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Numbered Treaties Essay

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The Numbered Treaties is a series of agreements signed between the Canadian government and various First Nations communities between 1871 and 1921. These treaties were significant in shaping the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian government, as they established rights and obligations for both parties. Treaties were intended to be mutually beneficial. Treaties allowed First Nations people the right to self government and the right to receive payments from the crown. In exchange for this, First Nations people agreed to share their land with the settlers. The treaties were not documents of surrender, but rather documents of mutual understanding and agreement. They were intended to ensure that both parties could live in peace …show more content…

For example, during the negotiation of Treaty 6, the Cree and other Indigenous nations were promised certain provisions such as schools, farming equipment, and annual payments. However, many of these promises were not fulfilled or were inadequate, leaving the Indigenous peoples in a much worse position than before the treaty was signed. This unequal distribution of benefits suggests that the Crown’s Commissioners had a stronger bargaining position during the negotiation …show more content…

First Nations people were promised annual payments, reserves, and the right to hunt and fish on the surrendered lands. In exchange, they surrendered their title to the land. However, the Crown did not fulfill its obligations under the Treaty. The First Nations received inadequate and inconsistent annual payments, and the reserves were often unsuitable for agriculture or hunting and fishing. The Treaty also did not protect the First Nations from the encroachment of settlers and the loss of their traditional way of life.
Treaty 6, signed in 1876, contains similar promises to First Nations people. They were promised reserves, annual payments, and the right to hunt and fish on the surrendered lands. However, the Treaty also included a clause that required the First Nations to send their children to residential schools. The schools were designed to assimilate the First Nations children into European-Canadian culture, leading to the loss of their language, culture, and identity. The First Nations signatories did not fully understand the implications of this clause, and it had a devastating impact on their

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