treaty signed between the government and the Aboriginals until 1899. Supporting documents in Early Canadiana Online: Treaty Number Seven URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0370 Adhesion to Treaty Number Seven URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0376 Letter from Rev. Constantine Scollen, Sept. 8, 1876 (On Treaty Number Seven) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0249 Dispatch of David Laird, Oct. 4, 1877 (On Treaty Number Seven) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0253 Numbered Treaties Eight to Eleven, 1899 - 1921 Treaties Eight to Eleven were signed over a period of two decades. The terms and conditions are very similar to the first seven, except there was no health care provision as there was in Treaty Six. * Treaty Eight was signed in 1899 so the federal government could obtain Aboriginal lands to the north of Treaty Six found in present-day northern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and south-central Northwest Territories. * Treaty Nine was signed in 1905 and 1906, and dealt with lands in northern Ontario. * Treaty Ten was signed in 1906 and saw land cession deals struck in northern Alberta. * Treaty Eleven was signed in 1921 and dealt with land in the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. These treaties are all very similar and most of the numbered treaties that preceded them. However, one concept new to Treaty Eight was the creation of small family reserves for individual families. This was to meet the needs of small band groupings like the Woodland Cree and Dene tribes that lived in this area. Despite the fact that northern Aboriginals were not faring well, the government learned in 1898 that some bands were not interested in signing Treaty Number Eight. These bands did not want to live on reserves like their southern counterparts, and they feared signing the treaty would virtually destroy their way of life. Some members of these tribes expressed concerns about the perpetual nature of these treaties, and virtually all remained suspicious of the government track record. For instance, northern Aboriginals looked closely at attempts to turn the Prairie Aboriginals into farmers, something that had, by 1899, shown signs of outright failure. Many Aboriginals on Prairie reserves were suffering from poverty and starvation. Thus, there was now a growing belief that the government would eventually curtail Aboriginal fishing and hunting rights, since the land allowed for these activities shrunk considerably in these latter numbered treaties. The government refuted this during all numbered treaty negotiations, and, to allay this fear, provided more cash for fishing net twine and gun ammunition. Also, previous treaties had called for the government to take a census of all Aboriginals living on reserves for the purposes of paying them a lump sum of cash every year. However, the government had by this point lost count of many Aboriginals living on reserves. Even today, we do not know precisely how many Aboriginals are in Canada because of the poor census taking in the late 1800s. All of these things would weigh heavily on the minds of many Aboriginals who agreed to sign Treaties Eight to Eleven. Did you know...? At the dawn of the twentieth century, the federal government was paying about three-quarters of its spending on Aboriginals on those living on the Prairies, even though they made up only about one quarter of the total Aboriginal population in Canada. Supporting documents in Early Canadiana Online: Treaty Number Eight URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/9_02042/0347 Treaty Number Nine URL: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/trts/trty_e.html Treaty Number Ten URL: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/trts/trty10_e.html Treaty Number Eleven URL: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/trts/trty11_e.html For more information on the Numbered Treaties, visit: * the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. URL: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/trts/hti/site/maindex_e.html * the Atlas of Canada. URL: http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/indiantreaties/historicaltreaties * the Canadian Encyclopedia Online. URL: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?TCE_Version=A Other Interesting or Important Documents * Indian treaties and surrenders, from 1680 to 1890, Volume I URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/ItemRecord/91942 * Indian treaties and surrenders, from 1680 to 1890, Volume II URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/ItemRecord/91943 * Letter from Adams G. Archibald to Wemyss Simpson, July 22, 1871 (On Treaty Number One) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0034 * Letter from Archibald to Simpson, July 29, 1871 (On Treaty Number One) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0035 * Letter from Simpson to Archibald, July 30, 1871 (On Treaty Number One) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0037 * Letter from Simpson to Archibald, Nov. 3, 1871 (On Treaty Number Two) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0039 * Letter from Alexander Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 14, 1873 (On Treaty Number Three) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0049 * Report of Commissioner Dawson, 26th December 1873 (On Treaty Number Three) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0329 * First Letter from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 17, 1874 (On Treaty Number Four) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0082 * Second Letter from Morris, Oct. 17, 1874 (On Treaty Number Four) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0086 * Letter from Christie and Dickieson to Morris, Oct. 7, 1875 (On Treaty Number Four) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0087 * Letter from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 11, 1875 (On Treaty Number Five) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0148 * Letter from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Nov. 17, 1875 (On Treaty Number Five) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0154 * Letter from Howard and Reid to Morris, Oct. 10, 1875 (On Treaty Number Five) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0156 * Letter from Howard to Morris, Oct. 10, 1875 (On Treaty Number Five) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0161 * Letter from Morris to Howard and Reid, July 14, 1876 (On Treaty Number Five) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0166 * Letter from Howard to Morris, Oct. 14, 1876 (On Treaty Number Five) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0168 * Letter from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 4, 1875 (On changes to Treaties One and Two) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0135 * Letter from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Oct. 5, 1875 (On changes to Treaties One and Two) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0134 * Letter from Morris to Minister of the Interior, Aug. 2, 1875 (On changes to Treaties One and Two) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0136 * Letter from Morris to Minister of the Interior, July 8, 1876 (On changes to Treaties One and Two) URL: http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/30387/0140