Treaty 6

Treaty 6 is an agreement between the Canadian monarch and the Plain and Wood Cree Indians and other tribes of Indians at Fort Carlton, Fort Pitt and Battle River. The area agreed upon by the Plain and Wood Cree represents most of the central area of the current provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. One Manitoba band also signed on to the treaty by adhesion in 1898. The treaty signings began in August 1876, with adhesions added in 1898 in central Saskatchewan in the Montreal Lake area.

Reasons for a proposed treaty

At this time, the buffalo, the staple of the people that lived on the plains, was disappearing at an alarming rate due to the settlement activities.^{[citation needed]} The chiefs realized that if they did not sign a treaty with the Crown, they might starve or have to attack more of the forts and settlements within the area. A second major reason for the signing of the treaty was that a smallpox epidemic had recently gone through the area, killing many of the Cree.

Terms of the treaty

Each Native family of five covered by Treaty 6 received 4.45 square miles (11.5 km²) of land (128 acres (52 ha) per person), which they could sell back to the Government of Canada for compensation. Each person immediately received $12 (CAD) and an additional $5 a year. The chief would receive one horse, one harness, and one wagon or two carts. The people would also receive $1500 a year for ammunition and fishing net twine. One of the selling points of the treaty was that a medicine chest would be kept at the home of the Indian agent for use by the people. Another of the selling points was the guarantee of assistance for famine or pestilence relief.

One of the chiefs who signed this treaty was Poundmaker.

Timeline

Date	Event
23 August 1876	First signing at Fort Carlton
28 August 1876	Second signing at Fort Carlton
9 September 1876	Fort Pitt signing
9 August 1877	Fort Pitt adhesion signing by Cree bands
25 September 1877	Blackfoot Crossing at Bow River signing (at Siksika Nation reserve, Alberta)
19 August 1878	Additional signing
29 August 1878	Battleford signing
3 September 1878	Carlton signing
18 September 1878	Additional signing, Michel Band, near Edmonton, Alberta
2 July 1879	Fort Walsh signing
8 December 1882	Further Fort Walsh signing
11 February 1889	Montreal Lake signing
10 August 1898	Colomb band signing in Manitoba
25 May 1944	Rocky Mountain House adhesion signing
13 May 1950	Further Rocky Mountain House adhesion signing
21 November 1950	Witchekan Lake signing
18 August 1954	Cochin signing
15 May 1956	Further Cochin signing
1958	The Michel Band is "enfranchised" by the Department of Indian Affairs, and the reserve is dissolved. This is the only case of an entire band (save a few individuals) being involuntarily enfranchised.

List of Treaty 6 First Nations

• Alberta
  • Alexander First Nation
  • Alexis First Nation
  • Beaver Lake Cree Nation
  • Cold Lake First Nation
  • Enoch Cree Nation
  • Ermineskin Tribe
  • Frog Lake First Nation
  • Heart Lake First Nation
  • Kehewin Cree Nation
  • Louis Bull First Nation
  • Michel First Nation
  • Montana First Nation
  • O'Chiese First Nation
  • Paul First Nation
  • Saddle Lake First Nation
  • Samson First Nation
  • Sunchild First Nation
  • Whitefish Lake First Nation

• Manitoba
  • Marcel Colomb First Nation
  • Mathias Colomb First Nation
• Saskatchewan
  • Ahtahkakoop First Nation
  • Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation
  • Big Island Lake Cree Nation
  • Big River First Nation
  • Chakastaypasin First Nation
  • Flying Dust First Nation
  • Island Lake First Nation
  • James Smith First Nation
  • Lac La Ronge First Nation
  • Little Pine First Nation
  • Lucky Man First Nation
  • Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation
  • Mistawasis First Nation
  • Montreal Lake Cree Nation

• • Moosomin First Nation
  • Mosquito, Grizzly Bear's Head, Lean Man First Nation
  • Muskeg Lake First Nation
  • Muskoday First Nation
  • One Arrow First Nation
  • Onion Lake Cree Nation
  • Pelican Lake First Nation
  • Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation
  • Poundmaker First Nation
  • Red Pheasant First Nation
  • Saulteaux First Nation
  • Sweetgrass First Nation
  • Sturgeon Lake First Nation
  • Thunderchild First Nation
  • Waterhen Lake First Nation
  • Witchekan Lake First Nation

See also

• The Canadian Crown and First Nations, Inuit and Métis

External links

• The Making of Treaty 6 - Alberta Online Encyclopedia
• Copy of Treaty No. 6 between Her Majesty the Queen and the Plain and Wood Cree Indians and other Tribes of Indians at Fort Carlton, Fort Pitt and Battle River with Adhesions
• Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations